Belize Day One

As we are boarding the airplane in Atlanta, for Belize City, Belize, there’s a buzz going round about Jerry Jeff Walker. Seems he’s playing down there a couple times that week. I used to listen to Jerry Jeff often, but that was in the 70’s, haven’t heard much since. So we are on a plane full of JJW groupies and headed south.

We arrive in Belize City and connect on a flight to Ambergris Caye. It’s is booked as a 15 minute flight, but it’s more like 20. I know, cause we were sitting so close to the pilot on this 13 seat prop plane that I could see his digital trip clock on his control panel. Stacey loved it, she loves small aircraft. Check out these photos she took.

No problem. This pilot flies so many of these short little flights I bet for him it’s like getting in the car to go somewhere. It is hot and it is bumpy, but we get to the Ambergris Caye “airstrip” without any issues.

You get out of the airplane and it’s thirty steps to the office and then another ten steps into our cab/shuttle which is a trashed out Toyota van.

Ambergris Caye is a dirty place, as we leave the airstrip we are in town proper and there’s a little bit of everything. Lots of restaurants, bars and then everything else a city needs to survive. The road is like cobble stone and there are lots of golf carts. There are also lots of people on bikes and the locals seem to use both evenly. Most of the tourist are in a rented golf cart. There is trash everywhere. On either side of the road water stands and is full of plastic bottles, construction debris and rotten trees. Sorry to say, but much like most third world countries we have visited.

We arrive at our “resort” and it is also very much like other places we have stayed at in Panama and Santa Domingo. The place is beautiful. A total contrast to the rest of the island. Palm trees, swimming pool, cabana, no trash and a nice slice of beach.

This will do just fine, thank you very much. We check in, grab a few beers from the office and head to our room. Once we get the DVD and Stereo delivered, they were supposed come with the room, we head for the beach to catch our first rays of the summer. Oh joy!