- Als je een comment achterlaat, zet dan AUB ook je naam ín de comment. Ik zie geen e-mail adressen o.i.d , enkel anoniem-
-If you leave a comment PLEASE include your name ín the comment. I don't see e-mails addresses, only anonymous-
Pics and videos below in random order
May 1st, I finally booked my flights. May 12th, packed my bags. May 13th, departure!
After a pretty smooth first flight to the States, the second flight was less smooth or well the lay over was. On the first flight the entertainment system wasn't working for the first few hours, luckily I had downloaded a movie to watch offline and also slept for a little bit. It started working again after that. I had a few vodkas and the flight attendent told me after the third 'we have to take it easy with the vodkas'. Haha, their service was over after the third round anyway so that was fine. I took both my bags as hand luggage, one bag for my trip (about 7kg) and one bag full of food for my cousin (about 5kg). And so it was easy to walk around with them. The lay over was only suppose to be 1,5 hrs but took 4hrs. It was my first time getting on a plane and having to deplane it after (due to mechanic issues). A couple of us sat together at this bar and next thing I knew, we were a 'family'. A dad, a mom, an aunt and an uncle, brother and sister (me). It was pretty funny, but I guess you had to be there haha. And then as we finally got on the plane, the guy boarding us told me I had three bags and had to check one in. I had a small one with my phone and passport and stuff, so I told him it wasn't a problem before and he told me again that I had to check it in. So I gave one bag to 'mom' and asked if that would work and he said that it was fine. So after walking about 5 steps further, I took the bag back. The flight was fine and I got into Florida late at night.
The water, the air, the sand, the sounds, the wind. It's Florida and I am home and it's just what the doctor ordered. It's familiar territory, even the bits I don't know that well here. It still takes me back to all those years visiting, my home away from home. I feel the sand piling up in between my toes and being washed away by warm water time and time again. I see a baby turtle that is being taken back into the waters, a baby bird looking for food, surfers waiting for a wave and me, dancing to the sounds of the water in the Floridian sun. Everything else is at peace, my mind is empty and nothing else seems to matter. It's almost as if I just completed the circle and started a new one. Besides that beach visit, I went to Walmart (duh!!) but with the little luggage I took with me, I didn't want to get too much and just got the essentials for my trip to Belize, sunscreen and bug spray mostly. I spent time with my cousin on her 21st birthday, which is why I flew over. It's another new beginning. I cherish the memories I have of her growing up and me feeling like her big sister but she's all grown up and finding her way in life. She seems to be doing well and is having fun in life :-)! Had a great time together!
I got up at 415am a few days later because I had an early flight to Belize, with a lay over in the State. Flights went fine. As I got off the plane in Belize, it feels warm and humid as if u walk into a swimming pool almost. I am greeted inside by a huge billboard of the local beerbrand that says: "no working during drinking hours" and instantly I am sold! Haha. And not long after, free chocolate is being handed out because of the yearly chocolate festival. Now, I am not a big fan of chocolate but since I had no breakfast except for the bag of nuts and chips on my last flight, and mostly cause it was free, I grabbed a piece. 70% cacao and wow, not bad! Made my way through customs and got my passport stamped!! USA doesn't stamp your passport anymore, so happy with a new one.
Made my way to baggage claim, which is right next to it. It's a small arrival hall. And since I bought sunscreen and bug spray which exceeded the 100ml max (they still check it here unlike in Amsterdam), I had to check in one of my bags. I had a feeling that something would go wrong and so I also put some extra stuff in my hand luggage. And where was my blue bag? Well, not in Belize...that's for sure. I think swimming with whalesharks is bad luck (had the same thing happen once before, when I went to do the same in the Phillpines). But I was prepared this time and packed whatever I did not want to lose. Filled in a form and another and another. They told me it was being sent to the hostel tomorrow. I had booked the next domestic flight at 130pm, not knowing how long it would take to get through. But as everything moved a lot quicker here, I asked if I could get the 1230pm flight. They put me on standby. It's a 30min flight, but ground transport for just me was about €250 and the flight was about half. I saw the small propeller planes outside and a rush of excitement came over me. The departure hall is small and all airlines have their own gates right next to eachother. And it's almost like a market. But instead of "apples, a kg for a dollar", they're screaming out names with and without microphones. And even though it seems chaotic, it looks to all be working until they start to all call out names at the same time. Haha it's good entertainment. And they are very persitent. I've heard the same names for about 20times in combination with the words 'immediate boarding'. I wonder if the plane is waiting outside for them to show up.. it's 1230 by now and I still haven' heard anything either. Island times.
I bought a bottle of water, paid in USD and my change was a mix of USD and Belizian Dollars. I stuffed it in my wallet, will have to have a look later. Ordered a grilled cheese sandwich to go, they said 20-25min and that was fine. Both of them kept standing at the register doing nothing though. So I wondered where my food was coming from. There's no kitchen inside either, again what a show to watch haha. About 20min had passed and she left to pick up my food from somewhere, I saw her dissapear out of sigh. It is confirmed, island times and so estimations don't mean much, neither do departure times. The guy comes for me but my food is not here yet. It's been a good 20minutes since she went to pick it up. A few minutes after I saw her walking very slow paced from a distance. And of course we didn't leeave yet so I ate most of it while waiting to board. Had the last fries on board right before taking off in one of the propellor place I saw earlier. All and all it was gone quicker than the wait. And so was the flight haha.
I looked down from the plane and it was nice, we weren't that high up so you got to see a lot. I thought back of the time I jumped out of a plane a little bigger than this once and it was a loooot higher up. I can't imagine jumping out of this one now. But if that was the case, if this was a skydive, I still would have went for it! I was sitting behind the pilot and I saw him turn on the autopilot and get his paperwork in order. It's sooo hot on board and I fell asleep again for about half of the 30minutes it took to get there.
Arrived in Placencia, which is all the way down south of Belize. Got a taxi and walked the last bit to the hostel. It was my first time in years to stay in a hostel again but I figured it might be easier to book activities together. Again, I booked this not even 12hours before getting here. It was super hot, only had a tiny fan by the bed and no change of clothes with me. Did take a shower and walked to the beach for a bit. Even after just a few steps, I felt a breeze, it was so nice. Lots of seaweed though. Chilled for a bit and decided to walk and look for a place to eat. I didn't have to go far for a bar. It was full of older Americans. I would soon learn that they love it here, that they buy houses here. It's full of expats and retirees. And I get it, life isn't bad here. It's close to the States, the first language is English, they can drive around in golf carts and pay in US dollars. Not to mention all the happy hours, cheap drinks and great food. And also, people are super friendly. The group left soon after I arrived and I talked to some of the locals at the bar. I heard about the electricity shortages and that it came from Mexico and that they weren't the best of friends which was also why they didn't get enough. I also met this rasta man that was singing and playing guitar and had done for years and years. He had done all the 'xxx got talent' and some youtube videos that I had to look up. One of them being; Rastaman vs German Tourists and I told him I would share it, so check it out ;-). https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7L4RCjuCFao&pp=ygUXUmFzdGFtYW4gdnMgdGhlIGdlcm1hbnM%3D. It was a funny guy, he had a baby bottle and I asked him what was in it, Tequila he said and if I wanted a taste. I didn't but man, I love these people haha. Cocktails were great there as well!!!
Met an expat couple a little after and went with them to other bars. They showed me around for a bit. The guy was retired, the woman was a stewardess. I met a bunch of other expats through them and talked about their life here. And also asked them for advice. I had read earlier that there hadn't been sightings of whalesharks the last years and they confirmed that and so I decided not to do it. We also filled in these forms to request songs, like we do at our pianobar at home, and we sang along to songs like Sweet Caroline. And for some reason it was my birthday and so they all sang Happy Birthday to me haha. I then went to another bar with the woman I met at the first bar and was back at the hostel a little after 00. Everything closed at twelve. I slept like a baby that first night.
I didn't do a whole lot after that, there wasn't too much to do and it was hard to do activities or tours because it was just me and they needed at least two. There was one other thing I really wanted to do down here and I got to do that on my last day. Monkey river town, wildlife spotting on a small boat and a shirt jungle hike to look for howler monkeys. Now I've seen all of that but we would end with manatees! I haven't seen them anywhere else than in our Zoo. We were with 5, two couples and me. One older couple from the UK and one younger couple from the US and guess what, it was her birthday today (but for real haha).
The boat ride was great, I forgot how much I loved being on the water. It reminded me of my time on the river in Madagascar and the boat ride in Guatemala. And I smiled thinking back reliving these memories. Also when people ask me where I've been, I almost go in this hypermode telling people full of energy and excitement where I've been and what I've done. And I realize at those moments that I've done so much and saw so many cool things and I'm filled with that happy feeling again.
We saw some cool stuff, birds, iguanas, orange seastars and yes even manatees surfacing for air for a bit. Oh and the 'ant highway', that was amazing! Hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of 'working ants' making their way under ground with leaves to built their castle I guess. You saw them everywhere we walked and they made a path for themselves. We went our seperate ways but I exchanged numbers with the birthday girl in case they would go out for drinks later. The older couple had quickly left, we learned later that it was because she really had to pee!
I went out to happy hour with two others from the hostel (€3 cuba libres) and then to dinner with one of them. And guess what, the UK couple was sitting right there next to us!! The guy I met left after dinner and so I joined their table, the birthday girl had also texted me by then and so we all got together. The live band had stopped about 20min already but went back to play and sing Happy Birthday! She was so surprised! We had drinks, took a photo together and said our goodbyes to the UK couple. The three of us went to the same bar where I finished my first night it was a bit dead but we had fun still. Shots, cocktails, you name it. And again I was in bed a little after twelve.
I took the local bus to Hopkins the next morning. It's one of the old school buses from the us, they use them a lot here. It was fulll of locals, and the bus broke down. It was about 35degrees, bus was running while they fixed it and so really hoooot. Locals had told me earlier that it was hot for them as well. This wasn't normal. The bus was 7 Belizian dollar, 3,5 US dollars. So what they do, it's a fixed ratio, so whatever it is in Belizian it's half in US dollars. And you can pay with both, change is often in their own currency though. Creditcard is also more and more accepted.
Got to Hopkins and wasn't making the same mistake (or choices) again, so I had a private room with a/c (booked it last minute ago again of course)! I walked about 15minutes to get there from the busstop. Again, happy that I had little luggage with me. And again, so hot down here as well. But I was on my way to a/c and the place was on the beach so was also hoping for a nice breeze :-)!
