I Heart Belize
An early morning beginning for slaDE and myself. But considering we never went to sleep, it was somewhat of a blur arriving at the airport at 2am. We are forever grateful to our hosts and friends Don and Stacey who were amazing at keeping us transported back and forth to both the weekend wedding + to the airport for our Belize flight. We would have been challenged to accomplish so much in the short span of our Texan visit without their help. We knew that this was going to be a long day …. very little sleep over the last few days + a 4:30am flight with a 6 hour layover in El Salvador. When I am physically challenged by lack of sleep, I will attempt to sleep wherever and whenever I can. With cumbersome armrests lining the San Salvador airport chairs, I was hard-pressed to lie comfortably on the seats, but for 4 hours, I curved and egged my body, serpentine around the metal and vinyl fittings of the ‘lounge’ benches. SO happy I grabbed a pillow off the airplane. This cushioning helped the comfort zone somewhat, that along with an eye-mask to block the blaring light. Wish slaDE had taken a photo of my turtle-like stasis:).
Arrival at Belize City International was a welcome relief. Although our experience with TACA airlines was truly superb, I was ready to move on to our final leg to Ambergris Caye. Interestingly enough, the quick hop to our Belizean Island was in a Cessna Grand Caravan. We’ve both quite a few skydives from this type of single engine aircraft (which normally carries about 14 jumpers). How could I not smile huge from ear to ear, thinking about the skydiving vacation ahead of us?!
Pedro’s Hotel and Inn would be our home away from home for the next while. It is owned and operated by the hospitable and inveterate Englishman Peter Lawrence alongside Pedro’s Backpackers Inn. Both places are undoubtedly some of the cheapest places on the Island to stay. The bar claims to serve the best pizza in Belize (I concur!). 
For how long, we weren’t certain, as we had booked a few nights at Ak’bol Yoga Retreat and wanted to tour the mainland sometime during our vacation. Upon arrival, further inspection led us to believe that this inexpensive accommodation would serve us wonderfully over the next few weeks (fridge, air conditioning, cable tv, a hot shower with plentiful water pressure, microwave and filtered water in the office for our usage whenever needed, a king-sized comfy bed, and awesome friendly staff). How could we go wrong?
Once settled, we walked the beach towards the Sunbreeze Hotel, home base operations for the Boogie in Belize, and the residence for most of the skydivers on this trip. The warm ocean Caribbean air was seducing, salty and succulent in the most inviting of ways. The sand begged to be walked barefoot, a simple luxury that would become a part of our daily routine here on the Island. And upon arrival at the Sunbreeze, who should we run in to but Mad John and his followers (MJ is an old-time skydiver and friend). Neither of us knew of the others presence here at the Boogie. A wonderful surprise! Inexpensive rum punches flowed easily between the group as we sampled the luxuries of San Pedro seafood. Ceviche is a favourite of mine, and here on the Island, truly impeccable in taste and quality. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, seems like this holiday is going to be a fresh taste of paradise. A time to kick back and just be, enjoying the whims of fancy wherever that may exist in the moment (skydiving, scuba, suntanning, swimming, snorkelling, sleeping, sailing, travelling, friendship-making, yoga-ing, dancing naked under the palm trees, eating, etc).
