Mr. M & I are not your typical romantics.
For Christmas, I got a taxidermied squirrel dressed for a battle at high noon. I fell in love- with both husband and gun-toting squirrel.
Day #11,663, Part Uno (Belize): I don’t know how Normal People celebrate 6th wedding anniversaries, but Mr. M & I woke up at dawn to the sound of howler monkeys roaring in the Belizean jungle.
P.S. Google informed me that The Normals celebrate with a traditional 6-year gift of “sugar or iron.” I have zero clue what that means (a banana? sugar + iron in one!) and will stick with my dead squirrel, thankyouverymuch.
Sorta-normal-like, Anniversary 6.0 did start off with breakfast in bed. We opened the front door to our room and discovered a thermos of coffee and two mugs waiting, swaddled in a basket on our doorstep. Huzzah!
The night before, lodge owner Nadege had told us there was indeed a “right” way to spend Saturday mornings in western Belize: canoeing down the Macal River to the town of San Ignacio and its weekly Saturday Market.
Although our lodge offered a guided tour, Mr. M & I were set on something a little more private. Besides, after surviving the Belize-Guatemala border crossing, navigating the Macal is a piece of cake.
Once we shoved off and separated ourselves from the larger tour group, it was exceedingly peaceful on the river.
We dipped our toes in the emerald water and tried to take it all in.
Paddling down the misty Macal River amidst the cries of jungle birds and the bubble of mini rapids, I half expected blowdarts to come tearing from the river banks.
About two hours after we shoved off from camp, Mr. M & I floated into the town of San Ignacio, the homebase for most tourists exploring the Mayan ruins of western Belize.
We weren’t the only folks wanting to spend a weekend afternoon by the river.
Saturday Market is home to food stands, clothing booths, tourist souvenirs, and one very enthusiastic roaming “vendor” shouting about the quality of his marijuana. (Though judging by his erratic behavior, it did not seem to be yielding a smooth high.)
In between the butcher shops, fruit stands, and shave ice set-ups emerging from family Igloos, lunch at Saturday Market would’ve been totally doable.
But Mr. M & I opted for a little more romance and decided on the shaded patio at Martha’s for anniversary lunch.
A bit of adventure was the perfect way to toast our six years of marriage.
But that’s coming from the girl who thinks romance is a dead squirrel.
To be continued… (With phobia-defying Mayan ruin treks and a visit to the Iguana Conservation Center!)
You Can Do It, Too!
All the jungle lodges situated along the Macal River seem to offer canoe rentals for the Saturday pilgrimage to San Ignacio. Going it on your own is easy- just head downstream!
After you pass this bridge…
… paddle over to the cement dock on the left. You’ll see Saturday Market just along the river bank!
There’s a taxi rank just next to the Market and another one adjacent to the town square, so you can catch a ride back to your hotel. We were pretty far from town, and the ride cost us $50 Belizean dollars ($25 USD).
I can’t recommend Martha’s (10 West St, San Ignacio) enough. Full Disclosure: Mr. M & I ate here TWICE, having stopped by the night before to celebrate making it to Tikal & back alive. It was so delicious. And those giant glasses of freshly squeezed fruit juice (lime, watermelon, pineapple, or orange) were only $2 each.
I LOVE the pictures! If it wasn't for my silly but very bad fear of open water, a canoe trip down a river would be an amazing anniversary trip....we are celebrating 6 years in July actually. We won't be doing anything as exciting as an exotic trip to an AMAZING place but I'm sure we will find something....thanks for the tip of sugar or iron, I was wondering :) The market looks like it was so much fun...I'd love to have one of those backpacks in the last picture :) It looks like an amazing trip...so happy you guys got to have such a great adventure for your anniversary....Happy 6th! Here's to many more adventures! PS....the squirrel is AWESOME!!! Bran thinks it's perfect!
Yay! Early congratulations on you & Brian's upcoming 6th anniversary! :) I'm SURE you guys will have an excellent celebration no matter what you end up doing. I knew about your fear of open water, but didn't realize that it extended to being in boats. Does it make it any better if the water is clear, so you can see what's below? I'm afraid of swimming in the ocean, and I can't decide if clear water makes it any better... maybe I don't even want to *know* what creatures are in there with me! (The Belize river water was pretty murky, I have to admit... it looked like prime crocodile territory to me, and it was only after I dipped my toes in a few times that I realized maybe that wasn't such a great idea!!!)
Oh no...being able to see what's coming is even worse! hahaha....There is a lake not far from my parents place that is fed by a glacier...not only is it take your breath away freezing...but its clear... there are lots of logs at the bottom and they look like deep sea monsters...hahahaha....I was brave enough to try floating on an air mattress once and got very freaked out. Have you seen "Lake Placid" I wouldn't be dangling my toes in the water ;) hahaha...
Haha! Point taken! No body of water is safe! Although neither are movies like "Lake Placid" when you're already afraid of the water! ;) Have you seen the movie "Open Water"? (If not, just pretend it doesn't exist- you don't need that in your life.) I made the mistake of watching it the night before I went snorkeling off the coast of Florida. NOT my best decision...
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[…] #11,663, Part Dos (Belize): Although we’d already crossed ‘jungle canoeing’ off the ol’ anniversary list, Mr. M & I were not content to call it a one-adventure sort of […]
I adore your taxidermist squirrel. I've always wanted some sort of awesome taxidermist animal, but I'm afraid the devil cats will eat anything I owned. They already steal anything with feathers... so I could only imagine fur. Smallz would probably carry it around and clean it like a baby. She's weird like that. Also, we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary by dropping his parents at the air port and finishing packing for Alaska. I don't even think we remembered it was our anniversary until after the fact! No sugar and iron for us! Maybe sugar. It was summer, so we may have grabbed ice cream ;) ALTHOUGH this canoe trip looks like the perfect way to celebrate! I love canoeing. Daniel's parents actually just gave us a canoe, but we haven't taken it out yet (blame the never ending winter, pregnancy, and home improvement projects). I'm sure no where around here will be as amazing as the Macal ;)
Charlie Mae is OBSESSED with Cowboy Squirrel. Sometimes I find her in front of the fireplace, jumping up on her hind legs like a circus dog just to get a better look at him. The look in her eyes says she wants to Destroy Him. (Sibling rivalry, I think). Luckily, she's not as agile as your kitties! Packing for a most excellent trip to Alaska (& possibly, maybe ice cream) sounds like a perfect way to celebrate. I always feel silly celebrating *both* our wedding and first date anniversaries... Mr. M's good about remembering that stuff, but I kinda think I'd forget the wedding one if I weren't always trying to find excuses to take trips. :} Also, I'm SUPER jealous that you own a canoe!! What an awesome gift. (Although I can imagine pregnancy doesn't go hand in hand with balancing in a canoe.) Mr. M was talking about buying a kayak when one went on sale at Costco, but seeing as our car is the size of a golf cart, I'm not sure how we'd transport it anywhere.
You can get roof racks for kayaks. I've seen little Golfs carrying two of them before. We're currently looking into getting one for our car (but for bikes). In the meantime we have Daniel's big truck for that stuff! We're thinking of downsizing or going to one car, so we'll need an alternative when that happens ;)
Looks like a fun trip! I have canoed several times but always with my boy, I have yet to try with the hubby. I can picture myself being somewhat of a front seat canoe driver. :-)
Totally! It took all my willpower not to micromanage the canoe steering (or lack thereof, I might say). ;)