You Better Belize It!

---

Disembarking

Yesterday, we did our cleaning and packing as we sailed back to Placencia from Lagoon Cay. We were greeted at the dock by a couple of brothers who were selling the souvenirs they 'made.' They were smart guys to be there, as it was simpler to buy from them as run around to any stores.

After about an hour in the sweltering humidity, all the dive gear was returned, our stuff was off the boat, and we were waiting to be picked up by a driver from the resort where we were staying. The guys and I went over to the grocery store to buy rum and chocolate and cane sugar. Then it was about a 15 minute drive along the bumpy road to our resort north of the airstrip.

Luxury

Our boat was pretty luxurious, but we felt pretty grungy after a week of cleaning off in the ocean instead of a shower. Most of my clothes were damp and caked in sweat and sunscreen. I had saved some clean clothes to wear for flying home and in the resort, but I needed a shower first.

Our rooms weren't quite ready for us, but we had lunch and enjoyed the pool. Once the rooms were ready, everyone headed for showers and naps. It was surreal to have so much space to spread out in, and to have running water, and air conditioning.

Chocolate

I decided to open up one of the chocolate bars I had bought in the village and share it around. It was amazing. It's organic chocolate, with only three ingredients: vanilla (imported from Mexico, which is just next door), local cane sugar, and local cocoa. Goss Chocolate comes in gold wrappers, and it felt like opening up something really special. It was really special. It was some of the best chocolate I've every had. I shouldn't be surprised, considering chocolate is from this part of the world originally.

Wedding Crashers

After dinner a few of us wandered down the beach to the next resort where a live band was playing. The music was fantastic, but no one wanted to stay because there was a wedding party there. It wasn't really a private party--there were other people from the resort there, but I don't think any of us really wanted to be sociable. Besides which, after a week of going to bed around 9 or 9:30pm, we were pretty tired anyway.

I had a fantastic sleep in the king size bed--definitely the best sleep I had all week. I could hear the waves rolling onto the beach and the air was cool. I woke up early enough for sunrise again, without even setting an alarm. When I opened the door of my room to go out on the balcony, there was a wall of heat and humidity. But it was such a peaceful, golden sunrise.

Land Sickness

Ever since we got off the boat, I've been a bit dizzy and off-balance. I didn't get seasick on the boat, but the land sickness is killing me! When I went back to bed after the sunrise, everything was spinning and swaying. I managed to go back to sleep for about an hour or so, but when I got up again, I nearly fell out of bed. I nearly fell over in the shower too.

The Last Morning

Once we'd had breakfast, we finished packing and checked out. We were driven to the airport by the same driver that picked us up at the dock yesterday.

The tiny airport at Placencia was busy. Our airline had to bring in a second plane for the 9am flight to Belize City. There were no stops at empty airstrips this time, and there was a lot of cloud cover, so it felt like we were stealing glimpses of the jungle and mountains below us.

I wish I had added a few days on to the end of the trip--I'd like to have gone exploring to see more of this tiny country. I'd love to see some of the Mayan Ruins, and some of the larger cayes further North. I wish I had time to do more snorkeling. There weren't as many fish as I saw in the Pacific, but the variety of corals here more than makes up for it. I think I saw more sea creatures from the boat than when I was in the water: an eagle ray, dolphins, sharks, jellyfish, a remora. I've saved all of my snorkeling pictures for last.

Suspect Luggage

One of the things we had to do before leaving was tape my luggage closed. There's nothing like traveling through Central America with your luggage wrapped in duct tape to make you feel conspicuous. I kept expecting someone demand I open it so they could search for contraband. It's a funny story, my luggage...

A day or two before I left to go sailing for a week in Belize, I was out running some errands, when some luggage caught my eye. It was totally cheesy--blue with red hibiscus flowers, and palm leaves etc. But the two pieces there were also perfect to take on a sailboat--a small duffel bag and an old-fashioned style carry-on.

I'm not sure what caught my eye first, the luggage, or the price. The bags were marked down from $75.00 each to $19.99 each. I fell in love with them. Matching luggage that would be easy to pick off an airport carousel, because the chances of anyone else having the same luggage on my flight were pretty slim. I tried walking out of the store without the bags, but I couldn't.

When I got home, I started packing, and I was so pleased with my purchases. They were just the right size. I was so proud of how light I was packing--even my snorkel gear fit in.

When my friends picked me up to go to the airport, they were impressed too--the bags were just cheesy enough to be cool, and they were tropical, and they were small.

The security guard who insisted on pulling everything out of my carry-on bag when we left Calgary was impressed too. Actually, she was most impressed with my packing--she said I did it so well that she couldn't put anything back in my bag herself, so I had to re-pack the entire contents of my bag (this after standing in the longest security line ever, and leaving us with only about five minutes to get to our gate and board our plane).

Our first flight was late leaving Calgary, and we had about 15 minutes to grab lunch and change planes in Houston. We weren't sure if our luggage would make it from the first flight, but from my window seat, I saw my cheesy new bag being loaded onto the plane, and I couldn't help but grin.

We had to change airlines in Belize, and I decided to get rid of my sweater, which I'd needed in snowy Calgary. I put it in my checked bag before re-checking it, and that's when the first disaster struck. When I tried to re-zip my new luggage, the zipper-pull pulled off. I was hot and sweaty, and frustrated. We got some packing tape from the airline, and wrapped my bag in tape so it could be checked for the flight.

With a week sailing, I was sure I had enough time to fix the zipper on my bag--after all, nothing was ripped or broken. No such luck. I fixed it, only to have the zipper-pull pull off again. We had a 3 hour layover in Houston on the way home, and I was grabbing something from my carry-on bag when the second disaster struck. The zipper-pull pulled off. By this time I was just mad. No tape this time, just a gaping bag.

I liked that luggage. It was fun. It was easy to spot at the airport. I'm not usually an impulse buyer. Maybe this is why. I wish we could have taken more journeys together. But for the next trip, I will go back to my backpack, which hasn't let me down yet! I'll be returning the luggage for a full refund.

The Pun Stops Here

We spent a lot of time during the week using the word Belize in puns. Our plans to write them down never materialized, so I can't regale you with a full list. Most of the puns involved the word believe:

You Better Belize It!
Un-belize-able!
I Can't Belize...

There were more. Or maybe we just used the same ones over and over again. At any rate, it was an un-Belize-able week, and I can't Belize it's over!

---

Photos

Last view of the Caribbean

Snorkel 6
French Grunts

Snorkel 7
Look at all the fan coral! It's everywhere.

Snorkel 10
This is looking toward the edge of a drop-off

Brothers
These guys were waiting at the dock when we left the boat, to sell us souvenirs they 'made.'

Comments

[Ellen Around the World]

Cool name for a blog ... actually, one I've also used! How cheesy are the t-shirts?!!

[LeGrandBleu]

Looks like you're having a good time in Belize ;) The photos are great!