Mornin all,
This is a bit lengthy so sit back and read or pass by……your choice.
Kerry and I got back very early Sunday morning and between body rest and 193 work emails, well it’s Tuesday right? What an amazing trip! A lot of you know that I’ve traveled a fair bit “for an American” and having friends at your destinations had to be the best experience for both of us I ever could have imagined. It’s one thing to go to a new place…it is a whole different experience to have a friend meet you and show you around, give you the “lay of the land”! It makes you feel so at “home” so quickly….it was very unique. Also many, many thanks to all here because you all made this a trip we really enjoyed and were comfortable because of all we learned here.
The other thing, no matter where we went, top to bottom, east to west…the people are the nicest people I’ve ever met or seen from the Jungles of Brazil to the North of Saskatchewan, and either coast….the nicest folks I ever met, I left on Saturday. We cannot thank Brad, Gayle and Mike (you are blessed my friend) enough for their friendship, hospitality and sheer information.
Brad showed us around his Caye and introduced or showed us where nearly everything on the island was….and doing so using his resources in a place where replacing those does not come easy…..we noticed and we appreciate it more than you know! We had a great conversation with Mario at Ice & Beans while he made tasty mini donuts & iced coffee for us for breakfast the next morning! Originally from Belgium, Mario has been there for several years now. He admits to no longer being “Belgium” but he retains a bit of his Eastern Bloc accent!
Most know of our original plan and how that turned out. The George Hardie's Las Vegas hotel claimed it’s in Belize…yet I have to enter into Mexico through immigration lines to get there! They fly a Mexican flag over the hotel and the casino pays in pesos then we needed to return through Blz immigration lines… LMAO…I’ll deal with that later too so Expedia flags them so others don’t get jammed.
I had told the desk guy at the Las Vegas Hotel/Casino to ignore the “reservation” and I’d just pay cash for a single night. I explained I would deal with it when I got home and he didn’t understand that I was not going to call anyone (do people do that from a foreign country?) at Expedia or anyone else that minute. I had already planned not to be there most nights on the trip anyway and honestly, it just wasn’t worth ruining a trip over “dollars”…just seemed stupid because the issue would be there when I got home. So about 14 or so hours later, I was finally able to get my head around what I just said and we moved on to explore the Consejo shores and went to RD’s for lunch. Bruce has been sending us loads of information, complete with pics so we drove all around before getting out for the day and walking. Thanks for the spur of the moment recommendations that many of you guy offer in my “help thread”. Kerry hooked us up for that night at Tony’s down on Corozal bay. A gorgeous place and like everywhere we went off CC, we were nearly the only ones there or at most, 3-5 other couples or single folks. It’s off-season for many folks there but we never once heard or saw any evidence of lowered services staff…..every place we took time to talk & listen to the local people that worked there and once you chat a bit, it becomes obvious that the people we spoke with, enjoyed that their job brings them together with new people. That’s kind of unique in my experiences….most are nice because it makes them money to do so. Yet most here aren’t making enough for it to be a difference maker. When you talk with the guy driving &unloading the fruits & veggies, he doesn’t have to be nice to you….he drives a truck and hauls crap all day….he ain’t making money off me either but after I showed interest in what he was carrying and where it had come from, he told me about his family, his girls and how there is more and more work so for a lot of families, there might be 2 or more people making actual money instead of one. He took his family south of Placencia to a small town for vacation last year and enjoyed being “taken care of”……it’s often odd for people in the service industry to RECEIVE service instead of giving it…but I didn’t say that to him….he was a genuinely nice guy taking care of his family. I have no more respect for anyone as I do people like him.
We left Corozal and headed to Orange Walk & OW town. We had driven through on our way up to Corozal or as Kerry calls it, “the Ride of horrors” because I was driving and I tend to swerve when I sight-see. We also had been cut off by a horse of all things…then 20 miles later a Monkey bounded across the road. This wasn’t a tiny monkey but a big boy that took his time! I agreed after treating her for shock that night, she could drive for the balance of the trip but we agreed that whoever was driving would lose said privileges if they got a flat tire….incentive my friends, is a wonderful deterrent to me changing a tire in 90% humidity!
We continued to BC to catch one of the ferry’s to Caye Caulker. Brad met us at the landing and could not have been a more gracious host. Kerry’s first words later were, “what a really nice guy”….and I agree that it pretty much sums it up!
We had to go to the Split just to drink a pair of Belikens and take pics…yeah, as Brad had warned, 7blz ea….but we had fun and it might have been on someone’s bucket list that I wasn’t aware of! I looked at the dive platform maybe 4-5 meters above the water, thought about it then remembered I brought not one but two L-knee braces, one a titanium custom job courtesy of the Redskins (another dream fulfilled) and settled for enjoying watching the kids have fun. It was too early in the trip for me to be crippled I resigned and I didn’t want to put that on Kerry so far from home.
We ate dinner of course at Maggies Kitchen taking Brads recommendation and weren’t disappointed…and (I tried ceviche for the first time….not bad but I HATE “cilantro”?? Ugh….) we had a great time meeting with new friends from an earlier time on the ferry coming over. They were a young couple from Holland or Denmark. We spent the night at the Ilsa….hmmm, it was a bit “college dorm” atmosphere with the usual suspects next door but apparently, I slept through it and it only kept Kerry up so no issues for me, let’s move on….I’m just kidding folks!! You guys who have met her know why I think I’m so lucky she chose me, we love having fun together!
Anyway, since we were staying in a different place each night, we moved the next night to Jan’s for the night…nice, very nice, super staff as was the staff at Ilsa’s to be fair. They let us take our room super early at 8am so we could stash our junk while we went snorkeling with Caveman! I got a chance to talk with him for the better part of 45 minutes and he’s done well with what life has given him. He’s 45, lived on the island his whole life and owns what has to be one of the best run businesses on the island. His honest concern for his guest’s satisfaction is done with a bit of managing their expectations of nature, invoking God to look out for them and the promise to resolve any, repeat any issue.
For you guys that know cameras, I took a new and unfamiliar Olympus TG-5 I only received a week prior to use on this trip. My other camera is a Lumix ZS70 because I’m not a photographer so it has to be point/shoot. We took over 1200 pics and vids from 30fps to 4k and the underwater 4K vid has to be seen to be believed! It even has sound!! Ironically, video shot above the water was often washed out by the sun or seemed to focus-hunt, no matter the weather. I probably should have read that 134page manual I printed and toted around for a week? The pic quality is average and they look great on a phone or tablet. The TG cannot and does not equal the quality of the ZS for outside, sunny, nature pics or it’s phenomenal built-in 720mm vs 100mm optical zoom….even though they share the same small sensor size ½.3”. The F2.0-4.9 lens on the TG gave very wide angles and it captured pics automatically no matter how dark, something the ZS cannot do as well. We were both very happy with the TG just for its sheer versatility and that it was Kerryproof….not all devices are built to that standard I’ve learned over the years. As long as I at least attempted to provide a stable platform, it shot well! She actually got the best underwater shots when she caught up with a pair of manatees…..and then a Tiger of the Sea….barracuda. I got the sharks, rays and a big Jack I think.
We got to see a little storm pass through Weds morn before taking the ferry back. We needed to see what it was going to take in getting our car out of parking….a word about this: Price was 20 Blz per day to one of the most “group of unorganized guys” as you ever saw. I told them we would return the next day & paid one guy 20Blz who said he would “give it to the guy”(we actually stayed 2 days) and we only took our snorkeling gear & side bags instead of our suitcases which we left in the car. When we returned, a brand new guy with a closed gate greeted us. We are beginning to get what many of you have mentioned (especially after our trip into Mexico and returning through Blz Immigrationin Corozal)….it’s Belize….yet somehow, they got it perfectly correct, kept our belongings safe and God bless Kerry for having the foresight for leaving our big suitcases and going “lean & mean”…that would have sucked!
We pulled out of the lot and headed through South BC on our way out to meet Mike and Gayle in San Ignacio. We had talked on the phone several times over the past couple of months and Mike hooked us up at the Midas in our own little casita or cottage. A beautiful place and the folks there like everywhere, were super. We got situated in our cottage when off of a sudden, we had incoming fire….sounded like we took a direct hit to the metal roof. Moments later, another round, and then another…..we exited after a short lull in the noise to take account of our tactical situation….we were under attack by the local birds who were eating avocados or mangos then dropping them from a branch high above our cottage….striking the metal roof with a resounding boom! The enemy seeing they were exposed, caused them to flee!
The place was thoughtfully, within easy walking distance of the town and we took time to explore before meeting Mike and Gayle for dinner. What a great time we had over great food and more….the owner, who they knew well came up to talk to us for a bit and we enjoyed a really nice evening with really nice folks as we all got to know each other better.
The next day we moved to the Cahal Pech resort located above the ruins and we took some time to unwind in our little thatched roof hut which hung on the side of the MTN overlooking San Ignacio.
We caught up with Mike and Gayle again the next morning for a nice breakfast and was surprised and honored by a handmade gift from Mike. I will let him expound on it if he wishes but he may wish to keep his alter ego secret? It is beautiful and will be hung in a fitting place! After breakfast, Kerry and I headed for the ruins. Afterwards, we spent most of the day in town. It was nice to scarf up on a couple bananas for snacks and giving the vendor a qtr Blz….12.5 cents US. Kerry bought a few things to take home for the kids and I chatted with strangers.
We had thought about staying another night there but after they told us we would have to relocate to another hut because they had another guest checking into ours (?!?), but we could only gain access to the other hut after 3pm….. I elected to keep their life easy so I asked for my total and checked out. Kerry pulled out another slam-dunk and found us the Dream Valley in Teakettle Village. What an amazing place it was too. Owned by a wealthy French woman, it’s over 70 acres of lush landscaping along the Belize River. That evening, the larger monkeys made themselves known with some aggressive enough grunts that I was thankful they were on the other side of the river! The Hostess Tonya and Chef Michael were excellent company and we enjoyed an excellent meal, alone…..70 acres of beauty and we were the only guests…..we enjoyed it immensely!
The next morning we were up for coffee and breakfast before leaving for the airport and our final adventures going home. It will no doubt take some time to digest everything that we learned from our trip and many of the things that we didn’t understand prior to our trip, now make perfect sense! Learning is like that, no matter if you are 29 as I see Kerry or my 60 yrs….we did exactly what we hoped to do, we learned!
I will really only comment on one aspect of our trip and I thought of it after we got home. Upon waking in my own home Sunday morning around 7am, I got up to make some coffee while Kerry slept. We had only arrived at 3:30am so she was pretty tired. I looked out my rear deck window and slid the sliding glass door open…..it had remained unlocked for our trip as it has been for most of the year. I mused at how nice all the folks were in Belize, but how every home that could afford it, no matter which part of the country seemed be surrounded in layers of “security” because those same nice people will steal all your stuff! The irony is there for the taking!
All in all, one of the best trips either of us has been on, ever and that was solely due to the friendships we developed. A zillion thanks to everyone!!
Oh, after landing in Charlotte NC while awaiting our final flight home to BWI, I checked my personal email for the 1st time in a week…..Expedia had ALREADY REFUNDED my $693 from the Las Vegas hotel. Kudo’s to them for doing the right thing WITHOUT a phone call!
Jeff & Kerry
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