28 Nov – 3 Dec 2023

I took a six-day trip to Belize, half of it spent in transit. I had planned to be there for another week on a sailboat but tested positive for covid right before boarding. 😦

Tuesday, 28 November – In transit

Anne picked me up at 5:45 and gave me a ride to the Airporter. (Thank you Anne )! I flew to LAX and met up with Harley, Nancy, Trish, and Dawnie. We flew in from three different directions. It took more than a half hour after my plane landed for me to get to the terminal, due to a long taxi followed by a long bus ride. Thankfully Harley bought a salad for me to eat on our flight to Belize City; they starting boarding when I got to the gate. It was dark and raining when we landed. We went through immigration then back through security for a short 15-minute flight to San Pedro on Ambergris Cay. The flight was full with 14 passengers; we took off a half hour early since all were there. It was raining when we landed. From that small airport it was a short van ride to our hotel. It was about 20:00 Belize time (18:00 in SF) when walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. 

Wednesday, 29 November – a wet day in San Pedro

We started out in a rented golf cart under grey skies with Dawnie at the wheel. There wasn’t much to see north of town, mostly flooded roadsides, decrepit and half-built buildings, so we drove back through town. It was a bumpy ride and Nancy’s back began to bother her, so she, Harley, and I decided to walk for a while. Bad timing. The clouds opened up and I discovered that my “waterproof” jacket was not; we were soaked by the time we met Trish and Dawnie at Pineapples. After lunch, we drove directly back to the hotel for a change of clothes, arriving just before an even bigger squall rolled through. We took our wet clothes to the front desk and they returned them later, dried and folded.  

During a break between squalls, four of us walked back into town and wandered through the shops. It rained again but this time I stayed dry under a big umbrella borrowed from our hotel, the Blue Tang. I bought a souvenir hat and a yellow poncho since the weather forecast does not look promising. We had a short break in our rooms then caught a cab to dinner. We all enjoyed the delicious food. My ginger mint Paloma cocktail was tasty, and the Caribbean Chicken stuffed with chaya (a.k.a. Mayan tree spinach) and cheese was amazing. I also sampled Trish’s calamari and plantains which were perfectly prepared. Our taxi driver steered us well. We walked back in a light drizzle. ­­­

Thursday, 30 November – Ambergris Cay circumnavigation

Our prayers to the sun god worked; no rain fell on us today. After an early breakfast at our hotel we walked through town to Searious Adventures where we boarded a boat for a private tour around Ambergris Cay. In a narrow channel across the island we saw heron and iguana, then took a long rough ride to the ranger station at Barcalar Chico where we were greeted by two friendly, skinny dogs. We toured the small museum, which has a manatee skeleton, and climbed the observation tour. When we entered the narrow channel separating Belize from Mexico, the first mate asked us to get out our passports to have them stamped. Fortunately, he was kidding since none of us had ours (I left mine in the room safe after drying it with a hair dryer after yesterday’s downpour). This channel used to dead-end, but the Mayans expanded it long ago. We had to go outside the long reef that protects the coast to complete our circumnavigation; it reminded me of time my son, Alex, and I road the Lachine Rapids in Montreal, crash, crash, crash. We ate lunch on a beach – ceviche with conch caught and prepared along the way, and Mayan chicken, beans, and potatoes, prepared by our captain’s mother. 

We stopped to snorkel in four locations, the last, in Hol Chan Marine Reserve, was by far the best. Unfortunately, just as I was about to take a picture of a long green morey eel, my camera flashed “Battery Exhaused”. I also missed photographing a nurse shark and small sea turtle. Our capitan dropped us off at the dock near our hotel saving us a walk back through town.

After a short break, we walked back into town for dinner at Caramba’s, where we picked out fish and had it cooked to order. My hogfish was good though hard to debone, the vegetables were perfectly cooked, and the key lime pie yummy. When I went to bed my right sinus was bothering me, a not uncommon occurrence, I assumed it had become irritated by sea water. 

Friday, 1 December – Mainland tour: zoo and chocolate

We caught the 8:00 flight back to Belize City, where a van driver was waiting to take us to Placencia, the port city from which we will be sailing. We made several stops along the way, taking all day to travel what otherwise would take a few hours. Our first stop was the Belize Zoo. It’s a small zoo in a natural setting with old cages that let us get close to the animals. My favorites were the monkeys, tapir, jaguar, and owls. We had the place to ourselves for about an hour before a large bus full of tourists arrived. Our van driver knew the zoo well and we saw many animals we would have otherwise missed.  Our next stop was Lamanai Chocolate Co where we were walked through the process of turning cocoa beans into a smooth chocolate paste – fermenting, drying, roasting, winnowing to separate shells from nibs, and grinding. Though I no longer eat much chocolate, I tried many samples. We picked up lunch and ate in the van, quesadillas for most of us, and arrived at our hotel an hour before dark. 

I finally found a working ATM and got some Belize dollars after spending the few U.S. dollars I brought with me. Both are taken everywhere with a two-to-one exchange rate. After getting settled in our rooms and taking a siesta, we walked to a nearby restaurant, Rumfish y Vino, for dinner. Our waitress was grumpy and my salad was swimming in dressing, but the smoked mackerel spread with crostini was delicious. 

Saturday, 2 December – Covid Strikes

When I woke up, my sinus was worse and I assumed I had a cold. After breakfast, a delicious Mango-Pineapple-Ginger-Yogurt smoothie at Shak, I bought salt so I could give my sinuses a saline rinse. I wore a mask, as did others, in our taxi ride to the sailing base. We stopped at a pharmacy on the way and I purchased a covid test anticipating it would be negative. I was wrong. For the first, I have covid! Sadly, I had to abandon the sail, and unfortunately for the first time in a dozen years I forget to get trip insurance. 

I spent the rest of the day changing my travel plans and getting meds. Fortunately, Alaska was able to change my flight to the next day for only a minor price difference. I booked a room in Belize City and for no charge, Maya Air booked me on the next flight leaving in 20 minutes; I was the only passenger. Getting an anti-viral prescription was much more challenging. My advice: don’t get sick in Belize on a weekend, most pharmacies and clinics are closed. I stopped at several, called others, and gave up. Then after checking into my Airbnb, I took a wrong turn while going to the market and found a hospital. I was dripping with sweat in the sweltering waiting room by the time I was seen, sitting in the chair I had pulled in front of a fan. I was given five prescriptions and caught a cab to the recommended pharmacy. By now I was truly exhausted, but after swallowing the anti-viral and other meds, I walked to the market to pick up beverages and snacks before lying down. 

Sunday, 3 December – a long trip home

I slept for eight hours and felt better. I repacked, showered, had a bit of yogurt and coconut water (keeping up my electrolytes). A cab picked me up at 9:00; I spent my last Belize dollars on snacks at the airport. The flight went smoothly. I spent most of the time sorting photos while listening to Enya and other music. I love my Boise noise-cancelling headphones, but missed an announcement about turbulence and had a challenging time on my one trip to the restroom. 

I had a five-hour layover in Seattle. I had hoped to get on a waitlist for an early transfer, but no such luck. I took off my mask to have a bowl of pho, sitting far from other diners, and spent much of the rest of the time on my laptop, writing my blog post, checking email, etc. For once, I slept on the plane. Carol picked me up shortly after 11:00 pm; we both wore double masks in the car. (Thank you Carol)! It was almost 1:00 am by the time I shut my eyes (3:00 am Belize time).  

It was good to sleep in my own bed and I woke up feeling a bit better. It looks like mine will be a minor case of covid; it ought to be after seven vaccines!