Belize: Days 1-4

Day 1: Our first flight left Salt Lake City at 1:00 am on May 10, 2009. We arrived in Belize City after a long night with little sleep and little to eat at about 12:30 pm, local Belize time (same as Utah time). We got a taxi and went to the boat dock for our water taxi that would take us to our first destination, Caye Caulker. The boat ride was about 45 min and when we arrived, the property manager for our place, Bobbi, met us there on her golf cart to check us in and take us to Casa Roja, our home for the four days following.

Since there are very few vehicles on Caye Caulker, we have seen about 4 so far, everyone gets around on a golf cart, a bicycle, or two feet. Since the island is only 2 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, it is easy to get around on foot. However, after Ashley and I checked into our little home (we have the bottom floor) we left to rent a golf cart for the rest of the day to become acquainted with the island more quickly and to pick up groceries.

The island is so great! With no roads, the island philosophy is "Go Slow," people even holler it to you off of the street if you are riding your bicycle too fast! Here, everyone is barefoot, and we get to eat lots of fresh fruit! Right after we rented our golf cart, we drove to a place called Femi's Cafe and Grill where the food is cooked fresh when you order. It is an outdoor cafe where the seats are swings and the music is rockin every day all day (except Wednesday).

During the rest of the day, Ashley and I went to The Split, the top of the island where people go to the beach, and swam for a little while. We also went to Frenchies Dive Shop to pick up our dive textbooks and to check in for the next day of dive class.

For Dinner, Ashley and I went to Habaneros for a feast. The menus were the coolest I have ever seen. They were just like a scrapbook and the pages were even made out of natural fiber paper. I wasn't feeling very well (too much sun or something) and so my expenisve meal went mostly to waste. I felt horrible too, because everyone says it is the best place on the island to eat. I just wasn't up for it. Every time I took a bite, I wanted to lean over the side and hurl. However, Habaneros had the best Pina Colada I have ever had. Mmm...coconut juice and pineapple juice blend so much better when they are fresh!

Day 2:

We woke up late today, around 8:00 after trying to sleep through 3 hours of sun in our eyes. In Belize, the sun rises at 5:00 am and sets around 6:30 pm. So after trying to sleep with full sun in our room, we had enough and got up. I cut up a fresh watermelon for breakfast and packed our bag with PB&J sandwiches for the road. We stopped at Femi's again for frozen smoothie drink and then walked down the beach to Frenchies to start our dive classes. At 10:00, we started to watch the educational films on scuba diving. With all of the underwater skills, Ash and I were both feeling a bit nervous.

At 11:45, we took a break for lunch and went to The Split, where people swim at the top of the island, for a little swimming and some lunch. Swimming in salt water is easy but sure tastes bad once you get a little in your mouth. It also stings your mouth, nose, eyes, and throat if you get it in any of those places. But warm water is great and I enjoyed swimming in a giant bathtub!

Frenchies opened again after lunch at 1:30 so we finished our movies then. Most of the way the way through, another gentleman joined us, Guido, from Canada. He is also getting dive certified.

Once we finished watching the videos, we were walking home and decided to rent ourselves some bicycles. We noticed that by walking, we were spending much more time in the sun and getting more sun exposure, causing us to pass our threshold for sunburning with SPF 50. We cut a deal with the rental shop and got them both for three days for $40US. After a little studying at home, we went back out for dinner. We had a nacho appetizer at Femi's, a burger at the Sports Bar (Ash wanted to know the score on the Maverick's game), and then we went to the I&I Reggae Bar for dancing. We had made friends with a couple of local islanders and we met them there to dance.

It was a late night by then and Ash and I had to be at Frenchies Dive Shop by 8:30 the next morning, so we went home and went to bed.

Day 3:

First thing in the morning, I cut up a fresh pineapple for breakfast and made our sandwiches for lunch again. We went to Frenchies Dive Shop to start our underwater part of the certification. First, we got on the boat and drove out to just before the reef where the water was shallow but there was plenty of sand for us to kneel on to practice our skills.

Getting out of the boat was the moment of truth. You do what is called a back entry. This is when you have all of your gear on and sit on the side of the boat and lean back to go in back first. It is easy to do but it is really the moment of truth where you discover that you trust your equipment. Once we were on the bottom we practiced the skills. You have to do all kinds of things like, take the air regulator (the thing you breathe out of while under water) out of your mouth and exhale while you ask your buddy if you can borrow his air. Then you get his spare air regulator, and breathe out of it instead. Everything you do under there is designed to prepare you in case of emergency or accident. But, it is a little nerve racking to think that you could be in a place that you can't breathe with an accident or an emergency. Nonetheless, we got the skills down and it turned out to be quite easy.

After spending about an hour under the water at about 6 feet we had finished our skills portion of the class and drove out to a different part of the reef where we could go deeper and see more. We went on our first official dive. While decsending to the 24 ft. bottom, I had a really hard time equalizing my ears- "popping them" so that they don't have pressure damage. After trying once and resurfacing, I made it to the bottom where the sea life was. It was amazing to see all of the parts of the ocean that you only see on tv. Even though we were not in the most vibrant parts of the reef, seeing fish swim around me and brain coral was enough to sweep both of us off of our feet! We were down for about 45 min before we surfaced and drove back to the shore. Wow! Amazing!

Ashley and I had been in the sun all day and were feeling very tired when we got home so we went to sleep for a couple of hours. When the sun was going down, we went to the convenience store to buy and onion and a new tube of sunscreen. We went back home, made spaghetti, did some studying for class, and went to sleep.

Day 4:

Today we got to go on two dives, both to about 40 feet. This guy in the picture looks just like Ash with yellow fins and a yellow regulator tube. The reef looks just like it does in the pictures! We really enjoyed it!

We got home at about 2:00 and went to Jack's Shrimp on a Stick Shack. Jack takes care of Casa Roja, where we are staying, and he BBQs the most amazing fresh shrimp. They best part is that he cooks up one box of shrimp a day and once it is gone, he goes home. He is so popular that even guide books have his shrimp in them. He is an old white guy that has a completely pessimistic view on life because of his army days. But, man, oh man, his shrimp is good. Ash and I ate 8 each! LeeAnn, you would love it!!! There are eight flavors to choose from and I just can't say enough! After running a few errands and dropping our clothes off at a laundermat, we went home to rest and get out of the sun until dinner tonight when we go to Rainbow's Grill for a chicken quesadilla that comes highly recommended.

Here are a few other things that Ash and I think about Caye Caulker and Belize:

The Craziest thing we have seen:

Ash: The Baby on the balcony with no railing.

We are staying in an undeveloped country where shacks and shanties are abundant. Our first night here, we saw a toddler walking out on the balcony less than one foot from a 15 foot fall. The balcony had no railing and the baby had no supervision!

Rhielle: Barefeet everywhere!

I am a huge fan of bare feet and I love that no one here wears shoes. However, sometimes, I think it goes a little too far. Since this island is undeveloped, there is not a good trash collecting system. The streets are fairly clean but it is normal to see beer caps or bottles strewn about.

My Favorite Thing:

Ash: Seabreeze

Rhielle: Fresh fruit and good food.

I have been looking forward to coming here and having off the tree fruit ever since we planned this trip. The rest of the food is good too. I love beans, rice, and meat for dinner and we can have that all the time. I also just got some bannana bread/cake and fresh fruit always makes for more flavor.

My Least Favorite Thing:

Ash: Islander Theft Paranoia

Everyone has been telling us to watch ourselves, never to carry too much cash, to lock the doors, keep windows shut, etc. Most of this is all common sense when you are travelling but we have heard it so often that we are becoming paranoid about it all. We never take the backpack off and we don't even open the windows in our hot, muggy apartment.

Rhielle: Sweating and Humidity

I know I sound like a big baby but I am telling you, with little more than a swimsuit on, I am sweating so much that I am soaked. Ah, how I love the desert.

I forgot the cord to download my pictures onto the blog so I will have to do it later.

Til then...