And so we began with an alarm call at 4:30 in our hotel room. We were flying out of Buffalo (since it was cheaper and the flight times were better) but the flight was scheduled for 6:45 am so driving from Rochester seemed way too painful. An airport hotel park and fly deal was the answer. The hotel shuttle dropped us off at 5:15 in blowing gusty snow – several inches had fallen overnight and several ore were trying to fall in the course of the short ride.
We got the bags checked and through security (God bless TSA precheck!) and waited to board the SW flight to Fort Lauderdale. And I poured my Tim Hortons all down the front of my white cardigan. Then we had to sit and wait for the deicing, departing nearly an hour late. And we only had an hour connecting time for the flight to Belize. So did the dozen or so folks on the flight trying to get to Costa Rica. But they held the plane for us. We ran through the airport thinking we had a lot of ground to cover, shoving through crowds milking around their gates. And we finally got there…. 2 minutes later. Turns out the other gate was right around the corner.
We boarded and were excited to get the exit row seat which turned out to not be such a mean feat since there were only 37 of us on the plane! Then came the further delay while we waited for our luggage and we were off! The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed just a half an our late at the Philip S. W. Golden International Airport in Belize City. Honestly Rochester’s airport is bigger but has fewer duty free shops. Through passport control and customs and on to our domestic flight (!). A Cessna 208 Caravan that seated 10. We were scheduled to depart ar 330 but on check in we were told we’d been moved up to the 240 flight. We grabbed a snack and Frank grabbed a local brew. We had just finished eating when they announced our flight was leaving – the 7 passengers boarded and we departed at 210 for the 15 minute flight. 😳
Then a 30 minute ride that covered 2 of the 4 highways in Belize before hitting the dirt road outside Hopkins, the closest village to our resort.
Finally, 12 hours waking up to a blizzard in Buffalo we made it to the beach in Belize. Our welcome drink was a Mosquito bite which invoked brandy, coconut rum and lots of fruit juice. We spent some time unpacking, wandering along the beach and generally getting a feel for the place before showering and heading to dinner.
The resort is small – only 27 rooms – which means no disco, karaoke bar, poolside bingo, etc. And that is fine with us. Our room walks out to the beach and nothing is more than a few steps away, including the tiki bar. Dinner tonight was delicious: quinoa and pineapple salad to start followed by pan seared snapper and sweet pea risotto and a fruit plate for dessert. Frank went with the drunken shrimp, ribs and soursop pie. We managed to stay awake through all 3 courses but then it was time for bed.
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