It was UnBelizable

At the start of Feb 2025, Alaskan Airlines had a three day sale to some remote places, one of which was Belize. We had never been there, and we did just renew our passports, so I booked my wife and I a trip, we went near the end of Feb. it was Increasable, or as the people in Belize say, “it was UnBelizable”. We stayed 6 days and 5 nights. Our hotel was the Ramada Princess in Belize City.

Sunrise the first day

On our first day, I had scheduled a “Three in one” tour with Belize Fun Tours, Adrian was our driver, both he and the tours were great, First we went to Alt Un Ha Mayan ruins. It was our first time to a Mayan ruins. Some of the steps were a little narrow, and there were no rails climbing to the top, but it was great.

Second we went to the Belize zoo. If you have ever seen the movie “We bought a zoo”, it kind of got its start similar. There was a lady that want to help the animals, so she started helping and saving them, them it turned into a zoo. Really fun area, good for a family. There were lots of signs and lots of native birds and animals.

Our third stop was cave tubing on a river through a dark cave systems. It was about a half hour hike, carrying a innertube before we entered the river, but it was well worth it.

Our next day started off going on another tout through Belize Fun Tours, this time our driver and guide was Greg. He took us to see a area that had Howler Monkeys living in the wild. That also was a little hike on uneven terrain but again, very much worth it. It the

Afternoon of the same day we went on a Belize city tour, it was educational and we learned how rum was made.

The Third day we took a 1 hour ferry ride to a near by island, Caye Caulker. There we went on a half day snorkeling adventure, with Caye Caulker Snorkeling. I am not much of a swimmer, so I was a little hesitant. Though before we went on the trip I had thought there might be a chance of snorkeling, so I bought us both a full face snorkel mask. Very wise investment, highly recommend if you are going to snorkel. I did not drink any sea water, and the mask was easier to use and easier to learn on. We made 4 stops, the first was bout waste deep and there were sting rays and nurse sharks around us. The second was deeper, though they offered me a fife vest, this one we stayed in the boat. The third was about 4 to 5 feet and it was nice, then they took us looking for manatees, though we did not find any. Then we had a chance to feed both Frigate birds and Tarpon fish. Then we returned back to Belize City on the ferry.

Next day we mostly rested, though I went out and took some bird pictures. We fly back on the day after. Going down we flew from Ketchikan to Seattle to Los Angeles. On our Return trip we flew from Belize city to Seattle to Ketchikan. It was a adventure that if you have the opportunity, we suggest that you do. Belize it or not.

A few more things, First we did not rent a car, and glad that we didn’t, speed limit signs and yellow lines are suggestions there, Drivers there pass each other when ever then want. We only saw one accident while we were there, and were told that they really don’t have too many. In the cities there were bicyclist and a lot of dogs in many of the streets, so drive defensively, if you do drive. Second, there were lots of churches, every denomination that we could think of, it seemed, could be found there. Also many of the churches had private schools attached to them, for the kids. This also was nice to see.

In closing attached are links to the reviews that we did, and a few other links that we did:

Belize fun tours: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291968-d6884552-r995189868-Belize_Fun_Tours-Belize_City_Belize_District.html

Howler monkey tour: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291968-d16858179-r996296210-Smart_Travel_Belize-Belize_City_Belize_District.html

Belize Zoo: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g10158066-d300169-r995187439-The_Belize_Zoo-La_Democracia_Belize_District.html

Cave tubing: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291968-d17701730-r995190666-Cavetubing5star_com-Belize_City_Belize_District.html

Caye Caulker snorkeling: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291963-d27164116-r996299646-Black_Lion_Adventures-Caye_Caulker_Belize_Cayes.html

Some food reviews: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291968-d12717515-r995186622-MOE_S_Pizza_Grill-Belize_City_Belize_District.html

Some of our other pictures: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/a-belize-male-iguana-steve-speights.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/howler-monkey-belize-steve-speights.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/panaromic-alt-un-ha-belize-steve-speights.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/alt-un-ha-entrance-belize-steve-speights.html

Our first E-Book, book of birds

Well after months of work, our first E-Book is complete. It’s called “Steve’s Book of Birds Vol 1” and it contains over 50 types of birds. My wife and I have traveled all over the country, this book contains some of the birds that we saw in our travels. Some of the birds are from Alaska, some are from our travels to other states; HI, GA, CA, WA and other places.

Realistic-Book-Cover-Free-PSD-Mockup

Great Blue Heron

There is such a variety of birds, though I’m not a ornithologist (Person who studies birds) I do enjoy taking pictures of them. Hope you enjoy this book also. The book is $3.99 and it’s available on Amazon to download.

Click here for a sale price of $2.99

Steve’s book of birds digital download

This book has many pictures of our feathered friends for your enjoyment.

$2.99

Totem poles near and in Ketchikan Alaska

My wife and I have lived in Alaska since 2000, we have lived in the SE part of the state in Ketchikan since 2008. Ketchikan has a large amount of totem poles. As a photographer I have enjoyed taking pictures of many of them. We recently compiled some of our pictures and placed them in both in a E-Book as well as in a hard copy. The book can be found on Amazon. If you like totem poles or are curious about them, please check it out. Thank you.

3.99 Digital instant download

Digital download Ketchikan Totems

You can download your copy instantly here and save a $ from Amazon.

$3.99

A Hawaiian E-Book

We are fortunate to have another of our books published on Amazon. Its a E-Book, we are still working on paper editions. My wife and I have traveled to HI several times while living in Alaska. These are some of our memories and pictures. You can download a free preview of it on Amazon. Hope you enjoy, if you do please consider leaving a review of it. Thank you.

Digital copy of Hawaii (From an Alaskan’s viewfinder)

Receive your digital download directly from us and save a dollar.

$2.39

Only $2.39

Our second E-Book, Alaskan Eagles

eagle cover

We finished our second E-Book a few years ago. Several people have been asking where they can get a copy, so here it is. This one has almost 60 pages and about 70 pictures of bald eagles as seen in Ketchikan Alaska, USA. It is listed on Amazon at the price of $5.99,for the eBook version. It is in their format for Kindles. Where we live , eagles can be seen every day, rain or snow, summer or winter. It never gets old watching these majestic birds. This book has some of my pictures that I have captured over the last few years. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your time.

Digital downloaded copy Alaskan Eagles.

If you want your own copy and would rather not go on Amazon to get, you can save money and download your copy of it here.

$3.99

Tourist

“Tourist” is not a bad word. It can be said, at times, so that it does sound like a a bad word. “look at how they are driving, they must be a tourist”, “That person has a few cameras, they must be a tourist”. “Tourists, should go home and leave our town/city/state alone”. Traveling is and can be fun. Being a tourist can be exciting and fun also. AS a tourist, I have hiked, snuba dived, in the Bahamas, explored caves and caravans in Mexico, I have zip lined, Used a wave runner in the Bahamas, Explored volcanoes in Hawaii, took a tour of Puerto Rico, took another tour in Mexico, walked the beach in Haiti, walked the beaches in Hawaii, traveled across the international date line, took many of pictures, and spent money in each and every community we visited. Tourism can help states, countries, and the local economy. Yes it can also hurt the same, it can destroy nature, it can cause many of headaches. Living in a tourist area, I have seen both good and bad. Every where my wife and I go, we are always telling those that we meet that we are from Alaska. Often it will open a chance for people that have not been to Alaska to ask questions. Sometimes we share some of the lies and misconceptions about our area (Ketchikan). Alaska is on many peoples bucket list. We are proud that we have had a chance to live here. We enjoy being a traveler, a tourist, but we also enjoy being an ambassador for Alaska. There often is a energy and excitement when people travel. Our advice to those we encounter is just to make it happen, don’t continually put it off. No one is promised tomorrow. As I told our granddaughter the other day, today is a gift, that’s whys its called the present. Don’t let fear still your dreams, your things on your bucket list.

A friend of a friend

Living in SE Alaska can be challenging at times, many places wont’t ship their products to Alaska without charging lots for shipping. We do have a hospital in Ketchikan, but for major things it’s often better either to fly toSeattle (1 hr 40 min) or to fly to Anchorage (about a 5 hr flt). The other day my wife said that she was having trouble with one of her eyes, so I called the local eye clinic, explained that she had a area of blackness in her sight of one eye. They wanted her in to the clinic instantly. About a half hr later we were there, they did an exam and said that she had a tear in her retina and needed emergency surgery or would loose vision in that eye. A friend at our church made a phone call to her friend and explained the situation, turns out that our friend’s friend also went to church and believed in the same Bible that we do. This friends friend picked us up in Anchorage at the airport, took us to my wife’s eye exam appointment, her and her husband opened their house to us, as if we had been friends all our lives. My wife’s surgery was scheduled a few days later as they didn’t do surgery over the weekend. The husband of my wife’s friend friend took us to the surgery place today. I am writing this from the surgery waiting room, as my wife is in surgery now. It has been said that you don’t know what you don’t know, which is true, but I would like to change it, you don’t know your friends friends often, but when you have a chance they can be a true answer to prayers and the strength and blessing that you may need in times of distress, times of trials and troubles. I also believe maybe when FB started that’s why it would recommend your friends friend as a possible friend to you. If you get a change meet some of your friends friends expand your people circle, there are many good people out there.