Belize!!

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Since I’m staying in Guatemala longer than 90 days I need to go out of the country so that I can start my 90 days over again or I could go to Guatemala city and renew it…. but that’s just not fun at all! So I decided on Belize. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I signed up. All I knew was that our food and lodging was included in the price. Since the basics were out of the way I had nothing to worry about!

The Belize border is about 9 hours from Antigua. Ten people were on this trip. We all had to cram into a van for about nine hours. Good thing we all knew each other because that was a long ride. After two bathroom breaks and a few naps later we arrived to the port of Guatemala. Next we would be taking a boat to this island called Livingston.

Livingston was a mix of culture. The island consists of a majority of immigrates from Jamaica and neighboring islands. But Livingston is still apart of Guatemala. Not to Belize yet! We spent the night there in a hotel with no water for a shower and we were able to hear voices through the drain pipes. Not to mention the family of cockroaches living under my mates pillow. Livingston was beautiful, but if you go there make sure you pick wisely on the accommodations. Cockroaches are next to impossible to kill…We ate a delicious breakfast and the best Frappuccino I’ve had in Guatemala! (I don’t remember the name). after out three hour breakfast we headed back to the port of where we arrived. The waters were glimmering and occupied by pelicans. We got back into the boat and adventured back into the gulf. We were off to Belize.

The boat ride was about an hour and a half of battling with the waves. At one point we were on the border of Honduras, Belize and Guatemala. Pretty cool, but I wouldn’t have noticed if the captain didn’t say anything. As we got deeper into the Belizean waters, the color began to change. It went from a dark navy blue to the aqua color you see in movies and those commercial ads you see on TV for cruses through the Caribbean. Honestly, I never thought the waters were actually this color! I was in total aw haha. If you looked down you could see straight to the bottom where fishes and coral have created a little city of amazing colors. I was so excited! We continued in the boat till we came across islands.

These islands had white sandy beaches and aqua waters surrounding them. Wow…what a sight. We headed toward the biggest of the three. When we arrived to the dock we all got out and felt the Belizean waters for the first time…WarmJ. The beaches were littered with coral and shells that use to be occupied by hermit crabs and conch. So over whelming, smiles were glued to all our faces. After walking the island we were told we aren’t staying on this island we are staying on a neighboring one. We all climbed back in to boat wishing we could just stay on this island and hoping that this next one was just as beautiful. And it was…

When we arrived to our island we were just as shocked! The beaches were white and coral occupied them as well! We were then taken to our rooms. Well they weren’t really rooms, they were shakes; we were taken to our shakes. Mine was called “the drift wood” and that it was haha. My siblings joined me on this trip so they were my roommates. We had a good laugh at the bunk beds. The bunk beds were constructed of two single twin beds piled one another. With drift wood nailed to the side of each post (like on step brothers!) there was a lot a room for activitiesJ. I immediately called the bottom bunk of the two bunk beds where no one would be occupying the top. I was safe. After we had a good laugh at the bathroom as well, like the last one didn’t have water for a shower, we adventured out of “the drift wood” to explore our little island.

The island consists of about twelve different buildings, most small and read bathrooms and showers. But only three cabins for lodging and we filled them all. All ten of us and four Belizeans were the only ones on this island. We had an island to ourselves. After our exploring though our little island we were told to get back in the boat, were going Snorkeling!

The water was warm, and the bottom of the ocean was alive. I was surprised at how clear it was. We swam in circles around the boat, the waves pushing and pulling. But not all of us were enjoying the dance with the ocean. The two men who came with us were fishing. One had a role of string with a hook on it. He was floating on the surface dangling the hook in front of the fish below. It didn’t look like it was going well… the other man had a hook. He was next to the ocean floor digging the long hook into the coral. I had no idea what he was doing so I just swam away. Not too long after I popped my head up and saw the guy carrying a lobster. He was lobster fishing! I have to see it of course, so I swam over to the boat and got a good look at the poor guy. He didn’t have any claws… just long antennas. I guys those are dangerous. We spent about two hours swimming around admiring the beautiful under world. Until our peaceful swim was interrupted by a yell. One that I was really hoping we wouldn’t hear. “Tiburon!!” “Shark!!” I popped my head up and saw people waving me closer. I was really confused. So of course I listened… When I got to where the hovered I looked down and saw a black tip reef shark sleeping at the bottom of the ocean! I was stunned. He was a biggin! I kept my distance. After a snap of the underwater camera, he must of woke up cause he swam off. Then we all swam for the boat haha just in case.

We went to another reef after lunch, which was just bread and cheese… with some water melon. While we were getting eaten alive by sand fleas it clicked, we are hunting for our food. We aren’t snorkeling! So when we hit the next reef we were all in search of lobster and conch. Did you know there are actually animals in conch shells! We had no luck with the lobster but we got three or four conch. We all felt like we did well! We ate well that night, Lobster, a whole fish with some rice. The lobster was amazing! We were all determent to catch more for tomorrow.

I forgot what the stars looked like when there was no a street light or tall buildings blocking the view. We ended the night with a fire on the beach playing some cards and looking up at the sky and down at the ocean. I forgot what a beautiful place the world is. I slept well that night.

The next morning we went snorkeling again. And we all helped with the food hunt. After a morning of searching and admiring the underworld we returned to our little island with no lobster but some more conchs. We were ready for lunch and a nap. For lunch we had ceviche with the conch as well as a whole fish again and some rice. I didn’t like the conch that much. Maybe it’s just the way they cooked it… just a little too crunchy for me ha. But the fish and rice was yummy! After lunch we took a nap in our and filled beds. Some attempted to shower but found no luck. The outdoor showers were already in use of crabs and a delicious sent of mold. So we got by with a baby wipe shower and a good distance away from each other.

We spent another night under the stars. Some went late night swimming but I had already gotten the sand out of places and I didn’t wish to do it again. We would head home tomorrow.

We awoke the next morning to a bright sunny day. The last two days were a little cloudy. So we were all a little irritated that the sun decided to come out when we were leaving. We ate some breakfast and loaded the boat. One last look at the sandy beaches and the aqua water, we were returning to Guatemala.

After an hour and a half boat ride and a nine hour car ride with three rest stops and a lunch break we made it home. I have never been so happy to sleep in these hard beds.

Sorry this took so long! My computer is fixed now I will catch up on my blogs for all ya’ll!😊)

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