Banana Bank Horses & Belize Jungle Lodge, Cayo District, Belize
The
Banana Lodge
a
quick stop in the supermarket in San ignacio as well we got some
fresh baked bread from an older lady along the road: did you know
that even they look the same: bread is salty and a bun is sweet? And
then comes the turnoff and up we go into the middle of nowhere to the
Banana Lodge. We found a parking spot and walk through a tiny gate –
ok so it was a bit complicated to find the office but we did: and
then we walked forever on some beautiful path to our Cabana and see
there she said we can drive the car right up to it. It’s a super
cute little Cabana with a sitting area dn 2 sleeping areas, a
bathroom where you can in through 2 different ways... it has a big
open palmtree thatched roof ... and a nice sitting area out front.
Then
we are on the way to the pool: with a quick stop by the Jaguar: he
got rescued in 2009 and lives now here. The pool is beautiful with
stones in the pool and huge for swimming... that is when we also
discovered some parrots. This is such a cool place. On the way back
we only wanted to check for the wifi code and that is when
We
meet the Cowboy in Belize
The
owner from the Lodge is from Montana and he is for 52 years married
and came in 1974 to Belize. He read an article in a National
Geographic about Belize “the Awakening country” and then soon
after that there was land for sale near nowadays Belmopan: Belmopan
only got started to built in 1969 with the first people moving there
in 1974. He told us that when he was young is was a rodeo rider –
he was competing at the Calgary Stampede in 1960, had a picture with
John Kennedy at a rodeo. And then he showed us the room with the
paintings from his wife Carolyn Carr, which are absolutely amazing;
she did some amazing 3-dimensional oil paintings: from the Jaguar,
wild cats, the mayans... absolutely stunning. She does not sell them.
And then we went into the 2nd room and there are all his
collected mayan artefacts: lots of flints, old bowls for the corn,
some figures, ceramic bowls, ceremonial stuff, obsidians... and
several off them are catagolized and he can display them but he is
unable to sell them, since they are historical. Maybe I should
mention that his wife designed the gardens and everything here. He
also told us, that he is the only person in Belize to own a wild
animal. Because normally all rescued animals go to the Belize Zoo –
but because he had previously a rescued Jaguar for 26 years, he is
allowed to keep this one. I can’t believe it on what truly
interesting people we met on this trip.
We
are close to Belize’s capital - Belmopan:
- it’s one of the smallest capitals in he world
- it became the capital in 1970 – after Hurricane Hattie destroyed 75% of all the houses in Belize City in 1961
- the name comes from Bel (Belize) and Mopan from the Mayan’s
it’s
humid and hot
we
woke up early before the alarm clock!! then we went over and picked
up some coffee – but we were so excited about this beautiful place,
that we decided to walk over to the pool – Paul wanted to go on the
internet and Gine wanted to do some more checking out. But then Paul
was interested too and we went up into the Art Gallery again –
admired the pictures and mayan artefacts. Coming out it was pouring
rain, but it stopped a few minutes later. Now it was time to check
out the Jaguar again: when we came by in the morning he was eating
and now he stalking around the little jungle – such a beautiful
animal.
Then
Gine had to complete all the packing – we got all in, but both
suitcases were super full and we had to leave a few drinks behind.
And the USB as well as one table runner are somewhere hopefully!!
And
on the road again we are with the last drive back to the Car rental
place.
the
Car rental which is a museum
you
can’t miss all the Belizean flags – and the huge sign Crystal Car
Rental and Museum! All went smoothly, we even got the 40 BD
re-imbursed. This is likely the most beautiful car rental place we
ever saw – lots of lisence plates on the doors, inside a lot of
plants, old bicycles, old bottles and other antique staff there are a
lot of spots you discovere something new. And then we get dropped off
in downtown Belize at the Ferry station.
Exploring
of Mainland Belize is over – time to be on the water.
2025-05-22