Rand African Art
About Me - Photo Version

BELIZE
Rand Smith - Manta Resort in Belize
Rand Smith - Manta Resort in Belize
My first dive trip, Manta Resort in Glovers Reef Atoll in Belize what an amazing place!
The scuba diving in Belize is amazing, especially in the outer atolls. Only 4% of the visitors to Belize each year make it out to Glovers
Reef because it is very remote, but that is what makes it great. You can literally throw a rock from one side of the island to the other.
Manta Resort was hit with a hurricane the year after this photo was taken and it was closed for a long time but is now open again. I
took my Mom here on her first trip out of the country.Someday I'd like to make it back to this tiny little paradise!

Below is my attempt to paste photos together of the resort. Click on the image to see full size version.
One of the interesting places at the resort was a little
place on the edge of the reef  that you could wade out
to and the little island contained monuments that were
created by past visitors to the resort. The monuments
were made out of sea shells, driftwood and coral rock
that the island was made out of. My mom and I went
out and each made one. Below is the photo of mine.
The island contains a row of bungalows and then at the end is the
family house. This is where I stayed when I went and the views are
incredible off of the patio.
Out in the middle of the lagoon is the cantina. I think it was destroyed
in the hurricane and has been re-built.
I took my Mom with me on this Belize trip as sort of a 50th birthday
present. We had a great time.
My Mom on the 3 hour boat ride out to Manta Resort.
They served beer on the way out there.
I told her this photo would come back to haunt her :-)
Some of the local kids in Placencia and a market scene in Belize City on the right
Placencia, Belize
Fond memories of Rum Point Inn - Placencia, Belize
Placencia is on the Southern end of Belize, it is a very small village with a few resorts. Rum Point Inn did have a dive operation but I didn't
dive down there. I enjoyed the hammocks and taking the sea kayak out into the calm protected waters off of the resort. You can take a
boat up the Monkey River to take tours through the rain forest. It's a great relaxing out of the way place to go.
Placencia lays claim to the smallest road in the world, or something to that effect. The photo above shows the
"road" going through the middle of the village, which is basically a sidewalk, but of course you have to get
your photo taken on the famous road.
We came back to Denver to snow...
There aren't too many options for transportation here, you either take a taxi or
the sea kayak from the resort to the village or take the bikes over the really
bumpy roads
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