State of Arrested Decay

Punta Gorda is one of those places that seem to be in a state of "arrested decay," kinda like Bodie, the California ghost town. It definitely gives the place a lot of character. Things are worn but definitely comfortable like an old pair of slippers.

Scenes from Punta Gorda

Punta Gorda is in southern Belize, a short boat ride from the border with Honduras. It lacks a beach, but it was at one point an RnR for British soldiers. It's a sleepy seaport and fishing village where one tends to, well... sleep.


It was also a place where it was more fun to take photos of the "stuff" around town.
Fishing boats with holes

Casually strolling along the airport strip

Hanging plants


This house cracked me up, have to wonder if stone ducks are the equivalent of garden gnomes or water gutter gargoyles for Punta Gorda. Someone has an obsession...

Mayan Ruins in Black and White

Some are digital infrared, others are converted black and white. Enjoy!



Not all structures were excavated. If a structure from the same time period was already represented and restored, archaeologists left them covered by mounds of earth and roots.
Buried temple-



The Lost World-



This photo wasn't shot at Tikal, but at Cahal Pech, also a Mayan ruin site but in Belize.

Trip to Tikal

While in the western town of San Ignacio, Belize, it's an easy daytrip to the ruins of Tikal in Guatemala. Tikal was the political and cultural center at the height of the Mayan empire from 200-900 AD, and it's name means "knot of hair," which explains all the hair knots in many of the engravings. Those archaeologists sure are good at this interpretation thing, hah! Tikal was abandoned sometime in the 10th century.

Some of the trees at the entrance to the complex were enormous and amazing.

This tree was not growing red/greenish leaves. It's actually covered by epiphytes, parasitic plants in the rainforest.


It's simply amazing to see the structures and temples emerge from the rainforest canopy.




And when you walk closer, you start to realize how deceptively enormous the structures really are.

Imagine climbing an 10 story ladder...



After visting Tikal, Angkor Wat, and a few other ruins in the world, I've started to realize a lot of similarities in form and function. Makes you kinda wonder how exactly could separate civilizations create structures so alike. Not surprising, some believe that aliens built them or taught humans how to. Personally, I believe we're more alike than we like to think.

Let's Go Diving

Scenes from diving the Turneffe Atoll in Belize. On this particular day we did a wall dive, where the coral is all along the side of a sudden drop off. Simply spectacular!

Scenes from Caye Caulker

A major tourist haunt in Belize are the Cayes. Caye Caulker in particular is only a short 45 minute water taxi ride away. The nearby reef had plenty of spectacular diving, but the island itself...


Plenty of pelicans




Boats and docks



And as usual, bikes



And oddly enough, plenty of pimped out golf carts to cruise the main strip back and forth in style.