Belize, in brief

We:
* Went to the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, where we saw many beautiful birds as well as a couple of 3-or-4-foot-long bright orange iguanas, boated and hiked and drove around, and ate delicious beans and rice.
* Went to the Belize Zoo, which is the coolest zoo I've ever been to. Like someone took the rainforest and fenced bits of it in - actually, I think that is how the zoo was created. Awesome. Also, did you know that pumas purr and meow?
* Went to the town of Orange Walk, and then to Altun Ha. Orange Walk was a bit of a bust, honestly, but Altun Ha (ancient Mayan ruins, well-excavated and well-preserved) was awesome. Climbed one pyramid there.
* Went on a boat trip to the ancient Mayan city of Lamunai. On the way there, we saw birds and crocodiles and fantastic flowers. The city itself was astounding, and we climbed up to the top of a very tall pyramid. We heard howler monkeys in the forest - wow! they can make a lot of noise.
* Took a boat out for the day to Caye Caulker, snorkeled out near the barrier reef, and swam with sharks and stingrays. (No cages.)
* Explored Belize City, including the "pirate museum".
* Went to Belmopan (the capital), and took in its government sector, which looked like an abandoned community college that had been designed and built by an architect of the post-Soviet concrete block school of architecture.
* Checked out the inland Blue Hole, which was pretty cool, but filled with obnoxious other tourists. So we didn't swim there. Instead...
* Swam twice (on two different days) at Guanacosta National Park, in a gorgeous crystal-clear river. As an added bonus, also got to check out a 350-or-so-year-old tree which is an entire ecosystem in itself, and is festooned with amazing vines.
* Drank many pina coladas.
* Ate lots of beans and rice, and other things.
* Exercised our Spanish, somewhat.
* Spent lots of time together as a family.

Later, this may be illustrated with photographs. Other peoples' photos; my camera's dead and I had to order a new one today.