View from my tiny flight to Caye Caulker
I took this picture from the second to last row!
The view from my hostel's rooftop. Hard to complain
Greetings
from Belize! I got in yesterday afternoon, but decided not to make a blog post
since I’d just made one the day before and didn’t have too much news to report.
Yesterday and today have been a whirlwind of planes, boats, and island life!
Flying from San Antonio to Houston and Houston to Belize City was a breeze, as
flying usually is for me. I’ve heard a lot of travelers say that their least
favorite part of traveling is flying itself, and everything that comes with it
(feeling rushed, going through security, delays, etc.). I actually don’t mind
flying, aside from one aspect of it: one of my ultimate travel pet peeves is
when I see people being rude to airport and airplane staff. Almost every time I
fly, I see someone arguing with or complaining to TSA agents, gate agents, and
especially flight attendants. Never fails to annoy me.
On the
flight from Houston to Belize City, I was a little anxious about making my
third flight, from Belize City to Caye Caulker. I had just under an hour
layover in Belize City, and since it was my first point of entry into Belize,
I’d have to pick up my checked bag, go through customs, recheck my bag, pick up
my boarding pass, and get to my gate in that time. Thankfully, the flight was
actually a little early getting into Belize City, and I was able to snag a seat
on the second row of the plane, so I was one of the first people off. Customs
wasn’t very busy so that only took about ten minutes, and the Belize City
airport is pretty small, so I rechecked my bag and got to my gate with time to
spare. The flight from Belize City to Caye Caulker was an experience in and of
itself! The plane was REALLY small- it was the smallest plane I’ve been on, not
including the one I went skydiving out of. I was one of twelve passengers, the plane
had five rows, wasn’t even big enough to stand up in, and the flight took all
of ten minutes.
From the
Caye Caulker airport (and I use the term “airport” very lightly- it was more
like a stand that we went to to pick up our bags after walking off the runway)
I just walked to my hostel. This island is really small, so most people get
around by bike, golf cart, or plain old walking. After getting a little turned
around and asking for directions, I got to my hostel at around 5 pm Belize
time. I’m in an eight bed mixed dorm here at my hostel, though I think right
now it’s all girls staying in here. After putting my bags down and relaxing for
a little while, I went out to get some dinner. Since the island is so small, I
didn’t do any planning or researching about restaurants- I just basically
walked around until I saw a place that I thought looked good. I sat up on the
rooftop of the restaurant (I don’t even remember what it was called), and the
meal mainly consisted of enjoying the beautiful view of the ocean, being
thoroughly amused by reggae covers of pop songs, and chatting with my waitress
about the island. I also got the classic “why isn’t your husband traveling with
you” question that I’ve been asked in every single country I’ve visited. That
question used to bother me, but I’ve gotten used to it and accepted that it’s
mostly due to cultural differences that people ask that. Honestly, it sometimes
amuses me when I see people’s shocked reactions to learning that I’m single.
This morning
after breakfast here at the hostel I went downstairs and spoke with the hostel
staff about booking a snorkeling tour. I’d heard some of my roommates mention
that they’d recently done one that was booked by the hostel and loved it. I
booked the all-day tour and, along with Patricia, another one of my roommates
from Chile who’d also booked a tour today, was picked up (in a golf cart) a
little after ten by someone with the tour company. I think the snorkeling tour
warrants a blog post all for itself- if I tried to put it in this one, it’d be
ten pages long! But I’ll just say that it was one of my top five favorite
travel experiences of my life, and I’m almost positive that I’ll be signing up
for another one before I leave! I’m pretty sunburned, so I’ll probably take it
easy tomorrow and enjoy being on island time. I’ll do another snorkeling tour
either Thursday or Friday, and that’s all I really know about the remainder of
my trip so far. That’s all for now, little Wizards! Another blog post will
hopefully be coming in a day or two. This post’s food for thought is a quote I’ve
used before, but I just have to use it again because it’s so true: “To awaken
quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the
world.”- Freya Stark
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