Flying Island Style

One of the funniest things about going to San Pedro is how you get there--you fly on a little 10 person plane for a few minutes and then land smack in the middle of town. Last year, we stopped at a private island and dropped off a case of beer and a suitcase on the way out, and this year we stopped at Caye Caulker, which is about 1/10 the size of San Pedro airport. I did not get any shots of that though, since it was raining on the way out.

Instead I took pics on the way back. This is a dog who was moseying around the people waiting to board, and the tarmac. No one seemed concerned about her at all, and she went wherever she pleased--stopping short only of going in the office. Guess the heat does not bother her.



This is the baggage claim. I know I had a similar photos last year, but it still cracks me up.










This is the actual plane we flew back on. We had a full load, but we stopped at the Belize City municipal airport (which by the way, is right on the water, so that when you look out the window and straight down, it appears there is no ground under you at all). There we let off all the other passengers so that Barry and I had the plane to ourselves for the rest of the flight. That was kind of fun.



This was what it looked like from inside- before we let off the other passengers.




I took this shot from the window between Ambergris Caye and the mainland. This is how low we fly, I had on my long glass but not telephotoed out much for this photo.





This photos shows how shallow some of the water is amongst the islands---the light spots are really shallow---less than eight feet for sure, and sometimes much much less. The dark spots are quite often coral or plant life. The colors are amazing, aren't they?

Looking forward to vacation

Two weeks from today, we will be in our second full day of vacation in San Pedro Belize. Bacuse I am psyching myself up for the trip (like that is necessary), I am perusing some sites from the island. One of my faves is a scuba instructor's blog. He posted this cool vido of Godilla, a local loggerhead who is a BEAST.

I thought I would share it. I bet Lorna gets creeped right out by this---she is claustrophobic, and somehow I cannot describe accurately enough to her how wonderful it is to be underwater with huge things in order to cure her.

The rest of you will like it though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0dlb1R8oRg

Now I am so excited, I cannot concentrate

T-2 months

May 31 is the second annual girls trip with Amy B--with a twist. There will be boys. Barry is going and a friend of Amy's may be going. That will surely change things, but it should still be swell. Plane tix are bought (and thank God for the vouches we got coing home frmo the cruise, as the tix were damn near 700 a pop this year), AmyB got our puddle jumper plane tix and arranged our hotel, and is badgering our dive shop into discounts---so nice to have her tend to me like that!

We leave early that morning and arrive in San Pedro Belize at 3:55 pm--we are staying a week this time. I hope that means I will get a nap in this time. We are going to dive, dive and dive some more. We are maybe going to see some Mayan Ruins in Guatemala (kind of a wierd coincidence, since Mandy and Gabi will be home by then), and there will be much tanning, eating, dancing at Fido's and general debauchery brought on by the consumption of Rum Punch.

I really am excited to show it to Barry, I don't think he can possible understand how swell Ambergris Caye is without seeing it for himself.

Next year, we are going to try really hard to go somewhere else--Bonaire is definitely on the short list. I also want to go to Roatan, Honduras, but I guess that will have to wait a couple of years--one dive trip with AmyB per year is the goal for me. I should take that up with her I guess. Last year truly was one of the most fun 4 or 5 days I have ever had in my life though, and I am not willing to give it up any time soon

State of the Art? Not so much

Now if this was my manner of transport anywhere in the US, I would surely cry and be convinced I was being hauled off to an unfortunate end. But since I was on vacation, it seemed like an adventure to me. We flew from the mainland of Belize in this bitty plane, sweating like hogs but laughing like we had stolen it. On the way to our island, we even stopped and dropped off some luggage at a private island, turned around in a circle and flew off again. It still only took about 15 minutes.

We landed on the San Pedro airstrip, which is smack in the middle of town, where this swell fellow asked if we needed a beer---I did not think this was any time to start a new habit of turning down a cold beer. Besides, it was HOT in that plane and we were on vacation. I did not know that he would have to run across the airstrip to a store or restaurant to fetch them, but that is precisely what he did. This is how we were introduced to Belikin, the local beer, which is really not bad, but very tricky in that the glass bottles are really heavy. That would be all right but it is misleading in that it makes you think that you still have some left, when in fact, it is empty. And no, Mom, we were not the only ones that noticed it--it was a common complaint from everyone we met. Tricky tricky, those Belikin bottlers are.

This last pic is just funny-- and is no joke- that is the ACTUAL baggage claim, I kid you not. They are very cute though how they ask for your baggage claim ticket as if your bag could get mixed up with the three other ones on the wagon. I think I need a big ol' wagon like that to haul hay though, I would get a lot more done!

Which one is the pervert?

This picture was taken late at nite (yeah really late, probably 10 pm but time gets all screwed up there!) our first nite in San Pedro--we met all of these people within an hour of arriving, either at our resort where the guys worked, or the beach bar next door where the girls and one guy were hanging out with their families. We went to dinner with their families, then dancing---we had such a great time, and I was disappointed to see that this is the only pic I had of all of them.

The girls left the next day but the guy from Wales was there with his dad all week, and we kept running into them at Fido's, a fun place with live music and cold drinks, right on the beach in the heart of town. It seemed like we had known them all forever.

I am pretty sure it was not long after this that we had to be put in a cab and sent home by Gene Gene the Smiling Machine, as we had lost the ability to navigate for ourselves. Probably you find that hard to believe, but hey-- we were on vacation! There is something to be said for a place where it is all right to get a little silly, and someone will take care of you.

Now I am thinking these two guys from our resort have the best jobs in the country--they entertain the guests out at the clubs, and it sure looks like fun! It was cool to have someone tell us where the party was that night, but also to buy our drinks when we got there....now that is living! I was sure at first I was just really popular to be getting all this attention, but I am confident now that it is just their job to carry on like that. Oh well--

On Sunday, we made even more new friends on our dive trip--Ted and Christy from NYC, who were scouting wedding locations. Ted is a former attorney who just finished his first novel and is now assisting Christie in her business, which is certainly unique. She invented a game called PervArtistry--a sort of combo pictionary/charades game with adult themes--- http://www.pervartistry.com/ Their stories are absolutely priceless, but I am not telling them, lest someone's grandma is reading this. We had a great time with them on the boat, and for drinks later--I only wish they had more time on the island to hang out with us, as we laughed so hard, we hurt. Good luck picking a location guys, and have a happy marriage!

My partner in --um, crime, I guess

Aren't I graceful? Well, underwater, at least it is harder for me to trip over things!

I dont know how to shift this pic of AmyB, but I guess it does not really matter---she is never straight up anyway! She is the one that got us into this trip in Belize--well, I picked the place, but it was her idea that we needed a girl vacation. Was she ever right! Without her scuba-crazy influence, I probably would not have dove again, and I am so glad I did! She has dove all over the world, more than 50 times, and now she has me so addicted that I worry for the future of my Mastercard! She may join us in St Martin in the fall, and now we are talking Greece for next August or so....she had already been to Greece and as much as I have dreamed about it my whole life, I have been a little apprehensive about getting in over my head--with her as a guide, I will be in great hands. Liquored-up maybe, but good hands!

More sights from below

Some of my favorite pics from our dives. We dove three times, from 40 to 65 feet, at HolChan Marine Reserve, Cypress and Tuffy Gardens. The best pics come from the more shallow dives, I think.

The pic of the left is a baby sea turtle, maybe 8 inches across. He was very cute. The bigger they get, like the one below, the crazier looking they get with their speckled heads and beaky faces. I think we made this one angry

This spotted eagle ray was my favorite thing we saw, and it was on our last dive. He was at least 6 feet across in wingspan with an equally long tail. He was amazingly majestic and so graceful the way he just glided through the water.

Thanks to Ecologic Divers, especially Junior and Steve, for an amazing experience. We will be back!

Amazing underwater world

I'M BACK! Ambergris Caye is the most amazing place I have ever been. The scuba diving is the best I have ever done, and I am completely addicted again. I have a jillion pics to post, but I will start with my favorite pic of this nurse shark. We saw a lot of them, and even got to touch some of them.