Hopefulist in Latin America: PUNTA GORDA & HICKATEE COTTAGES

I spent a total of 6 nights at Hickatee Cottages outside of Punta Gorda in the far south of Belize, an area we hadn't experienced before. It rained 4 of the 6 nights hard, sometimes between 4 and 5 inches in just a few hours, accompanied by lighting and the most cottage-shaking thunder I've ever experienced. This was made more memborable because we live in a part of Oregon that gets 10-12 inches of precipitation per year.

Kate and Ian are great hosts

I arose early the 1st morning and explored miles of beautiful (though a bit saturated) jungle paths.

This plant is called 'hotlips' - butterflies love it.

The customer service at Hickatee is stellar. Here's to English tea (or coffee if requested) waiting on the doorstep!

Breakfast (provided) varied from sweet breads and cinnamon rolls to English pancakes, served when guest load is light since Kate has just 1 pan that makes them perfectly.

The cottages and grounds at Hickatee are beautiful.

Ian is knowledgeable about butterflies and told me this frequent scene is a female focused on feeding and the male focused on the female, trying to entice her from above.

This blooming orchid attracted beautiful blue bees.

This cat, Oscar, was attacked on the deck by a boa constrictor and was constricted blue and cold by the time Ian and Kate fought off the snake. He survived and apparently so did the snake.

He was quiet at 1st and back interacting with the other cats in a day or 2.

Not allowing cats in the cottages is a reasonable request, even when the cats ask nicely.

This hummingbird entered against my wishes; I'm glad it's little beak survived escape attempts through the screens until the open door looked more inviting.

Every guest receives a howler monkey monitoring chart; they were just experienced as distant roars until the last morming.

I stayed 3 nights before Mike arrived in the little cottage called the 'Den'; these were the paintings on the walls: 'Hard Working Woman'

and 'Fish No Bite Today'.

When Mike arrived, we moved into the roomier Wilby Suite nearby.

Kate and Ian talk with a local Garifuna religious leader who asked to obtain a termite nest for a ceremony at the dugu in town.

Dinner in our room when Mike arrived Saturday night which is a 'cooks night off' at Hickatee.

A wonderful, memorable shrimp dinner prepared by Kate and served by Ian.

The bar at twilight

Stalking night bugs with Ian

and a low profile lizard.

These are photos of our morning visit with the resident black howler monkey family.

Punta Gorda is an interesting little town with very few tourists and a local population mix that is mainly Garifuna and Maya. There are bikes to borrow at Hickatee and I headed the mile and a half or 2 into town a few times to explore.

1 of several establishments marketing coffins

P.G. (Punta Gorda) Laundry - I dropped off on Thursday and picked up on Friday.

Tourist Information Center

The district court and post office

The James bus station and police station

I visited the Snack Shack on my own and then returned another day with Mike.

The Caribbean

Baptist Church

Payless Convenience Store

The clinic

Cotton Tree Chocolate 'Factory' - free tours and samples

The tool shop and it's ironic friend, Jaguar

Lottie Flores, Esq., Justice of the Peace (detail, 2nd photo)

Louis Braddick, Esq., Commissioner of the Supreme Court (detail, 2nd photo)

University of Belize

VComm Internet Café; I think they mean 'couplers' in the 2nd photo but 'copulars' has a better ring to it.

Some mornings we couldn't make it to town for the high water brought on by night rain and, according to Ian, illegal tree cutting by local villagers. We waited a few hours and tried again and were able to shop in town and pick up barbecue for lunch.