Belize Barrier Reef & Great Blue Hole. The second largest barrier reef system in the world, and the largest living barrier reef system
Day One February 20, 2013
We have a 6 am flight and Carly insists we get there 2 hours early!!!! So we got up at 1:30 am to finish last minute packing and we were on the road to Seattle at about 2:45 am. We are not checking our bags for several reasons one of which is that we have a 50 minute switch in Dallas/Fort Worth. So the check in and TSA went smoothly. We were so early, the first ones to the gate. We waited and waited and then found that the plane had issues. The pilots could not read the instruments. So we had to wait for a new plane. Now we were going to miss our connection in DFW. I talked to an American Airlines gate person and she said that they could fly us to Miami and then out the next day to Belize which was more flying than just going to DFW and spending the night. Only one flight to Belize a day. If we waited until the next day then we get up at 1:30 am again! We decided to go to DFW and just see what happens. As we were getting settled in our seats I twisted my left knee (I heard a couple of large pops!).
We are crammed on the airplane. They had a very small assortment of food items for the 3 hour flight. I talked to the flight attendant who offered to find out information for me about our connecting flight. He told me there was the chance of thunderstorms in Dallas tomorrow so it might be good for us to fly to Miami and fly out of there tomorrow! Ugh! So we tried to nap and just relax. As we were disembarking they announced that the flight to Belize was at the next gate and it was waiting for the 17 passengers! Wow! We were elated!
Two hours from DFW to Belize. The plane again was crammed. Shoulders touching and no leg room. We landed in Belize, went through customs and TSA and boarded the 14 seat plane for our 15" ride to the island!
Dianne Lawrence, who takes care of the house, met us at the airport and we loaded up the golf cart. I asked to stop for ice for my knee! It was swelling and super sore. She gave us so much information. I should have recorded it! From what grocery stores to shop at so we don't get ripped off, to safety downtown, to great restaurants and more. The house is so cute! Wonderful mahogany cabinets and trim. It is called the Palm House and all the touches accent that theme.
It was really hot! For our first dinner we went across the street to El Divino's at Banana Beach Resort. I had a shrimp dish and J. had ceviche to die for!! The air-conditioning was great and we were able to use their wifi to let the troops now that we made it safe and sound.
We had trouble sleeping in the heat. I soon moved from the queen sized bed to the futon in the living room trying to stay cool!!!
Day Two 2.21.2013
We had breakfast at Rico's of Banyan Bay. We spent the windy day exploring the the island in the golf cart.
Afternoon naps in our cute bungalow.
Then we did a little snack shopping and I found Barefoot Pinot Grigio! Woot! Woot!
I wanted to go to El Divino's for dinner again. J had the ceviche again and, of course we shared Caye Lime Pie!
We went to George's for breakfast - great food - I had Belizean Eggs (with tomatoes and onions). They had the best bread! We went to Wine de Vine and J. bought a bottle of red but the wines were too expensive for my taste, hee! hee! We explored the north end of the island. Quite depressed. Some older homes and some big resorts that did not look like they were open. Lots of "For Sale" signs. We came home and started reading - J. - Jimmy Buffet and I am reading "Argo".
We went to dinner at the Victoria House - lovely room done all in white linen, like a plantation. We had great food and wifi! Happy Birthday J!
Day 4 2.23.2013
For some unknown reason, I woke up at 3:30 am! It is a good thing that I had a good book (Argo) to read! What would I do at that time without TV or internet? So I read and read. I tried to go back to sleep to no avail. We had breakfast at George's again - YUM! We went home for more reading and naps, It is especially hot and windy today. We had salads at Rico's. The water is a beautiful blue but I forgot my camera! WHAT? Tis true! We did some shopping for the girls' - sarongs and a tee shirt for Kyla and me! We headed home for more reading, a shower (did I mention that it was hot?), and dinner at el Divino. The internet was not working, so we had drinks and dessert at the Victoria House. We did a little exploring of the southern end of the island.
Day 5 2.24.2013
We had breakfast at Estel's on the beach in town. WOW!What and experience! The only table was the locals' table. A couple of the guys had lived in Colorado so we reminisced. One guy was still drinking from the party last night! The food was mediocre, the floor was the sandy beach and it was crazy busy.
We decided to go to the southernmost end of the island to see the Mayan archeological dig. It took a very long time to drive the six miles on the washed out, bumping road. When we finally arrived, a couple coming from the dig said that the wooden path seemed longer that a 1/4 mile and that you needed bug spray (which we didn't bring) and water. We started out but then realized with our knees and my poor choice of footwear (flipflops) that we were not going to make it. I hate giving up!
We had salads at El Divino's - naps - reading - showers - dinner at Hidden Treasure. The food was super good - I had the snapper with a yummy sauce. I had a Blue Mojito - mmmmmmm! Our waitress, Shannon, helped us plan for our sunset photos! Lovely evening.
Day 6 2.25.2013
We had breakfast at Caroline's. Yummy fresh orange juice! We took a town tour and a little shopping. Home for reading and naps. Salads at El Divino's, home for reading and naps. We went to the Sunset Grill for sunset photos. It was not a great place for photos because the sun was setting behind some houses on not on the water. The food was terrible. They do allow customers to feed the topan fish which are 4-5 ft long! Crazy! We went to the Victoria House for wifi, dessert and the best photos of the full moon!
Day 7 2.26.2013
Time to leave :-( Breakfast at El Divino's. Home for packing and cleaning up. We read for a while and went back to El Divino's for wifi check of airline reservations and to upgrade our seats because American is so tight. We got the bulkhead seats on both flights (without the bathroom situation of our trip to Italy!).
J. dropped me and the bags off at Tropic Air and he parked the golf cart and took the keys to B and C beach bar for Dianne. We left San Pedro at 2 pm and Belize at 4:40. We got to DFW and had an east time going through customs and TSA. Then a cart came by and gave us a ride out to the gate. The plane was delayed for 1 1/2 hours. So there we sat among many coughing children and adults. We took our Air-Borne!
These upgraded seats were not very comfortable! You could not stretch out your legs all the way!!!ugh! The movie was good "Chasing Mavericks". We had coughing man right behind us - double ugh! We arrived home at 3 am! Gus was so happy to see us!!!
Goodbye Belize! We had a great time!
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