It’s Thursday morning and Donna and I are still recovering from our trip to Belize. We arrived back in San Diego close to midnight Tuesday. I’ll tell the story of our trip from the start – it may take three or four posts to get through it.

In hindsight, I wish I would’ve spent the money to get a more direct route to Belize. Instead, I went for a cheap fare which had us flying a red-eye to Miami where we had a long layover before we flew into Belize City. Belize is located on the eastern coast of Central America and is bordered by Mexico to the northwest, Guatemala to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.

My generation probably remembers Belize as British Honduras. It was colonized and claimed by the British in the mid-1800s and didn’t gain independence until 1981.

The mainland is about 180 miles long and 68 miles wide. The population of the country is less than 400,000. The official language is English, but the native language spoken by most of the local population is Belizean Creole – an interesting dialect. Other languages include Spanish, Mayan dialects and Garifuni – a language spoken by people of African origin that came from the lesser Antilles. The economy is fairly stable and the Belize dollar trades at 2 to 1 for the American dollar. It’s a good idea to inquire if the price stated is US$ or Belize. One US dollar is two Belize.

The coast of Belize is protected by a barrier reef 178 miles long – it’s the second largest barrier reef in the world – Australia’s Great Barrier reef is the largest. The reef runs north/south and is closest to the shore to the north – about 1,000 yards out at the nearest point and up to 25 miles off the coast to the south. Where we stayed, the reef was anywhere from 3/4 mile to four miles offshore. The reef is made up of coral and the water inside the reef was only four to 20 feet deep in our area. The water depth over the reef itself is mere inches. There are several natural channels along the reef allowing vessels to reach the open sea. The swells from the ocean break over the reef and the water inside the reef is calm with no surf. Along the reef are several small islands – the larger populated islands are called cayes (keys).

Our destination was the largest island – Ambergris Caye. Disembarking from the plane at Belize City – the largest city in the country with nearly 100,000 residents – was a culture shock. The airport was definitely old school – stair cases were wheeled out to the flight line and we walked along tarmac to the terminal. After clearing customs and passport control, we stopped at the duty-free store. Belize is the only country I’ve visited that sells duty-free to international arrivals – usually it’s only available to those departing on international flights. I picked up a bottle of El Dorado – a premium dark rum made in Guyana.

We found a taxi outside and drove across town to the port. The ride was bit hair-raising. We drove in an old Ford Crown Victoria with blown out shock absorbers and a driver that didn’t mind making daring overtaking maneuvers on narrow streets. As in most third-world countries, there was no sense of zoning in the city – industrial buildings sat next to shacks and modern houses or offices were sprinkled here and there. At the harbor, I purchased round-trip boat taxi tickets to San Pedro – the main town in Ambergris Caye with a population of about 10,000.

The boat taxi carried around 60 passengers or so and cruised smartly along. We made a stop at Caye Caulker after about 60 minutes where several passengers disembarked and a few came aboard. The next stop at San Pedro was another 30 minutes away. The water taxis run a tight schedule and everything was on time.

The sea water inside the reef is very clear. In areas where the bottom is sandy, the water has a turquoise appearance. Rocky bottoms or areas with sea weed are darker.

If I thought Belize City was a culture shock, San Pedro was mind blowing. I had reserved a gasoline-powered four-seat golf cart for the duration of our stay. The guy from the rental agency texted me a phone number and said I should have the attendant at the boat taxi office call them and they would deliver the cart. This didn’t happen. The attendant said, “No phone calls, sorry.”

A taxi cab driver said he would take us to the rental agency for five dollars US. It seemed like the simplest answer, so we were off. The streets of San Pedro are narrow and bumpy. They are filled with golf carts, cars, trucks, bicycles and pedestrians. We got to the rental agency and it was empty! The taxi driver called the office and found out they had moved and were a few blocks away at a grocery store they owned. San Pedro has three main drags – I don’t know the official road names – the locals call the north/south road on the east side Front Street. It’s one-way to the north. The next main north/south thoroughfare is Middle Street and it’s one-way south. The last north/south route is Back Street and is two-way. I was completely confused by the time we picked up the cart.

Luckily I had studied a map for the route to our resort – Costa Blu was about 6.5 miles north of town. To get out of town you have to cross a canal – there’s a toll of $2.50BZ each way. We were told that no so long ago the only way across was a rope-drawn ferry. After about half an hour of driving on a narrow road mostly paved with concrete and frequent speed bumps, we found the resort.

Check-in was efficient and the staff was very friendly. The grounds were immaculate and the buildings well-maintained. Our room was an upstairs suite with a living room and kitchenette and a separate bedroom and bathroom with a large shower.

There are 10 buildings on the site in addition to the main reception/restaurant building and most of them are divided into four suites. There are a total of 38 suites here at Costa Blu. We had a private balcony overlooking the grounds and the sea.

Our bedroom had an extra-large, comfortable king-size bed.

I was whipped from the travel, time zone changes and lack of regular meals over the previous 20 hours or so. I was in paradise, but I was grumpy.

Donna went down to the bar and brought me a burger. After eating and resting for bit, I was feeling much better. We went down to the bar for our introduction to island life. I was surprised to learn the bar usually closed at 9pm. Later, this made sense to me. To be continued!