Dave had his first weekend off, so we left Belize City late Friday afternoon to fly to Ambergris Caye. Dave was able to "borrow" the airplane (since there is no back-up pilot right now to fly the ambulance), which gave me an opportunity to see a bit of the area from the air and to land on a couple of the runways that Dave frequently uses in his job.
We took off from Belize City, and I spent most of my time taking pictures. (A really great thing about a digital camera is the ability to take a lot of pictures and to edit them later. The only problem with that is the two hours that I spent since arriving home doing the editing!) Here are some pictures from the Belize City Municipal Airport runway. Yes, it is certainly close to the Sea! And I can see the building in which I work in the city scene! I'd have to point it out to you in person for anyone else to see it!
We flew over the Caribbean Sea within the Barrier reef, and I wish that the photos could do justice to the many colors. (Picture-taking through an old airplane's window is a little challenging!) One of the noteworthy land scenes is the shallow water and the many cayes or islands, most uninhabited. I think we should buy an island--as long as global warming is stopped in its tracks!
We passed Caye Caulker, which has an airstrip, and arrived in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye only 15 or 20 minutes after leaving Belize City. Ambergris Caye is a major expat community. Lots of people from the States and probably elsewhere are coming to Ambergris to retire in the subtropics. There are many resorts which make it a big tourism site as well. I chose a resort far out of town to the north, the X'Tan Ha Resort. I think I liked the name, the price was good (it is off-season) and the beach was described on their website as "pristine!" Once landing in San Pedro, we were picked up by a resort van and taken the few blocks to the water taxi, which we rode about 20-30 minutes to arrive at X'Tan Ha. The first photo is a not really clear one of the runway into San Pedro, taken through the propeller. The second picture is of Dave waiting for the water taxi, and the third is of our approach at sunset to X'Tan Ha Resort.
We were greeted with rum punch, and since they had no diet Coke, I was forced to drink rum punch all weekend! What a sad story! As this weekend was short on time and as Dave really wanted to relax, we chose not to do any tours this trip. We considered a snorkeling trip, but it would have taken most of the afternoon. Instead, we chose to read books and lounge by the pool! Oh, and eat!
X'Tan Ha Resort is beautiful! The rooms are beautiful, the view spectacular, and the people are incredibly nice! There is a nice restaurant on site, and you can actually eat anywhere--the seaside bar, the restaurant or your room. We chose the bar and the restaurant. One of the exciting features in the beautiful room was the king-sized bed!! (I never thought that I would have a double bed since we bought our first queen after college in 1972...but here I am, full circle!) We had views of the Sea and of the pool.
The following are pictures of my rum punch upon arrival, the beach, the pool area and me standing in the Sea!!
I read almost two books, as did Dave, and swam in the pool. Now for the most annoying part of the trip: the bugs!!! What a problem! We came prepared with insect repellent, but it was no match for the insects. Since I had repellent on almost every part of my body, one found my ear to bite! And hands were a favorite feeding place. We had sand flies, mosquitoes, and what they called "doctor flies" (or at least that is what I think he said), which had yellow wings and had a vicious venom! Dave does not usually get bitten much (hence, I think he does not coat himself in repellent as much as I do). But he is the one who had the big reaction to a fly bite: his hand swelled up, as did his forearm and elbow! I gave him benadryl, which may have helped, but it is still swollen--a lot! This is the season for bugs with all of the moisture. I think it would be better in the dry season!
Speaking of which, we had a thunder and lightening storm and rain in the night! I had to get up to watch the lightening flash over the Sea! Beautiful! But it also was a sign that a rather significant storm is approaching Belize. So we had to get the water taxi to come early, and rush to the airport to take off and reach Belize before more weather arrived. I missed going through the shops of San Pedro (which is what I was planning instead of that snorkeling trip), and I missed the lobster feed at the Resort! Lobster season opened on Saturday, and I really wanted to have some fresh lobster!!
Here we are flying out of San Pedro (note the clouds) and into Belize City--and the short runway at Municipal!
While the weekend was a do-nothing weekend, in terms of activities, it was relaxing. Lots of pool-time! And at least I have a little color to look like I don't belong in Ireland! (I was very good about sun-block, though!) Dave learned that he doesn't want to take the plane on holidays, as I guess he worried about it being safe and sound on the runway in San Pedro. And we want to take some driving excursions to see more of the country with our feet on the ground, like our trip to Cayo! But as far as having a break and pretending that we were tourists, it was perfect! Of course, our story at the bar was a little different than the other tourists! LOL!
The rain has poured here in Belize City for part of the day, and Dave couldn't do an ambulance trip due to lightening this afternoon. So I would say that we made good decisions all around! I am grateful to have had the vacation!
Paradiso!!
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