Back From Paradise

Pardon my absence from the blogosphere, but I've got good reason.  Mrs. Scampwalker and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary recently in Belize.  And what a terrific place it is.  The people are friendly, the weather is sunny, and the scenery is exceedingly beautiful.

We based out of the Xanadu Resort on Ambergris Caye.  They were excellent accommodations, and Ambergris was developed, yet still had a rustic charm.  The tallest building on the island was two stories, so it's definitely less glitzy and obnoxious than many Caribbean destinations.

We ate fresh seafood nonstop -- including spiny lobster, which had just come into season.

We also swam with the seafood, including these rather sizeable (yet ostensibly harmless) nurse sharks.  The Belize Barrier Reef is about a mile off the coast of Ambergris Caye, and at 185 miles long, it's the second largest reef in the world.  And that makes for some truly breathtaking snorkeling.

The fishing ain't bad either.  Not being much of a fly fisherman, I opted to take Mrs. S on an evening fishing excursion among the mangroves.  We tore up the snapper, grouper, and jack crevalle.  I swear our guide Armando was the prototype for Hemingway's Santiago in Old Man and the Sea.

And while we didn't do battle with a marlin, I won't soon forget the brief after-sundown battle my wife waged against a 60-pound tarpon. The beast tail-danced just like I've always read about, and it was an amazing sight reflecting off the full moon's glow.

Not a bad way to celebrate with a woman who's put up with the likes of me for 20 years!