San Pedro, BELIZE
December 2001

Friday, December 21, 2001
Back when Stuart was a teenager he saw a television show on PBS about Belize and all of the Mayan Ruins that they were discovering there in the Rain Forest. Ever since then he has had this itch in the back of his head to go down there and see the ruins in their unrestored state, towering out of the jungle, just like in an Indiana Jones movie.

When we heard that Belize has the best snorkeling you can imagine, that clinched it. The limousine arrived on Friday afternoon and whisked us off to Logan Airport - hours early of course because of heightened security following the September 11th terrorist attacks. The security certainly was impressive with a soldier checking everyone's identification and Kim and her carry-ons were even searched. Because of the way that the flight was put together, we flew the three hours to Houston, TX, and spent the night there, resuming our trip the next morning. The airport hotel was only $49 including breakfast and the airport shuttle and was actually a very nice room.

Saturday, December 22, 2001
Early this morning we boarded our flight to Belize City. The flight was oversold and the staff was desperately trying to get people to give up their seats much like an auction offering fancy accommodations and $900 travel certificates. During the two hour trip, Miranda kept herself busy reading books and playing with her Gameboy. We arrived at Belize City at 11:40 a.m. and after passing through customs and immigration, we got on a puddle jumper to Ambergris Caye (pronounced "key"). The plane had two propellers and carried ten people including the pilot which normally would have made Kim nervous but the beautiful views of the ocean and reefs kept her distracted. When we landed at the airport a gang of young men quickly emptied the luggage compartment and called our hotel to let them know that we had arrived. Ramon's Village where we were staying was within sight of the airport (probably a strong word to describe the paved airstrip and two dilapidated huts doubling as airline check-in offices), and Stuart initially thought it might be a good idea to just walk over because our luggage rolled. Luckily we didn't try that plan because the roads, made of soft sand, were flooded with pits of knee deep water from a recent rainstorm. However, the golf cart that picked us up negotiated its way around the water hazards just fine. I guess this would be a good point to explain that there aren't that many cars in San Pedro, the city which we were staying in on Ambergris Caye. Everyone used bicycles or golf carts to get around. There were some motor vehicles such as Toyota vans being used as taxis, some pickup and construction trucks, and a couple of tractors but these were most definitely in the minority. In fact, not only weren't there any paved roads, but there also weren't any sidewalks and pedestrians, golf carts, stray animals, and bicycles all shared the road in a disorganized hodgepodge which was a little difficult to adjust to at first.

By 1:30 were were all checked into our second floor room which was part of a large elaborate hut. It had a thatched roof (made of dried palm leaves) and was simple but very pleasant. We had what they called a mini-suite which included a small kitchenette and a balcony with an excellent view of the beach and pool. The hut sat on the beach and was about 15 yards from the water. One of the first people we met upon our arrival was Ramon Nuñez himself who was the founder of the hotel but is now the general manager for the American who bought him out several years back. We quickly learned that the Nuñez family are something of an institution about town as we saw the name over and over again in the newspaper.

Kim and Stuart were starving but Miranda just couldn't wait to jump into the pool. So we ate poolside while Miranda swam, quickly making a new friend named Olivia. We ate nachos, caribbean lobster salad and a cheeseburger. During this meal we learned an important fact about San Pedro...there are stray dogs and cats everywhere. Even inside the restaurants where they skulk around looking pathetic and begging for scraps, they are welcome. The waiters only shoo them away if they become insistent which they rarely do, but they were amazingly well behaved as a group and kept a polite distance from diners except when encouraged by animal loving ten year olds.

Late that afternoon we stopped by the grocery store to stock up on drinks and snacks and met the lady who owns the store. She had a daughter, Jamilla, about Miranda's age and the girls would become fast friends during our visit. This kind of reception was common during this trip...San Pedrans are very proud of their town and couldn't have been more helpful to us visitors.

That evening we walked down town if you want to call it that. There are really only three streets...Front Street, Middle Street and Back Street although the street signs have touristy sounding names such as Barrier Reef Drive. Nobody, including the tourists, actually use these names. In the center of town is a square in front of St. Peters Church where most of the "action" takes place, especially on Friday and Saturday nights when Front Street is closed to traffic and nearly everyone seems to come out to enjoy the evening. That night there was a big dance recital going on and we noticed a gaggle of little girls dressed in colorful costumes lined up in front of Rosita's Fast Food, one in a row of street vendors selling Hispanic food and cheeseburgers they had worked all day to make. After being assured by an American resident that we wouldn't get sick if we ate there (these establishments looked pretty grim), we took the plunge, risked dysentery, and ordered dinner. Stuart had a beef burrito and Kim and Miranda shared rice and beans (which is really a chicken dish that also includes potato salad and is Belize's national meal). Stuart liked his burrito so much he even went back for a cheeseburger while Kim had Rosita's lemon meringue pie and Miranda had her chocolate cake; only offered on Friday and Saturday nights. The food was excellent and cheap (feeding three including drinks and two HUGE desserts, cost $9 USD). This is in sharp contrast to any hotel or tourist restaurant you go to where the meals have full American prices...often for the very same food. In fact, you could say that San Pedro has two economies, one for the locals and one for the visitors and if you are willing to be a little adventuresome when buying just about anything, you can save some cash and meet some interesting people to boot.

Sunday, December 23, 2001
Today we slept in and then made up for it by going on a run up the beach. We'd never done this before (running on sand I mean) and I don't think that we'll do it again. It was exhausting! Especially in that soft Caribbean sand where you sink in with every step and the blazing sun on your back. After our hot and sweaty run, the pool was a welcome site. It didn't take Miranda long to meet another friend who coincidentally was also named Olivia just like the girl she met yesterday. We dubbed them little Olivia and big Olivia to keep them straight. We ate at Ramon's breakfast buffet poolside and there was even "Live Instrumental Music." The "musician," Barbara Alfonso Brown, better known locally as "Baby," was something else...literally. Using high amplification she hammered out a long sequence of holiday numbers on her electric keyboard all of which were entirely programmed in so that she didn't have to do anything except sit there and stare at the keyboard while looking pretty (this alone was quite a challenge). However, while it was entirely unnecessary, she regularly ruined the effect by trying to play along with two fingers, one hand, no chords and lots of mistakes. The truly surreal part was that she was actively hawking her CD entitled Baby's Christmas doubtless containing numerous top hits like Baby's Casio playing Silent Night, Baby's Casio playing Jingle Bells, and Damn, Baby's Trying to Play Along With the Casio Again and I Can't Figure Out What this Song Is. She "played" some of her songs for as long as twenty minutes at a time while chatting up attractive waiters and guests. If I ever hear the theme to the Godfather again it will be too soon.

After Nachos for lunch, we walked in to San Pedro and booked an all day snorkel trip for Monday at the Blue Hole Dive Center. All in all it was a relaxing day finished off with a Caribbean supper at Caliente, a nice walk home along the beach and a game of cards on our balcony overlooking the ocean.

Monday, December 24, 2001 Christmas Eve
Well, wouldn't you know that we awoke to a torrential downpour on Monday...not exactly the all day snorkel & beach barbecue weather we had anticipated. After we had all dragged ourselves out of bed, eaten breakfast, and packed up our gear, the Blue Hole Dive Center called and asked us if we would prefer to reschedule for Tuesday. YES!!! We hopped back in to bed and slept away the rainy morning. It was divine. The rain stopped within an hour and it was just cloudy for most of the day with the sun making an appearance later in the afternoon. It would end up working out well that the trip was postponed for the weather was ideal on Christmas Day. Around 10 a.m. Miranda got pretty bored and went outside to occupy herself. Big Olivia's dad invited her to swim under his supervision which is how we ended up with that restful morning despite having a ten year old. The three of us later took a long walk along the beach and the neighborhood south of town and then enjoyed a tasty...albeit slow...lunch at the Seabreeze hotel. With the arrival of that afternoon sun I mentioned, we booked our own personal snorkeling trip out to the nearby Hol Chen Marine Reserve and enjoyed an hour of snorkeling led by our Ramon's guide Luis. It was great snorkeling with very colorful coral and fish. We even saw an octopus, a moray eel, a sting ray and a spotted lobster. Luis knew all the good spots. Miranda did great for almost the whole time until her mask started leaking towards the end which distracted us a bit from the task at hand. She remained a good sport though and once back at the boat, Luis whipped out a dead fish and broke it up in the water thereby attracting the largest fish I have seen short of the aquarium. It was a grouper and Luis petted it on the side of its body like it was a dog.

That afternoon I decided to do my run in town. This proved to be even more challenging than the sandy beach what with dodging the golf carts, tourists and stray pets we mentioned earlier. We stopped by the pharmacy later on our way to supper to stock up on Tagamet for Stuart. The locals do not have shops such as CVS in which to purchase medication and anything you might find in the way of medicine at the grocery stores is priced for the sick tourist. Anyone living on the island wouldn't be caught dead purchasing cold remedies, etc. there. Rather the pharmacist's is a small storefront with an assortment of giant pill bottles. You go in and ask for what you'd like and they count it out of the bottle and give it to you in a small envelope with the name of the medication handwritten on the front. No frills medicine, priced by the pill, no prescriptions (except for the super heavy duty stuff), and way cheaper than home...what a deal. Need a doctor? He's on duty during his hours posted on paper taped to the door. Supper at Rosita's again and cards on the balcony.

Tuesday, December 25, 2001 Christmas
Well, we got a bit nervous when we awoke to clouds but like I mentioned before, the day turned out to be truly amazing in all respects. Miranda and I ate breakfast downstairs at the restaurant and were greeted by Ramon himself with a Merry Christmas kiss for each of us. The Seaduced by Belize boat had some gas line clogging and was a bit late but we were on our way to Goff's Caye, a tiny uninhabited atoll about 30 yards across, by 9:30 a.m. It seems that the gasoline dealers occasionally sneak in "dirty gas," which in this case included lumps of silicone that would get caught in the gas filter and stall the engine. Our captain fought this problem all day long (as did our other captain who took us to Lamanai later in the week). The ride to Goff's Caye took about an hour and there were plenty of sights on the way to keep our attention. One of the most interesting was a large private island owned by a Belizean who had become rich in the import/export business-everything from fruit to coffee. One of the first sights we saw on this long thin island was his own private golf course. Our captain commented that he owns his own course but still can't play the game very well. There was also a large conference center, a guest house and his own mansion right on the beach. The pièces de résistance were 5 large homes he built for all of his children which were a few hundred yards down the beach all in a row. The next interesting island we saw was much more humble, but in its own way even more impressive. A local lobsterman was sick of the other fisherman stealing from his traps so he decided to build a home right out on the water in order to guard his livelihood. What he did was find a portion of the reef where it had come so close to the water line that a sand bar was forming. Then he built a horseshoe shaped barrier aimed to catch sand from the incoming tide. In 8 years he had made a small island that measured about 10 feet square which was just big enough for a one room shack on stilts and a single palm tree. It would have been larger except that some of it had been washed away by a recent hurricane. Our captain pointed out that his uncle had done the same thing some 40 years ago. He took us past this second man made island which was much more elaborate...it had a small home and a grove of about ten palm trees which help contain the sand. It was quite a private paradise. After showing it to us our captain laughed and told us that right after his uncle moved in, a boat from the Belizean government arrived to collect property taxes. I guess you can never escape from the tax man even if you make your property from scratch.

When we arrived at Goff's Caye we were shown where we could snorkel right off the beach and the captain and his mate fired up a crude barbecue which involved a wood fire covered by a large sheet of metal. It actually worked great. While they were cooking we had a family snorkel. Miranda's mask started leaking after about 5 minutes so she returned to play in the sand and we proceeded to snorkel all the way around the island. The first half was great. The fish and coral weren't as good as we had seen at Hol Chen, but the seclusion and beauty of the site and clarity of the water more than made up for it. However, our decision to continue the loop rather than turn around half way because the far side of the island had some very sharp and shallow coral which was quite difficult to navigate without injury. But, we made it back just in time for lunch. The captain had cooked up a traditional Belizean dish consisting of foil steamed red snapper with veggies, grilled plantains, tortillas, beans and rice, pasta salad (made by the captain's American wife along with brownies for dessert), orange Fanta, and Belikin beer-the best, or should we say the only, beer in Belize. The food was excellent. In fact, we found that the food served on tours was often better than restaurant food which was certainly a pleasant surprise.

After lunch we swam in the crystal waters and relaxed on the beach; it was way beyond serene and truly a precious moment. After the captain forced his reluctant passengers back on to the boat, we motored by numerous islands, many of them lined with mangroves. When we say motored, we mean tearing through the ocean at maximum speed careening around corners in a manner that would lose any American captain his job. All Belizean's seem to drive their boats this way and they are VERY skillful at it. We saw a baby manatee feeding before snorkeling at Shark-Ray Alley, a sand bar with a depth of about 5 feet, which attracts dozens of gentle nurse sharks and sting rays. The sharks look mean but they are actually as harmless as puppies and have the general appearance of catfish. From here we made a 30 minute stop at Caye Caulker...just enough to see pretty much the entire island (on foot of course). This caye is a more Bohemian alternative to San Pedro and has something of a notorious reputation for its Rastafarian population. Upon our return to the dock we were upset to learn that our captain had just been badly burned while cleaning out the bilge pump (a spark from the battery ignited the spilled gasoline which he was trying to pump out). We were forced to leave one late passenger behind and immediately set out on the fifteen minute trip to the dock at Ramon's Village where he arranged to meet his family and doctor. During the entire trip back the passengers in the back of the boat tried to keep his face, head, and chest cool by pouring water on him from the cooler. He had first degree burns on his entire body and second degree burns in some isolated spots on his arms and legs. He was in excruciating pain the entire way, but he also had to drive the boat. It was quite and act of bravery and after the relief of arriving back in San Pedro, he went into shock. To give you an idea of his character, the first thing he asked about when he regained consciousness at the clinic, was the fate of the passenger that had been left behind. We inquired at the Seaduced by Belize office a few days later and learned that he had first been transferred to the hospital in Belize City, but his wife was appalled at the filth (a big problem when trying to keep open wounds and burns clean). From there they flew him to a hospital in Los Angeles where his sister is a wound nurse and he was kept in intensive care overnight and would be released to the care of his sister in a few days.

Miranda spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool with a friend Carla, daughter of a Mexican diplomat, that she met on the trip that day. Stuart and I took showers but it was quite a challenge due to the nonexistent water pressure between the hours of 4 - 6 p.m. when everyone is cleaning up from their day in the sun. The front desk sent up the security guard to check it out, but he wasn't much of a handyman. He stood fully clothed and shoed in the shower while it was running and tried to fix it??? I suggested that perhaps he should hit it with his billy club, but he unscrewed the shower head and knocked that around a few times instead. He left with his clothes and shoes a bit wet, tracking footprints across the white floor all the way to the door. Need I say more?

We ate dinner at a Mexican/Caribbean restaurant named Mangoes, and I tried conch (pronounced "konk") but didn't like it's rubbery texture or flavor for that matter. We sat out on the balcony again and listened to the band at the bar playing Christmas music.

Wednesday, December 26, 2001 Boxing Day
All the guide books say that things close down on holidays but this is not what we saw. Yes, the stores were closed here and there, but basically things remained open except during those evenings...and even then there were plenty of shops still doing business.

Today was a pretty relaxing day with the exception of our morning run. We ate lunch at the Jerk Pit in town which was VERY spicy Jamaican food. Stuart was in his glory although it was slow going with him having to gulp his drink and rest between bites. Miranda played in the playground across the street from the restaurant after finishing her meal. It seemed as if most of the equipment was made out of painted plywood and two by fours...not exactly the epitome of safety but the kids were having fun and didn't seem to care.

We rented a golf cart at Polo's for a couple of hours and took in the sights on the north end of the island. The north end was not easy to reach because half of the island had been separated by the hurricane a few years ago when the ocean drove a narrow channel (about 20 feet) the whole way across. The government approached this problem not with a small bridge, but by establishing a rope tow "ferry" manned by four men who took turns pulling the barge back and forth. The vessel was just large enough to carry two golf carts and a few bicycles and the trip across was less than five minutes, costing $5 for carts and $2 for bikes roundtrip. The north end of the island is inhabited by the wealthy and consists of a small number of modest sized, well cared for, water front homes on large lots adorned with flowers and gardens. The road, more of a track really, was actually quite treacherous with the moist and flooded parts being covered by large pieces of plywood to form makeshift bridges. After about a mile the track degenerates to the point where most golf carts can not (and aren't allowed) to proceed and properties further up the coast can only be accessed by motor boats/water taxis.

For supper we went to a beach barbecue at Celi's and had chicken, pico de gayo, beans and rice with tortillas, and of course...Orange Fanta, the staple drink of the tourist (and the local kids for that matter). Tried to go to bed early and get a good night's sleep for our big trip to Lamanai on Thursday, but there was an obnoxious woman in the bar with a screeching, hyena like, cackling laugh that could break glass. Whatever she found funny remained hilarious until midnight when the bar closed. We were ready to kill!

We should mention a few things:
1) There are no beggars or vagrants.
2) There are no time share salesmen or people bugging you to go on tours.
3) The kids and some adults sell things or hair braiding on the beach and will politely ask you to buy, but they aren't pushy. No means no and they don't argue or ask again.
4) The hotel occasionally has music or a band playing at the bar in the evening but it is nothing like the constant din of noise you get on a cruise ship or other resort type places.
5) It would seem that the children move from breast milk straight to the bottle...the SODA bottle that is. This may explain the fact that a good 30% of the adult population has front teeth with conspicuous gold fillings. Not ostentatious, it's just that you can't hide that much dental work.
6) They don't try to rip you off or overcharge you for things. Their math is absolutely horrible, but the mistakes almost invariably work in your favor and we found ourselves forever correcting cashiers to give them more money. They didn't really seem to care either way and some were a bit puzzled that we would not only bother to notice, but insist on paying the proper, higher amount.
7) No prostitutes or pickpockets.
8) Smaller restaurants and stands just wash their plates and utensils by hand in a dishpan...no sterilization like we see at home. Sometimes the stand owners don't even give you plastic. They give you metal utensils that you can go use as you sit on a nearby bench and eat and then you bring them back.

Thursday, December 27, 2001
Had to be on the dock at 7 a.m. for our day trip to the Mayan Ruins at Lamanai on the mainland. It felt especially early after being kept awake by the loud mouth at the bar and then the waiters dragging chairs around the deck at 5:30 a.m. getting the tables cleaned and ready for breakfast. Herman, our captain from Seaduced by Belize, picked us up and we were on our way to the mainland by 7:20 a.m. in the very cold early morning air. We absolutely FROZE the whole hour's ride when you combine the cool air with being on a 32 foot speed boat traveling about 50 mph across the open sea. Even though it was inside the reef, it was quite a choppy ride. Once we reached the mainland we had a 15 minute trip (with a short break to partake of muffins and juice on the boat and to look at some of the wildlife including small bats which sleep on the mangrove tree) through the mangroves to get to the small village of Bomba where Herman was born and raised. Herman navigated the narrow, twisting passage through the mangroves...only 2 to 3 feet deep in some spots...at top speed and with an amazing skill...he was like the Mario Andretti of boat driving and it was quite fun.

We arrived in Bomba in one piece and were met with an amazing experience of village life. Bomba had about 60 people living there with no electricity and a single public phone which was run off of a car battery. Not only does this mean no lights after dark, but no refrigeration! A couple of families had a TV run by battery, but this was not the norm. Cell phones do not work in this remote area, the bus comes by a few times each week and there are cute animals running wild (Miranda was particularly enthralled with a pair of cute kittens which took to her immediately). The families support themselves somewhat through fishing and farming, but mostly by carving bowls and other items for tourists. The men travel to nearby areas with chain saws to harvest wood and then bring it back to be carved. An average sized bowl takes about a day to complete and sells for $20 USD. They were doing a pretty good business as the bowls were absolutely lovely all polished up. Many of the gentlemen were very skilled. You don't want to hear about the bathroom!

We should stop here and describe our captain/guide Herman. Herman looked Rastafarian with his twisted medium length hair flying everywhere, the ends dipped in bleach. It was a cool effect, but that combined with the marijuana ring he was wearing didn't exactly instill confidence. That was until we found out his history. Herman left the village at 13 to make a better life for himself. He went to San Pedro and worked for a contractor who gave him a place to stay and food to eat with a little bit of money. In exchange, he mixed cement with his hands until he was old and strong enough to graduate to carrying the bags of cement instead. Herman is now 25, owns a rental property back in Bomba, a home in San Pedro and two pieces of land in San Pedro. He built a new home last year (about $23K USD but it was wiped out by the hurricane and he didn't have insurance...seems no one does...he is rebuilding). He is starting to build rental units on his other piece of land to rent to US medical students who study in San Pedro. He has brought his brother over from Bomba and is helping him to make a life for himself as well. Despite that he left home so early, Herman seems to have remained a part of his family and on this morning was returning his nephew to Bomba as he had come to visit responsible Uncle Herman for Christmas. All this by age 25 and starting with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!

After having about twenty minutes in Bomba we boarded a rickety school bus for the nauseating hours ride to the town of Orange Walk during which the driver beeped and waved at everyone he saw. We passed through a few other villages on the way and started to get a feel for life on the mainland. In Orange Walk we got on another smaller boat, driven by Vincent, for the final leg of our journey to Lamanai. This ride was also through mangroves, but a little less speedy and death defying. Our driver slowed down each time we passed local families fishing in their home made dug out canoes (so the wake of our boat didn't tip them), to show us crocodiles, birds (many die hard bird watchers come to Belize for their wide variety of unusual birds), and a Mennonite settlement. Mennonites are kind of like the Amish, but will practice mechanized farming. Most Mennonites in Belize are of European extraction and many are from Russia. We learned that the Mennonites produce about 65­70% of the produce which Belizean's consume. Amazing! Vincent's 8 year old son was with us since the kids were on school vacation for a couple of weeks. After our journey of over three hours, the dock at Lamanai was a welcome sight. Vincent's wife had prepared chicken and potatoes, rice and beans, tortillas, plantains, and cole slaw for our enjoyment and it was superb of course. We had Orange Fanta and Belikin beer to drink...what else is there...and fresh pineapple for dessert. We took about two hours to tour the ruins of Lamanai learning that the Belizean population during Mayan times was 5x bigger than its current population. Lamanai alone had a population of about 50K which is about the same size of Woonsocket or Pawtucket. The ruins were covered with jungle (unlike Chichen Itza in Mexico) which provided nice shade and while many of the ruins were not well preserved, they were unexcavated and untouched; just like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. The restoration project which is now underway is being funded by a United States program which is funneling at least $30 million USD in to the project. Gotta love the old USA. Stuart commented that the Central American archaeologists have quite a liberal interpretation of the word restoration. After a mere three hours at the Lamanai site we were on our return journey and back to Ramon's about 5:30 p.m....getting soaked by a surprise late afternoon rain just as we approached San Pedro. Despite the rainbow, these last 15 minutes of our trip were the least enjoyable! By the way, the gasoline in San Pedro runs about $3 USD/gallon and the oil that they mix with it for the boat engines is about $2 USD/gallon making the fuel for this trip alone over $200.

We ate dinner at Fido's, inviting Miranda's friend Olivia from Canada. She has been living in Alberta, but her family is now going to spend the next eight months at their cottage on Salt Spring Island (overlooking Vancouver), B.C. The food was exceptional (we will be back) and Olivia was great company-a very mature, smart and well traveled 8 year old.

Friday, December 28, 2001
The wind last night was amazing and I didn't get much sleep as the rustling of the thatched roof kept me up. Miranda decided that she wanted to be independent and went down to the restaurant for breakfast on her own. The new neighbors left some type of alarm on and it kept sounding every 15 minutes like clockwork driving us crazy and confounding the front desk (they couldn't seem to send someone in to the room who was equipped to deal with the problem???). Miranda and I both had our hair braided today by Helen, her in the morning and me in the afternoon. She got a bargain at $10 USD while mine cost $30 USD. Hers took about ninety minutes and mine took a full two hours. Miranda's two friends had gotten their hair braided earlier in the week and so she already knew Helen from then. Miranda seemed to be on a first name basis with more people on the island than we were. As a matter of fact, one evening a few nights back she surprised us by yelling "Hi, Feliciano" to a boy who passed us on the beach. We looked at each other and laughed hysterically that she had already made friends and was seeing them everywhere.

We should probably stop for a minute and mention Feliciano. Feliciano was a very small statured 14 year old who made his living on the beach making and selling bracelets (one of which we bought at the end of the trip). He no longer goes to school but spends most of his time selling. He is ambitious and quite the smooth talker/operator. Slick some might say and he could be a bit of a wise guy but in a nice way. We don't know how much family he has but we know he pretty much takes care of himself. Another ambition San Pedran who will make something of himself soon if he has been saving his money.

This afternoon Miranda spent her money from Papa on a cute outfit in the gift shop and then our lazy hammock day ended with a water taxi ride to Capricorn, a gourmet restaurant north of town only accessible by boat. This area has become a bit famous due to the television show Temptation Island which took place using the hotels Journey's End for the men and Mata Chica for the women. The owner of Capricorn was born and raised in Africa (we're guessing S. Africa) and she and her husband (the head chef) moved to the island 6 years ago to serve their high-end continental cuisine. It was a divine night on the beach with a warm breeze. We forgot to douse ourselves with mosquito spray, but luckily the bartender came through with some after we began getting eaten alive. The food was superb and we had the water taxi drop us off at the town pier in San Pedro so that we could walk the beach a little before ending our evening. Miranda ended up with some ice cream, me with some of Rosita's cake and Stuart with half of one of Rosita's cheeseburgers. Yes, he had just eaten, but couldn't resist the call of Rosita's cooking. We stopped at Rock's Supermarket for a taste of pineapple Fanta (not so great) and to pick up some recado to bring home. This is the flavor that is used in all of the stewed chicken we've been having. We noticed that the Nutcracker was being performed in the square outside of St. Peter's Church but we didn't have tickets. It was drawing a crowd of locals which was nice. Back at the hotel we bumped in to Feliciano...he seems to be everywhere and has a little crush on Miranda.

Saturday, December 29, 2001
This morning Miranda and I decided to have breakfast at Mickey's Place after Miranda was rudely awakened by snoring in the next room (which she initially blamed on Dad before realizing that the sound was coming through the connecting door between the two rooms). Mickey's Place is around the corner from Ramon's and owned by his wife. I tried my first order of "fried jacks" which is fried tortillas and taste just like a doughboy. Add a little butter and jelly and mmmmm. I had them each morning for the remaining days. Miranda was disappointed that after finally getting the San Pedro newspaper, that there wasn't a write up about our captain's burn mishap. The newspaper was supposed to come out on Thursday but they pretty much work on island time and with the holiday no one was surprised that it took until Saturday. Both big and little Olivia are now gone and Miranda is already bored. During the afternoon while we enjoyed Nachos, chips and salsa, she walked down to the grocery store to visit Jamilla and later she swam and occupied herself still disappointed that no new kids her age had arrived in the past 12 hours.

One of the most exciting things that happened today was that I got picked up at the bar by a very suave, smooth talking San Pedran named Eric. The fact that I was married didn't seem to phase him as he asked if I would divorce my husband and marry him instead. He had a boat and was going to take us on a free snorkel trip as well. I had to turn him down despite his "pierced heart" and told him that I figured he'd probably be expecting something in return for the free boat ride and "thanks but no thanks." I must be getting old when the best part of my day revolves around getting approached at the bar by a younger man.

During the late afternoon, Miranda and I rented bicycles and toured the south end of town for about an hour. It was difficult riding with all the pits in the dirt road and the golf carts speeding past. Not exactly enjoyable. I was glad when the hour was up. Around 4:30 we had a HUGE thunder and lightning storm that lasted about 2 1/2 hours. The sky was just lighting up and the rumbling of the thunder along the beach was cool to listen to. It was too windy to use an umbrella so we got our beach towels, wrapped up and headed up the beach to Fido's for supper. There were still people out and about despite the storm although we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves.

Speaking of restaurants, the service is pretty deplorable from what we are used to although if you are aware, you can keep your eye on the waiter and hound him for what you need. They don't ignore your requests, you just have to catch them to ask for what you want. We got pretty good at it although I had to laugh when Miranda and I both ordered raspberry cheesecake at Fido's for dessert and it arrived frozen solid. I had to flag down the waiter and he came over knowing full well what we wanted, he just didn't want to deal with it until we asked.

Sunday, December 30, 2001
Oh boy, hideous music wafting through the air...Sunday morning...Baby's at it again. I dragged myself out of bed after one particularly lengthy tune and was just in time to see a couple renewing their vows on the sunlit beach with Ramon officiating. The three of us went to Mickey's this morning as we couldn't bear to sit and listen to Baby even if there was a breakfast buffet. The weather was particularly lovely and while we had intended on taking an afternoon snorkel trip, we figured "no time like the present," especially with the fickle tropical weather. We bugged Rugut (pronounced Roo - Goo') and he found another couple who also wanted to snorkel Mexico Rocks and Trés Cocos and off we went within the half hour with the sun shining brightly. Miranda had a blast and did an amazing job with the snorkeling this time, even venturing to practice diving under the water and then blowing the water out of her snorkel afterwards. The snorkeling was some of the best we have ever seen at both stops...vibrant colors, lots of coral and marine life...just what we had expected when planning to come to Belize.

This afternoon Miranda got to visit Jamilla again down at the grocery store and then afterwards played in the pool with Michelle and Seresa (ages 10 & 7), Ramon's granddaughters from CA who had flown in for the big New Year's party which would take place into the wee hours of tomorrow night. As a matter of fact, Ramon's was filling up considerably with guests who had come from the mainland (arriving by all means of transportation) and other countries. That night we got Ramon's room service and had to laugh when Miranda's soup (of which we were first told there was none) arrived in an old Cool Whip container. Oh...you just gotta love the laid back island life!

Monday, December 31, 2001 New Year's Eve
Last night in the middle of the night there was a huge torrential down pour that lasted for an hour at least and I finally got the answer to my question about how the thatched palm leaf roofs hold water...they don't. About 5 a.m. I heard Miranda calling me saying, "Mommy, the hut is leaking on my head." I was so exhausted, but couldn't help laughing, and we rolled her cot away from the leak and went back to sleep. The funny thing is, out of our entire large room, the roof only leaked in one tiny spot and it was just rotten luck that it dripped right on Miranda's head. Ah, if that were the only interruption that my sleep had. We were awakened to clanging metal about 8 a.m. and went out on the balcony only to think...boy are we in trouble! They are setting up three tents (two of which are practically right under our balcony) for tonight's big party. Of course, we hadn't even seen the 10, four foot high speakers at this point. Miranda and I had breakfast at Ramon's and then I walked in to town to get Stuart some breakfast pastry, stroll around, and rent another cart at Polo's. We spent the rest of the morning taking the go cart to the southernmost tip of the island of which there isn't much to see except for some nice secluded beach areas as well as the fish trap area. It was a long and bumpy trip and we ate lunch at El Patio on our way back which didn't work out too well. It was a VERY hot day and without the breeze and El Patio being closer to the lagoon than the open water, the flies drove us absolutely crazy...so much so that we couldn't really eat successfully. It was a challenge to eat and shoo at the same time and very aggravating I might add. In ten days we have not had a single problem with flies so this was very unusual. Miranda spent a couple of hours playing with Jamilla at the grocery store and Stuart and I returned the cart and walked back via the beach. We sat outside and watched Joe Pat and Billy Bob play Bocce and teach the native kids to play as well. It was pretty funny to watch.

That night we ate our last supper consisting of street vendor food and Rosita's complete with 2 large pieces of her vanilla and chocolate cake which we all shared. We then roamed about town picking up a few souvenirs that we had been eyeing over the week. The party started up about 6 with the dinner patrons arriving but really began warming up about 9 p.m. when the Gilharry 7 band began to play their repertoire of Latin music. There were people there from all over the world it seemed but especially from Belize City, Caye Caulker, and Mexico. We spotted the couple we had met on our Mexico Rocks snorkel and enjoyed talking to them for a bit as they like to travel like we do. They were already planning next summer when they would be taking a pop-up and camping across Canada. At any rate, it was a splendid night for a party with the air mild, but not too warm and the moon just about full. It couldn't have been any better. We danced with Miranda for a while and then took a break back at the room with Kim doing some packing. The music was pounding, our hut was shaking to the rafters, but Miranda conked right out as if she hadn't a care in the world. Around 11:15 p.m. the two of us woke Miranda up enough to let her know that we'd be out dancing and then we joined the crowd until a little after the midnight hour and the New Year was welcomed in. We have never attended a party like this or danced in the sand at the water's edge before and it was a real treat to be a part of the San Pedran New Year celebration. We hit the sack about 12:30 p.m. and Kim fell asleep almost immediately despite the volume of the music. Tired! We came to enough to realize that they stopped the music about 2 p.m. but the revelers were there buzzing about until after 3 a.m.

Tuesday, January 1, 2002 New Year's Day
We were stunned to be awakened at 5 a.m. by the racket ot beer bottles being gathered up and tables/chairs being cleaned up for the breakfast crowd. We managed to fall back asleep somewhat but wanted to get up vaguely early so as to get as much out of the day as possible. Ramon's check-out is at noon and we had a 1 p.m. flight on Maya Island Air back to Belize City. We ate breakfast pool side and relaxed in hammocks for most of the morning until Kim went up to pack about 11 a.m. We called for the go cart at noon, checked out of Ramon's and then headed over to the airport to check in a little on the early side. Since we still had time, we walked in to town and got lunch to go at Celi's Deli which had great rotisserie chicken. This plane was larger (it sat 13), newer, and a bit faster than the plane that we came in on and Miranda got to sit in the co-pilot's seat while Mom and Dad got stuck in the back. The flight only took 11 minutes (compared to about 17 coming). Maya Island Air lost our huge blue luggage, but found it before we left on our Houston flight. They were very helpful and the Maya Island Air guy even took the time to come looking for me in the airport when they found it...try that at Logan! They were really on top of their game both at the airport in San Pedro and in Belize City. We were all checked in and sitting around by 1:45 p.m. for our 3:10 p.m. flight. We had to pay a departure tax which totaled $41.25 USD before leaving and take our shoes off when going through security because of a security breech that had taken place in France while we were away. Our limousine was waiting for us at Logan (although the huge blue luggage wasn't...it was lost again, this time in Houston) and we arrived home quite weary at 1:25 a.m. on January 2, 2002. Our vacation was indeed over.