Villa Cayo

Villa Cayo is the Airbnb we stayed in for the jungle half of the trip. It's in Santa Elena, just across the river from San Ignacio, and it's run by Ken and Virginia, who have lived in Belize for about forty years and are both in their eighties now.

Ken is a bit of a genius about how things are set up. The pool is a saltwater infinity pool where one whole side spills over into a catch basin and gets pumped back through, which means the entire edge acts as the filter. Sitting in it at night in the rainforest, with the lights on and the dark outside, a bug would land in the water every minute or two and just drift over the edge. The pool was always clean. The laundry room has baskets stacked overhead, the cars are organized, and the whole compound is laid out with the same care.

We did the math on it as a business. They have around seven units they can lease in addition to their own place, so conservatively they're clearing several thousand dollars a month, probably a good deal more. Retired in Belize, running a beautiful property, and still sharp. Not a bad way to do it.

After the waterfall rappelling day we were too tired to go anywhere, so we came back here and floated in the pool. That might have been one of the best evenings of the trip.