I find it hard sometimes to sum up a trip especially just hours after arriving home. My husband and I just came back from our first solo trip out of the US to Belize. We were only there for 3 full days, which I feel was not enough time. Belize may not be the less expensive trip I have been on, but it is one of the easiest- convenient, and more relaxing places to travel. Knowing that everywhere takes US Dollars made the trip stress free, knowing we did not have to worry about exchanging currency.
Day 1
Settle in. Most blogs that I have read suggested to immediately to get out of Belize City once you have landed. However, because of our flight schedule- arriving around 6pm, we stayed in the city. The buses and ferries stop running around 530pm so we did not have much of a choice unless we wanted to rent a car.
We walked around and had a lovely dinner with great conversation at our place of stay.
Day 2
Trip to Lamanai
We started our day with a bus/ boat tour to Lamanai, Orange Walk, to see the exotic Mayan ruins. Due to the rain, the adventure was quite an experience. We sped through the river channels at 35 mph with rains hitting at all directions observing the Mennonite communities. The crocodiles slithered; the birds laughed; the monkeys howled;, the turtles perched. Once we docked, we began our brief hike through the jungle, stumbling over tree roots as we gazed upward at the large mahogany trees. The three ruins of temples and communities that we climbed were the Mask Temple, the High Temple, and the Temple of the Jaguar.
After the hike, we indulged in local cuisine of plantains and rice, then set off back to Belize City.
The tour guide dropped Michael and I at the Ferry stop, in which we continued our trip to Caye Caulker. Make sure to buy a round trip ticket as it is significantly less than 2 one way tickets. Once we arrived to the beautiful island, we settled in and made our way to explore. Even on a overcast day, the colors of the residents were bold and bright. We ate dinner at Rose's Bar and Grill then made our way to the Sports Bar and listened to some authentic Reggae music.
Day 3
Most of the day was spent walking up and down the island to the split, tasting coffee, enjoying the sun and water, and finding a place to watch the super bowl. We had a great time taking pictures and conversing with other tourist/ locals.
Day 4
On our last full day in Belize, Michael and I set sail to San Pedro. In my opinion the trip was more of a bust. A lot of tourists, hotels, and restaurants. We spent only a few hours in the water before heading back to Caye Caulker. Once we got back, we booked a last minute sunset cruise that took us around the island. It was a pleasant way to end our trip before heading back to the states.
Day 5
The Departure
Getting to and from the international airport is very easy. We took the San Pedro Ferry Express to Belize City then caught a cab that cost about 25 US Dollars. Be sure to check in any shells that you may have found/ purchased as souvenirs, as security will not let you take them on the plane.
Check out my gallery below to see what we saw!
