Day 8 - Friday

I woke up around 7am, finally at 8am Lincoln suggested we get up and figure out what we were gonna do. We had NO PLANS today at all which was nice. We decided we'd take the Water Taxi to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, a neighboring island which is larger and has much more on it.

I had planned to do 'research' before we went over - that never happened. I love to plan...I'm beginning to learn to "Go Slow" and "Let Go". Its a concept and will add years to my life if I can embrace it!

I fired up the laptop to see what the water taxi schedule was. Later I found out  the Internet was incorrect. What I saw was that there was a taxi at 8:45am or 11:15 (there was also one at 9:30 that wasn't listed which we would have relaxed and taken had we known about it). We wanted to make the 8:45 one because 11:15 was just too late.

Its now 8:15 so we quickly shower, dress and leave. We walk up the beach to the water taxi and arrive just as its pulling up. Great - except we don't have a ticket yet. Lincoln has to go over to the office on the street to get the BZE$22 RT PP tickets. Fortunately we make it on the boat. This is one of the smaller ones (though newer & sleeker) that you have to sit inside. Its hot, so I'm bummed. Luckily its only about a 20-30 minute ride. The good news is I still have not had any sea sickness here. YAY!

We arrive at San Pedro and disembark. We walk up the half block to the main drag and are assaulted with 6 Golf Carts in a row FLYING down the very crowded (carts parked on the sides) streets. It was mayhem compared to Caye Caulker. I looked at Lincoln and said "get me the hell back on that boat". Seriously, it was like going from Kansas to NYC. Its also hotter than on CC, which I didn't think could be possible.

                        This picture really doesn't depict the "BIG CITY" feel
We walk a few blocks and find a store that is air conditioned. We go inside but its not local stuff, its clothing we could buy at home. That's fine, I linger to get cool. We walk to the other side of the island (at this part you can do that). Lincoln asks someone for a restaurant suggestion and then we walk back to the beach to find Lily's.

Lily's Restaurant

Once we get back on the beach side, its not so bad, though it is much more crowded than CC. Both people and business wise. We order breakfast, which is good but its also basically American prices (resort prices). I decide to try a Cinnamon Roll that seems to be on most menu's. Its warm and yummy. The fruit plate, though I order the small, its very large. We each have watermelon juice. Lincoln gets an Omelet. Bill is BZE$40.50. I think the most we've paid for breakfast yet.

Cinnamon Roll & Fruit Plate

                                                    Linc's Omelet & Fry Jacks - USD$10

View from our Table

After we eat we start walking up the beach. We stop at one of the jewelery tables and I start picking out necklaces. We found 6 that we liked. I also bought 3 anklets. I can't wait to get back to CC, we got good buys here, I'm thinking we can do even better on CC!

                                            The gal/table where the necklaces came from

As we wait for a the gal to add beads to make a couple of the necklaces longer, we see a couple (around our age) that we noticed were also on the water taxi, Lincoln says Hello and they stop and talk to us. They live on CC, ex-pats from England or Australia (I'm not sure).

Barry & Lindsay have come over to San Pedro to get their Passports stamped, pick up supplies and spend the night (a mini getaway). We have a nice chat, they tell us where they live and that we should stop by and check out their house since they are thinking of selling it. They tell us about a restaurant, The Blue Water Grill, further up the beach where you can get Blue Cheese crumbles (but you have to know about it and ask for them) on a Turkey & Cranberry Pita Sandwich (Western Food). Lindsay's eyes light up when she tells me about it!

                                      The Blue Water Grill

We get as far as the Blue Water Grill, its hot and I'm thirsty so we decide to have a drink. Lincoln just orders a Limeade, I order a Panty Ripper (sometimes called a Panti Rippa') which is Coconut Rum with Pineapple juice. Since we just ate breakfast, we don't order food. When the server (who once again is as hot as the air) brings the bill he asks Lincoln if he likes Rum. Linc says yes, but I didn't feel like a rum. The server laughs and says next time you will and leaves the bill. As you can see, the rum is basically free! LOL!

    Virgin Limeade BZE$6 / Panty Ripper BZE$6

As we walk on the beach there are lots of people selling there wares. We notice someone is selling hammocks. Lincoln has been negotiating with a guy on CC for a couple of days for a really special hammock. Its made out of nylon and crocheted so that if one thread breaks the hammock will stay in tact, it won't unravel. Miguel's first price was BZE$280. He's dropped it $20 or so each time we see him. Now we are in San Pedro and Lincoln walks up to the hammocks and Miguel swings around the corner and smiles. SMALL WORLD! They negotiate more (in Spanish) and Miguel finally gives Linc his rock bottom price of BZE$150. We tell him to find us at the Sports Bar at 5pm on CC and we'll buy it then. He does and we do!

Its noon and there is a water taxi back to Caye Caulker at 1pm. I want to be on it. While I'm sure there are things to see here, I didn't do the research and I don't want to wander around aimlessly, its way too hot for that. We are gonna come back in the future so I'll check this Caye out next time!

We do need to kill some time so we keep going down the beach and come across a really nice resort that is geared towards divers. The hotel rooms have thatched roofs, it looks cool.

        While we wait for the taxi I notice a truck out in the water...on a barge.

We got back to the Water Taxi dock and hopped on the 1pm taxi. We were happy to dock on Caye Caulker. Barry & Lindsay had told us that the Barrier Reef Sports Bar & Grill have a Guitar Jam every Friday from 3-6pm where they play good music from "our era". So we head back to the room to shower & relax. Linc takes a nap while I try to catch up on my blog.

Finally just before 4pm we head down the beach towards the Sports Bar. The band is in full swing. They sound good and people are having fun. We grab a table, order drinks and chips & queso since the kitchen isn't fully opened yet.

Once again, a fabulous CC day!

Day 7 - Thursday

Since I went to sleep before 9pm, I start waking up at 5am, I have no trouble going back to sleep and we finally get up at 7:15 because Lincoln is going to go Scuba Diving and has to be there at 8:30.

We aren't sure where we are going to have breakfast except that it needs to be fast (not possible here) so we won't go far. As usual, he wants Eggs and I want fruit. We stop and glance at the Specials Board at Tropical Paradise and see that Corrine is working. Its the first restaurant we come to and taxis go by a lot so we decide to just eat here. Its far to the dive shop so this way Linc can jump on a taxi and be there quickly. I decide that I want something more than just fruit so I splurge and get French Toast and its good! I usually only eat twice a day. Two breakfast entrees, two huge juices and coffee, plus a litre bottle of water to go is USD$20 plus tip. 

Lynn's Breakfast: French Toast & Fruit

                                  Linc's Breakfast: Eggs, Beans, Tortillas, Plantains, Meat etc....

While Linc is scheduling a taxi I start talking to a woman in her 40s at another table. She arrived the same day as we did, she's from Canada and is now "traveling" (on her own). For how long she doesn't know. She may never go back to Canada she says. WOW! She had arrived in Belize City on Sunday from Canada so her Journey has just begun. When Linc returns to the table he asks her to join us, which she does. Cute Corrine seems surprised and asks her why she would join us...I tease that its because we are such wonderful people. Corrine blushes, giggles and rushes off to check on our orders.

Linc finishes eating and jumps on the taxi. Theresa, the Canadian, and I sit and chat for another 20 minutes or so. She's staying at the hotel connected to this restaurant. She was hoping to get one of the cheap rooms BZE$25 ($12.50 US)  but they were booked so she's in a BZE$60 ($30US) room. This is how these folks "travel" for so long. Our room at $12.50 a night would afford her a place to sleep for 10 days! Our entire stay for 12 days would pay for 120 days at the $12.50 price...but that's for a HOT room and I, though not a Diva...do need my A/C so I guess I'm a Princess.

Rastaman & Armando, Dive masters from Big Fish Dive shop come into the restaurant and Rastaman recognizes me. I ask where Philip is because the gal wants to go to Hopkins in Belize and Philip is from there so I knew he could tell her all about it. I was kind of surprised Rastaman remembered me. Later in fact, as I walked by Big Fish, in hat and glasses that I didn't wear before (& without Lincoln who everyone by this time knows - LOL), Oscar the owner waved and said hi. People are friendly and once they talk to you they seem to remember you. Its cool!

I had planned to do some shopping , jewelery shopping but its not even 9am so nothing is open. I walk almost to the split and decide its REALLY hot and I don't want to burn anymore than I probably already have so I see a taxi and ask her how much back "home". She says $5. I say Belize? She says yes. I'm like YES! Yesterday we got taken like 3 blocks for $10 BZE. TOTAL RIP OFF...Linc refused to pay more than $7 (remember divide by 2 for US). I was far from home so $5 was a deal and I was more than happy to pay it. I wonder if its $5 per person??

She took me back. I expected that the girls would be cleaning the room but they hadn't started so I was able to get cool quick. I sat down at the laptop and started to catch up on my blog, answer emails and check out what my friends had posted on Facebook. After awhile the girls came to clean the room so I grabbed a bag of dirty laundry and headed for Marie's Laundry Service which Doris recommended. She told me it was across from the Bank which I remembered was over by 88 West where we had the fantastic Tacos! I headed that direction and was pleased that I found it without issue.

                         Marie sitting out in front of Marie's Laundry

I walked up to Marie and said I heard she was the best in town, that Doris & the gentleman from Bambooze (who was with Doris when I had asked where to go) had both told me not to go any where else. She smiled very big and told me to come back at 5pm. It was probably about 11am. I dropped off 7 TShirts, 2 pair of socks and about 5 pair of underwear - all Linc's stuff. I of course brought a TON of clothes and stuff that I could wash out in the sink, so I'm all set.

I walk back to Tree Tops hoping that the room is done and cold and I can get cool again...nope, they are still cleaning. These rooms are VERY clean. Everything is tile and there isn't a speck of mold, mildew or dirt for that matter. Its comforting to know how clean it is. They give us fresh towels every day, which is nice considering we are showering at least 3, sometimes 4 times a day. They change the sheets every 3rd day. There are no blankets on the bed. Simply one top sheet, which is really all you need.


I sit on the front deck, and sweat, for about 5 minutes and they are done. I thank them as they leave. I spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing, typing a bit, reading my book, mainly staying cool in the A/C filled room!

At around 4pm Lincoln comes 'home'. He's all excited about the diving he just did so we sit so he can tell me about it. We shower and get ready to go out and find some dinner. We aren't sure where we'll go tonight so we just head out and wander. First we stopped at Marie's to pick up Linc's laundry. The charge was BZE$8 so we gave her $10. Later Linc commented that it smelled really good.

On our way to the main drag from Marie's, on a side street we come to Rosie's. Along the front of restaurant there are BBQs. The staff talk to us and we decide to sit at the bar, have a drink and wait to see what they will put out on the tables to BBQ (there are no menus because what they serve depends on what they catch that day). We start talking to a young couple who happen to be from San Francisco.

The fishermen arrive and the staff put out different size lobsters, a bunch of fish of different sizes and huge shrimp kebabs. We aren't that hungry so we decide to share a kebab to start and go from there.

A family of 4 walk in and we begin to talk. They are from Alexandria, VA. Dave, Camille, Catherine (19) & Will (almost 16). They are all divers so Lincoln and they start comparing notes. Our food arrives and we begin eating. Its really fresh and good. Dave asks us if we want some fish. I really didn't understand, I heard something about having "lots of extra", I wasn't clear why they would order too much. We smiled and declined. A bit later we figured out that they had gone fishing that day and caught LOTS of fish, which the restaurant was cooking for them. Now of course we were pleased to say yes, we would love to try their fish. It was amazing.

A staff member and Me (he was as hot as the air!)

The Kebab

                            Snapper caught by the Hartshorn Family

                             The Hartshorn Family aka the Fisherman

                                  The fish when we were finished!

We had a great dinner, met fantastic people and really enjoyed ourselves. We walked back to our room along the beach and the moon was beautiful. We decided to take a drink and sit out on the pier and do some moon gazing. The wind was cool and it was beautiful. Another awesome day on Caye Caulker!

Day 6 - Wednesday July 4th HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

Day 6 - Wednesday 

AKA BLUE HOLE DAY and 4th of July for us Americans!

Today we went out on a Dive boat to the Blue Hole, among other dives, but the Blue Hole was the star. Even though I snorkeled...I'm gonna call it all a dive!

When we woke up the air was still, the palm trees were still...the weather was perfect. We showered and dressed and arrived at the Big Fish Dive shop just before 6am.

It seemed like a nice group of young folks...there was a proper queue for the toast this morning (unlike yesterday where it was a freakin' free for all!). I made Lincoln and I each a piece of toast with jam & butter, cheese on his. They didn't have the size flippers I needed (though I didn't realize this at the time) we tried a pair on my right foot and they seemed to fit so I grabbed the set and thought all was right with the world (I would soon find out this wasn't the case!).

Eventually we loaded the boat and left. We aren't wearing watches, nor carrying our cell phones (haven't done that since we landed) so we don't have watches to check the time (though our cameras do have the time and sometimes we think to check them). I'm guessing it was around 7am when we left the pier. It would be 1 hr 40 min ride to the Blue Hole. It was a beautiful smooth ride out. I didn't feel the slightest bit sea sick which was awesome. I did pop a pill when we were leaving the shore but I'm sure it hadn't kicked in...now I'm wishing I hadn't take it since it had made me so tired yesterday. Oh well. On the way out to the Blue Hole we slowed down and rode through some small islands (see
video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XauphfX8xSQ).

On the ride out, just in case, I sit outside on the back bench so I can watch the horizon. The engine is loud and fortunately I have brought my iPod. I put on Train's Save Me San Francisco Album and crank up Pat's voice and relax. I love it. Vacation ROCKS, literally!!

When we get to the Blue Hole, the divers which were the majority of the boat, started getting ready to dive. Video of some of his dive is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z65lZo-GnRI&feature=plcp

Philip, my guide and I jumped into the water to snorkel. It was warm and beautiful. I'm not a strong swimmer (I usually like to be able to touch the ground) nor am I in the greatest shape (a nice way to put it). This was going to take me WAY out of my comfort zone so I asked him to take it slow. Off we went, there was coral beds all along the side and I could see how the we were most definitely on the side of a large (HUGE) hole that descended into nothingness...very dark nothingness. I was very happy to stay around the edge. It is 984 feet across.

                                                      A picture from Google Images

I think Philip thought we were going to swim the perimeter and in hindsight I probably should have, and I didn't. I think we did about 1/3 and then came back the same way. My fins turned out to be too tight. They belonged to the dive shop and I only tried on the right fin. The left was killing my foot so I was in pain the entire time which took the fun out of it. I'm happy that I can say I snorkeled the Blue Hole though. Its not quite as impressive from the surface as it is from the sky, but you can tell that its where you are.

Philip and I boarded the boat and he started cutting the fruit for our snack when the divers returned. He cut up oranges (which the skins are still green) and
watermelon. Then there were cookies and biscuits (still cookies). I got fist dibs since the divers weren't back yet.

After the divers returned and ate we left and drove awhile until we reached Half Moon Caye Natural Monument http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/parkhalfmooncaye.html .
The boat let me, Philip and Ben (a young man from Vancouver, BC who was also snorkeling) off at the pier for our excursion while they went to the end of the Caye to dive. We walked along the sandy beach to a place to snorkel. I commented that this alone was worth "the price of admission". WOW it was amazingly gorgeous.

Walking towards one end of the island (that's Philip)

                                        At one end of the island

                 Hurricane Irene's aftermath? or was it Hurricane Hattie?
                                         I'm guessing the latter!

I decided to try to snorkel in just my water socks. Philip figured it would work because it was shallow and I could touch most places. I went out for a bit but wasn't 'feeling it' so I told them to go on without me and headed back for the shore. I sat in the water and just enjoyed the scenery. I was more than content to gaze off at the horizon and just relax in the warm water. The only thing missing was my honey next to me and a cold drink in my hand!

It started to rain, no big deal, I'm wet already! Then it started to POUR, and the rain was cold, then the wind picked up and I was getting cold so its becoming a tad of an issue. Before I was hot and sweaty when I wasn't in the water. I grabbed my mask/snorkel and headed for deeper water so that I could at least submerge the majority of my body in the warm water until the rain stopped (about 10 minutes). It peppered my butt pretty hard at times! Once it stopped Philip & Ben came out of the water and we headed towards the Museum and the Colony for the Red Footed Boobie Birds that live on the island.

                                            Red Footed Boobie Bird Statue @ the Museum

We took a walking tour and also saw a huge Iguana and small hermit crabs trying to cross the path as we walked. At the end of the island you walk up a 2 story observation tower and see the birds living in the tops of the tree. The whole thing was really neat.

I know lots of you guys want to know where to apply!

                             This Iguana is the size of a small cat!


When we returned it began to rain again. The plan was that the divers would come back and we would all eat lunch at the picnic tables on the beach. Because of the rain we ended up eating on the boat which had shelter. After lunch the Divers did the same tour of the bird colony so I went again with Lincoln.

The last place we dived was at Long Caye. This was my favorite dive of all and I almost didn't do it. I was tired and tired of being wet. My board shorts have now been soaked for hours, all of me has been soaked for hours. The good news is I haven't had a hint of sea sickness. I'm thinking maybe I'll just stay on the boat, relax and listen to my iPod.

They stop the boat and we tie up. The divers go in and then us snorkelers get ready. One of the girl divers decides she has had enough scuba and wants to snorkel with us. I decided to jump in and see what its like. They fed the fish for the divers so there are a ton of them. Huge "Tuna like" ones and small yellow and black striped ones. I get in and its really deep. I say to Ben that I may just stay near the boat since I'm not a big fan of the "open ocean" where I can't touch. He agrees and says he's not a fan of all the fish so close. There are hundreds it seems. "Rastaman" who is on the boat, tells me its fine to stay near the boat but Philip convinces me to go with him (I'm glad he does). He points to a buoy way off in the distance and says we'll swim to it but that the boat will come to us and we don't have to swim back. Heck, sounds like a plan to me.

Oh, BTW, now that Rastaman isn't diving, he lets me use his fins. They are a bit big on me, but better than no fins and I manage to figure out how to keep them on. Its EXTREMELY hard to swim in the open water (or is it because its salt water?) without fins --- basically impossible. We start floating/swimming. The fish are gorgeous and I like that the coral is far enough below me that I don't have to worry about scraping against it. Touching coral isn't good for the coral or me!

I have a life preserver around my waist, mainly to help me when I get tired (I think it may be all in my mind). I finally, after 2 days and on my 6th 'dive' start to relax and really enjoy snorkeling. Good thing we still have more dives to go over the next week!

Right before we get back to the boat Philip points out a Turtle swimming near by. She had these two things on her lower back, each side, that looked like "bones". He said she had been hurt and treated by the Belize Audubon Society and released. It was cool to swim near her.

We had a great day. On the 1hr 40min ride back to CC, I again listened to my iPod and even fell asleep a few times (that's how exhausted I was). After we rinsed our gear, we got back to our room by about 5pm. We had been gone almost 12 hours. We showered and dressed and headed off to a different Dive Shop, one owned by the Americans that own 88th St Bar/Restaurant where we had the awesome tacos the other day. Linc wants to try their service tomorrow.

We had his gear so we grabbed a Taxi and headed over there. While he talked to Brian, the dive master, I sat and had a drink a the bar. Renesha wasn't working but another nice gal was. A large group of Americans from Texas, our age, showed up. It reminded us that it was 4th of July. I sure hope Toshi is ok, he doesn't do well with the fireworks!

We had a couple of drinks and then headed back 'into town'. We were going to eat at the "Happy Lobster" but it was closed. Its funny that restaurants randomly close...or at least it seems random.

We ended up at the "Bambooze". A cool little place right on the beach (didn't have our camera). Instead of chairs they had swings. Happy hour was 2 for 1 drinks. I had a Panti Rippa, Coconut Rum & Pineapple...YUMMY! We had Coconut Lobster (think Coconut Shrimp). And then Lobster Kebobs with Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Toast. All very tasty! 3 sets of drinks and the food was BZE$70 / USD$35.

It was now dark but we walked back to our room. We usually carry a flashlight but didn't have it tonight and realized we really don't need one.

By the time we got back to our room I literally could barely keep my eyes open. I showered, again, and got into bed while Lincoln downloaded the photos/videos of the day. By 7:40pm I was SOUND asleep!

Day 5 - Tuesday July 3, 2012 Caye Caulker Belize

Day 5 Tuesday  7/3/2012

Woke up at 5:15am and its still raining. Lincoln walks over to the Dive shop and they are still planning to go to the Blue Hole. At 5:45am, when we are supposed to be there, I get out of bed, dress and walk to the dive shop with Lincoln. The sun is up and there are about 15 people waiting to go. Thunder can be heard in the distance.

I took a special motion sickness pill(that Lincoln got at a dive shop in Cali) last night and I'm feeling a little queasy. Probably just at the thought of going out on a boat in rough seas. I tell Linc he should go and then he and I can go on another day. Eventually he decides to stay "home" with me and we'll go tomorrow.

I've forgotten to mention that though we've been very careful to cover each other in sunscreen, we seem to have missed a few places so I have a bit of a sunburn. Fortunately not really bad. The backs of my arms are burned just above my elbow from snorkeling (I had a tshirt on because the top of my back/shoulders were a bit burned.) So for future water excursions I will be wearing a long tshirt until the burn subsides!

We go back to the room and I climb back into bed while he sits and reads the blogs I've posted and the ones I've drafted. I sleep. He wakes me so we can go eat breakfast. We went to the next restaurant past the Tropical Paradise called "La Bodeguita del Medio"...the next closest one to Tree Tops. I didn't want to put on sunscreen (since I planned on going back to sleep afterwards!) so I didn't want to go far. I had a cup of Strawberry Yogurt (Yoghurt here) and fruit -- Banana, Papaya, & Pineapple cut up in small pieces and a Frappucino. Lincoln had two sunnyside up eggs, a ramekin of black bean sauce, toast, a Moka Cafe and then a regular coffee.

La Bodeguita del Medio

                                                                     Fruit & Yoghut

                                                                      Eggs & Toast
After breakfast we went back to our room where I slept some more. I think that motion sickness pill and I didn't jive. I felt drugged.

Sometime after noon I got up and we decided to ride around the island on bicycles. I haven't been on a bike for years, much less the old fashion kind (a beach cruiser) which is what these were. The sand roads are filled with potholes and because of the rains the potholes are filled with water so it was an obstacle course. It was fun. We went to the Leeward side of the island (which is a whopping 3 blocks away) and found another Dive Shop that was connected to a bar/restaurant and a home owned by a very young American couple (who were on holiday). After talking to the dive  master, we sat at the bar for a drink and found out it was "Taco Tuesday" BZE$2 per taco.

                                                          Leeward side of the island

The dive shop in front of the 88th St bar/restaurant

                                                      Linc sitting at the very nice bar 88th St

When all was said and done, we had devoured 10 tacos. These were the BEST tacos I have EVER had in my life! WOW. We are going back next Tuesday for sure! The bartender was a young girl named Renesha from Ladyville, Belize. She was very nice and we sat and talked to her for awhile. She has been on the island for about 8 months and is a trained cook. If I did the math right she is about 20.
We took off on our bikes and rode through the back streets of the island and explored. Eventually we made it back to the main drag and rode to the split, turned around and rode back stopping at a store or two. Once back at the hotel we popped into the shower to cool off (we shower at least 3 times a day). I napped some more and and then worked on my blog. Lincoln explored the island on his bike while I napped. He found a really cool hammock that is woven such that if one string breaks the entire hammock ISN'T ruined (which is obviously an important thing) that he is negotiating with a guy on - it started out at BZE$300, we plan on paying about BZE$180!

Around 7pm Linc wanted to go into town and get some appetizers for dinner -- I would have been happy sleeping. We ran into a guy that was on the boat today. He said that the water was extremely choppy going out to the Blue Hole...I'm SO glad we didn't go today! I've decided I'm not going to take a pill tonight, it really knocked me out today. I'll take my chances tomorrow. My recent issues were when we were fishing...I think it may have to do with standing up on a boat. I was fine on the water taxi the other day and yesterday on the small boat (granted it was within the reef).
Its getting late and I'm basically now caught up...though I have to still post yesterday and today's blog with photos and its 10pm. So I'm gonna stop!

Day 4 - Monday July 2, 2012 - Caye Caulker - Belize

Day 4 - Monday July 2, 2012 Caye Caulker (CC)

First I have to say that we are getting plenty of exercise on this trip and have easily cut our food consumption in half. We walk everywhere and its a sauna so I think it counts double! I know Dr Anne, my Chiropractor/Health Consultant/friend would be proud!

We woke up fairly early, probably about 7:30. We are going out on a snorkeling trip at 10:30am so first we had breakfast at Glenda's. I assume they open at 8am, they opened at 7am so by the time we get there she was out of her 'famous' Cinnamon rolls. She doesn't have fruit on her menu and the thought of eating eggs in this heat is not appealing to me (plus we are going out on a boat and I've been known to suffer from sea sickness), so I just order orange juice. Linc orders eggs, ham, beans and a biscuit -- PIG. I end up eating the biscuit with homemade jam which is awesome. The juice tastes "funny", Linc tastes it and tells me its I think it tastes funny because its actually FRESHLY SQUEEZED from oranges...like the real thing baby! Its not real cold but its really fresh...squeezed moments ago!

We are going to Shark/Ray Alley and two other 'dives'. Its a small boat and the other guests are a group of young Israeli kids you just finished their tour in the
Army. Five girls and one boy. They are very nice. Mario is the Dive leader and Juan is his helper. Mario is a very funny man who has been on CC for 25 years. Between dives they serve us fresh fruit (watermelon and later pineapple which they cut on board) and later we get special punch (rum). We only motor about 10 minutes off the coast of CC to the Belize Barrier reef to Shark/Ray Alley. They are EVERYWHERE! The water is very shallow so I sit on the edge of the boat waiting for the area to be clear so I can slide off the side of the boat and not step on any rays or sharks when my feet hit the bottom (yuck!). The first time I go in, I didn't wear my water socks so I'm afraid to touch the ground. Its sandy with sea grass...but mainly there are rays EVERYWHERE.

                                                    The boat we took out to the Reef

                                                                    These are MY feet

                                                                     Nurse Sharks
NOTE: Our plan is to buy a program at some point that we can use to edit our videos, I'm sure you are wishing we had already done that, or you will be wishing so by the end of this trip. Unfortunately you are gonna have to deal with me wondering if the video is working or with extra time on the end of videos...sorry!

As you see from the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63nyUTBd6oo, Lincoln hands me the camera. Its an awesome video! I can't tell if he's handed it to me with the video going or if I'm supposed to take pictures, its hard to see the screen. I assume the video is on. Unfortunately there is a point where he comes up to me from my blind side and scares the living sh*t out of me! I mean REALLY???????? You do not TOUCH me when there are sharks and rays swimming around my feet. I FREAKED OUT! Fortunately the things I said did not end up being recorded. Those of you that know me...can fill in the blanks! I could not get out of the water fast enough. I panicked. Silly I know, but that's what happened. I hyperventilated, the whole nine yards. Juan tried to get me in the boat and couldn't. After a few moments, I was able to calm myself enough to get out on my own. Once back in the boat, I started to calm my breathing. One of the Israeli gals also freaked herself out and came out and joined me. I could then concentrate on calming HER down. Eventually we both calmed down enough and we both went BACK in the water.

Lincoln later told me how proud he was of me. First for getting in the water in the first place with the sharks & rays and then even more for getting in the second time. That was nice. He didn't scare me on purpose, he wanted the camera and thought I knew he was next to me.

Oh...we saw a BARRACUDA (he's in the video above)! Scary looking fish. He was pretty big too! Even freaked out Lincoln who doesn't get phased very easily. While the Nurse Sharks and Rays are docile, the Barracuda is not. We saw him at the first location and then again at the third location. All locations were fairly close to each other so it made sense that we kept seeing him. I of course start to wonder if he's stalking me and wants a chunk of my lily white flesh!

The next two places were fun as well, coral reefs to explore, hundreds of different fish to see and Lincoln saw a bunch of huge Lobsters in the rocks. We even saw a lost Ray. We were always in sight of CC.

                                                       Looking towards the island

We got back to the room about 2pm. The A/C still hasn't been fixed. The repairman should be on the Water Taxi from Belize City that arrives at 4pm. We take ice cold (the only smart kind) showers to get the salt water off us and cool off.

We are hungry and thirsty so we decided to try a restaurant, Tropical Paradise, around the corner & through the graveyard, that's having a Happy Hour (all day really) special of a bucket of 6 beers (9.6oz each) for BZE$20 (USD$10) with Chips & Salsa included. We order that and the girl gets all embarrassed and giggly when we tell her the bucket is just for Lincoln and I want the Banana Colada special 2 for BZE$10. We ordered dinner and hung out for awhile hoping that by the time we got back to our room it would be a cold room.

                                 The graveyard we walk through multiple times each day!

                              Lincoln and his bucket of Belikin Beers

My Love & Me

                             The Fish Fillet Special (yummy potatoes)

At about 5pm a storm came in and it started to pour and get really windy. We thought it might just pass through but it looked like it was going to stay. We have paid for a trip to the Blue Hole tomorrow. Fortunately we have plenty of time and if we don't go tomorrow there will be other trips we can go on. The rain comes and goes but the storm is sitting over us. The good news is that it does cool things off a bit.

                                      After the first rain shower

When we headed back to the room we found that our room was still a "hot room". Doris set us up in room #2 on the first floor while the repairman worked on the A/C unit for our room. Within a short time our room was cold and we were happy campers.

We only ate twice today (I really only ate once). But neither of us are hungry. Its going to be an early morning, we have to be at the pier by 5:45am to go to the Blue Hole so our plan is to go to sleep early but of course its almost 11 before we finally get there.

I'm so far behind in this blog that I spend time typing it instead! Adding pictures seems to take even longer than typing it. Gotta please the fans - LOL!

I'm thrilled so many people, friends and people I don't know, from all over the world are reading my blog! Thank you!!!

Day 3 - Belize City & Caye Caulker

Sunday (Day Three)

We got up at 6am and started packing. Once we were ready to leave the room we realized our voucher for the Water Taxi was nowhere to be found. We searched the room high and low. Last time we had seen it was before dinner, it was sitting on the computer desk. At this point its 6:50am so we rush down to the lobby to talk to the Concierge as well as check out.

The Concierge wasn't there, she starts at 7am but today she's 10 minutes late. Once she does arrive we find out that the voucher book is locked in a room that she doesn't have a key for. The gal that sold us the voucher has the key and is even later. So, no way to get a copy of the voucher or for us to buy another voucher. She tries calling the folks at the Water Taxi, they say without the voucher, they can't help us either.

Our concern is that today is the culmination of Lobster fest (no, not at Red Lobster) on Caye Caulker, so the Concierge has told us the Water Taxi is going to be a nightmare and that without the voucher we may have to stand in very long queue to get a ticket. The Water Taxi wants you to arrive 30 minutes prior to departure...we are hoping to get on the first boat that leaves at 7:45. Its now 7:25...at 7:30 we go outside and Linc whistles for a car taxi (just a local man in his Toyota car) who for USD$5 will take us the couple blocks to the Water Taxi terminal. We've decided our only option is to go stand in the queue and buy new tickets.

Though its close by, we have a lot of bags (5) - one weighs more than 60 lbs. For those of you who know me, this comes as no surprise. Yes, we brought stuff we probably won't end up using. We also have 1.5 bags that are full of fins, masks, snorkels and dive equipment. For a change, I didn't bring too many shoes, 2 pair of flip flops and my Teva's. Not overkill!  Remember, we are going to be gone for 14 days!

Anyway, we get to the Terminal and a tall young man meets our Taxi and says he'll take care of our bags, just like at the airline. He gives Linc a claim ticket and we walk off to the ticket booth. There are people here but not that many. Its 7:30 am on a Sunday! We later find out that a lot of partying happened on Saturday night...and that the festivities really don't start until later in the day so its not as crowded as the Concierge thought it would be.

The gal at the window asks if we are from the Radisson. Linc says yes, she said her boss had told her that if we could assure her that the Radisson would produce a copy of the voucher later that they would let us board for free. Linc explained that the girl with the key was MIA and that we lost the voucher, it was our fault so we'd just pay for a round trip ticket now. She realized we were being honest and not trying to scam them because she went ahead and gave us the one way ticket for free. As we were waiting to board the Concierge from the hotel arrived with the copy of our voucher...so in the end, it all worked out --- as it always does!

Water Taxi
The ride to CC took about 1 hour (they say 45 minutes, that's Belizean minutes ;^)). We sat outside on the very back because I typically get sea sick (though I didn't on this ride!). It was fun and the boat flew...probably about 40 MPH. I got SOAKED with spray off the sea. It felt good because it was pretty hot. We passed lots of small and medium sized islands. Miles had told us that John Travolta, Leonardo DiCaprio & Tiger Woods among others own islands off the coast. We got fairly close to one medium sized island with a large mansion and golf course on it. We assumed it was probably Tiger's but have since been told its another Multi-Millionaire's.

Caye Caulker (CC) is a beautiful island peppered with large coconut palm trees and docks sprouting out from the island. We docked and they pulled our luggage out from the hold in the bow. They took it to the shore on a large wagon. Once there, there were Golf Cart Taxis awaiting the tourists arrival. For BZE$10 or USD$5 we got a ride to our hotel www.treetopsbelize.com (check out the video here http://youtu.be/wMqMdUc9Nu4)

BTW, there are Iguana's of all different sizes skittering about...the island's equivalent of squirrels!

                                                                    Iguana aka Squirrel
The Tree Tops Guesthouse has 6 rooms. 4 on the first floor. The owner Doris and her 4 Jack Russell's live on the second floor. We are staying in one of the two "penthouse" suites located on the 3rd floor which have private verandas. We are spending the first ten nights in the Sunrise Suite and the last two nights in the Sunset Suite. The suites have private access to the roof-top deck. There is a section that is covered and has seating and two hammocks. There is also a sun deck (too hot for me, thank you!) The entire front of the house is the veranda that belongs to the Sunrise suite. Its very private which is nice.

View from the Roof Top of Tree Tops

                       Tree Tops Guesthouse is behind the red building

Check-in time wasn't until 2pm but Doris let us drop our luggage off and thought our room would probably be ready at about noon. We went off looking for food. There are no cars on the island, just bicycles and golf carts. We decided to walk and explore. We chose to eat brunch at Amor Y Cafe. We each had an iced coffee (the ice cubes were also made out of coffee) and shared a Grilled Ham, Cheese & Pineapple Sandwich on thick homemade bread. It was really good. It wasn't a lot of food but because of the heat we weren't that hungry.

We walked out on the small pier by the hotel to check out the possibility of swimming there. I noticed something dark in the water swim by...it was a Ray (like a Stingray). Pretty cool! We came back to the hotel and since our room still wasn't ready, we went up on the roof and laid in the hammocks and napped. Lincoln taught me the correct way to lie in a hammock...at an angle. It was relaxing and much cooler because of the breeze and the shade.

Eventually our room was ready and while I was napping Lincoln carried all 5 heavy bags up 3 flights of stairs...gotta love him!! We closed all the windows and turned on the A/C. While I unpacked, Lincoln went snorkeling off the small pier to cool off. After about an hour it wasn't getting any cooler in the room, in fact it was getting hotter. We went down to talk to Doris, thinking maybe we didn't have the unit switched properly (its not the type of A/C we are used to). She decided that there was an issue and she needed to get a repairman. Luckily for us, the Sunset room would not be occupied until Monday, so we would be sleeping in it tonight. We had run of the entire 3rd floor. FUN!

After ice cold showers (all we will be taking here - *Side note one item I brought that I will NOT be using is my hair dryer. Blowing hot air on myself is a crazy thought. I've actually have been putting my hair up while its wet...within a very short time it is dry!) we headed down "main street" (not paved, no street on CC is paved) in search of the Lobster fest Party. All the restaurants on our way into "town" had Lobster as their special of the day, but we wanted to go to Lobster fest itself. As we got into the 'center of town' we found lots of 55 gallon drums cut in half and then turned into BBQs, covered with large lobsters split down the middle coated in garlic butter just waiting to be eaten. They
were selling them for BZE$20 or a whopping USD$10 and this included rice & beans. Think Spring Break...that's what it was like. Booze and food was flowing and the people were happy and having a good time.

We decided to continue walking down the main drag to the Split...this is an area where Hurricane Hattie actually split the island in two in 1961. This area was even more like Spring Break! People were all over the place. The vibe was energetic, the music was loud and thumpin'. People everywhere, some drinking, some swimming, some dancing. There was a tree sticking out over the water that people of all ages were lined up to balance/walk out on and fall/dive into the water. We ordered a drink at the Lazy Lizard, the bar at the Split. In addition to the official bar, there was a make shift bar under a tent that served beer, I guess for the over flow.

                                                                           The Split
We only hung out for a little bit and then headed back into the main part of Lobster fest to eat. We bought a lobster from one of the street vendors and sat down at a picnic table wit a young English couple, now living in Australia. I had a fork but actually this germa-phobe ate with her fingers (shocking but true!). Oh BTW, ice cold beers & Belizean Rum Drinks were BZE$4/USD $2. When we were done with our first one, Lincoln picked out another vendor and got a second one. We probably should have had a few more but because of the heat we still don't have much of an appetite.

                                                               LOBSTER FEST
Eventually the sun went down and the temperature also went down. The wind picked up a bit and we were finally cooled off. We wandered into the Rainbow bar, that straddles the sea. We watched the sunset over the water. As it gets darker we are glad we thought to bring a small flashlight as we walk along the water's edge back to the Guesthouse.

Our first day on CC was fantastic! We are looking forward to the rest!