Hi and welcome. My name is Henry A. Zacharias, I was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and since my child hood I have been interested in health, and healthy lifestyles. In the multicultural tradition of Canada, I have mixed philosophies and cultural practices along with metaphysics, music and extensive studies and practice in the healing arts working under the banner of Massage Therapist. This work got me an offer from a massage client to move with him to Belize and manage a health spa on a resort he was building. Interestingly enough, Belize is the one tropical location I have been interested in since my girl friend visited Central America in 1990 and told me about swimming in a fresh water pool in the middle of the jungle.
My life was and had been ready for a change and many synchronistic events converged in my last year in Winnipeg to bring me here that makes it all feel like it was meant to be. This helps me with the conviction to stay even when I'm feeling lonely for my family and friends back home. Especially for my Daughter, Larissa. She sent me this picture of her from Canada Day, July 1st/07.
and I'll have been here now for a year as of April 2/08, walking up and down this beach.
past this massage hut
dive shops,
more dive shops
beach bars and art studios and resorts
Belize is a common wealth country so its English Speaking with a British Parliamentary System, although its still in its infancy and any government is only as good as the leadership. Here are some facts about this country that I took from some web sites I googled:
Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1854. Territorial disputes between the UK and Guatemala delayed the independence of Belize until 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation until 1992. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy.
Ambergris Caye is the largest of Belize’s cayes, which number in the hundreds. The island's soft white beaches, delicious dining, world-class accommodations, and friendly residents have made Ambergris Caye the most popular travel destination in Belize.
Ambergris Caye is thirty-six miles long, stretching along Belize’s northernmost waters. The island is separated from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula by a narrow channel, dug by the ancient Mayans about 1500 years ago.
The largest settlement on Ambergris Caye is San Pedro Town, this is a shot of it from the Pier by the Sunset Grill on the back side which they call the lagoon side,
San Pedro is a Caribbean metropolis with a population of nearly 11,000, distinguished by its bright-colored wooden houses
(now being replaced by concrete to withstand Hurricanes) and relaxed Caribbean ambiance.
The rest of the island is a patchwork of sandy bays, lagoons, mangrove swamps, and tropical savannah.What to do:
The world’s second largest barrier reef is visible from many of Ambergris’s beaches—it looks like a tiny strip of white, due to the waves continually breaking against it.
The Scuba diving and snorkeling around the caye is exceptional, as well as sailing, fishing, windsurfing, kayaking, and even skydiving.
Divers can book dive tours to sites as near as the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, or as far as the famous Great Blue Hole, sixty miles offshore. The best snorkeling spot is Shark-Ray Alley, where you can swim among throngs of fierce-looking yet docile nurse sharks and stingrays!
I believe the above picture was taken by Taco Girl, Laurie lives here and has her own blog, you can visit her at tacogirlblog.blogspot.com
The name Ambergris refers to the piles of whale excrement—called ambergris—that washed ashore back in the 1600s. It is said that British pirates collected it and sent it back to Europe, where it was highly valued in perfume-making! Really, you can look it up, whale excrement is used to make perfume, ha ha, although its not really excrement. Ambergris is an intestinal excretion that envelopes what they eat to protect the lining of the digestive tract as it moves through and out because they are rather indiscriminate eaters. It only becomes Ambergris after floating on the surface of the ocean surface until it is baked hard by the Caribbean Sun.Here are two maps of Ambergris Caye
I'm learning about life here and how to manage in an underdeveloped nation. Life is so different here, much slower and more relaxed which is very nice and while it is hard to get things that we take for granted back home, life is great here and every day is a beautiful day in Belize. This next photo I took as a wicked storm was brewing in the western sky as the sun was setting over the Brahma Blue Resort.
This next shot on the right I took on the East side of Ambergris Caye from a home of a friend who has since moved back to France to go to University, I hope things are going well for Pierre now that he is back home.
And finally, as Larissa says above, Peace to you and many blessings
Namaste, Master Zac
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