Belize Bound!

After we made grandparents happy, we packed up and left for Belize. Truth be told, I wasn't looking forward to our looooooooooooooooong journey: three flights, a taxi, and a boat. Plus getting up at 3am to get on a plane is not my idea of fun, but as the saying goes, keep your eye on the prize right?! We flew American Airlines which I quickly discovered is not my favourite airline. We got on the plane and the pilot made an announcement that it may be a bumpy flight, so sit down, buckle up, stay out of the way of the flight attendants, and if we were lucky we'd get a drink. Ummmm okay, thanks?! We got to Miami (not bumpy but the seat belt sign never went off, I suppose so we'd all stay out of the way), and had a 4 hour lay over. First of all, MIA is not a good name for an airport. Seriously, who thought of that?! It made me think of Lost which really isn't a show you want to think about before you fly over the Gulf of Mexico. Secondly, there is nothing in that airport! We eventually sat down in the Jose Cuervo restaurant because you know, Mexican food and tequila is exactly what you should eat before getting on a three hour flight... Ooooh boy. Eye on the prize, eye on the prize. 

Waiting in MIA. Hopefully our luggage isn't MIA. 

Then we boarded our next flight to Belize City which was relatively uneventful. Thankfully I slept through most of our flights so it wasn't too bad. Plus I do have to say in American Airlines defense that they gave us bulkhead rows on both our flights since Dan is 6'-1" and fitting into a regular seat is pretty squishy for him. The lady in Toronto did it without our asking, and in Miami I asked at the counter if they could change it "as a gift for my husband for our honeymoon". Making the cute new bride face works like a charm I tell you! 

Back to Belize City. It's an adorable little airport with comfy wood benches, very tropical feeling. 

We were sitting with a few other people waiting for flight number three to Dangriga via Tropic Air. They called everyone up but told us to sit back down. A tiny airplane rolled up and everyone got on.

Note our sad luggage still sitting on the tarmac.

I'm thinking to myself: If we're not getting on that little plane, just how little of a plane are we taking?!

OH. That little plane. Ummm great. It's a four seater, although how you would wedge two people into the back, plus luggage is beyond me. Somehow they fit Dan in the back with our two bags and my purse and I got to sit in the co-pilots seat. Good thing I'm not scared of flying.

 

The views over the Belizean country side were beautiful. We flew over their orange and grapefruit groves, which are their major exports (mostly for juice). It was such a cool intro to our vacation. A private plane on our way to our private island! 

 

When we got to the Dangriga airport (which is essentially a portable on a tarmac), we met Peter, our lovely host at the Royal Belize. After months of corresponding with him, it was wonderful to finally meet him face to face. It was like visiting with an old friend right off the bat. Peter packed us into a trusted taxi and we followed him to the nearby port. Now when I say nearby, if you were driving the same distance here in Canada it would be say a 8-10 minute drive. In Belize, this translates into 20-30 minutes depending on how much it's rained lately and which roads you take. There are very few paved roads, and even the ones that are paved are very much in disrepair and have HUGE pot holes and if it's rained lately they may be fairly washed out. It takes a while to get places, but it's a nice drive and our driver Manuel was great to chat with.

Peter got us onto the boat and then our REAL adventure began! Interesting fact about the majority of boats in Belize. A lot of them were actually used in drug running from Colombia. They have huge coolers in the centre and once the drugs are delivered, these boats (worth about $100 000+) are ditched along the coast of Belize, Guatemala, etc. and are then reclaimed and salvaged by locals. The coolers are removed and the boats are good to go! Pretty crazy huh?! 

Our awesome host and self proclaimed "Captain of the Island", Peter

 

I had a few moments when we were about to touch down in Dangriga where part of me thought "There's going to be no one there to meet us. This can't be real. We can't be going to a private island." When we got this first glimpse of the island, I knew we had found our ultimate heaven.

 

When I saw this sign, I knew we were in for ten days of custom tailored relaxation.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but it actually says "finally" with an arrow. Freaking adorable.

We met the rest of the staff and were handed pina coladas and some homemade lobster ceviche to help us get over our long day of traveling. Such a hard life. Writing this now I'm wishing I could go back tomorrow!!!

 This quickly became our favourite spot in the main palapa.

 

 

Since my mouth is now watering thinking about lobster ceviche and I'm semi-depressed that it's currently 8 degrees here in Toronto, I'm going to take a break from blogging and have a bite to eat. I'll return tomorrow with more photos of our ridiculously pampered and awesome honeymoon!