The legend of Pocahontas and ‘Pocahonkie’
Well, it’s been a while since my last post, but I am back. Name_Removed and I have returned from Belize. We had a wonderful vacation and loads of pictures. Look for the Belize photo album on the left of the page.
The destination of our vacation was Placencia, Belize. Placencia is a small village situated at the tip of the peninsula in the Stann Creek Region of Belize. Way back when, the village built a sidewalk through the town from the fishing docks. The village centers around this 3 mile sidewalk. Along the sidewalk you can find gift shops, bars, restaurants, and other local attractions. They have a couple of wonderful ice cream shops that Name_Removed and I stopped at many of times. Our favorite places to eat were the De Tatch Café and the Purple Space Monkey. Here we enjoyed lobster, fish-n-chips, and many other wonderful dishes.
Our trip began on Monday, February 7, when we landed in Belize City. It was warm, about 80 degrees. The view from the plane said it all. Blue water and palm trees. We knew we were in for one hell of a vacation. From the Belize City airport, we caught a small plane flight to Placencia. That flight was a flight of a lifetime! We were in one of those small Cessna planes. I enjoyed it so much because we got to sit in the front of the plane directly behind the pilot. You could look out the front window which was a new experience for me. When we landed in Placencia, the air strip was basically a dirt road. It was pretty funny.
From the moment we landed, our mission was sun, sun, and more sun. Of course my first position was in the hammock ;-). The second day was spent on the beach in the blue chairs that the hotel provided. I had the high SPF protection on because my Seattle skin isn’t made for sun. I didn’t get burned or anything. We had blue skies, calm seas, and a slight breeze.
The third day was the beginning of our adventure. Name_Removed said she wanted to go snorkeling, so we made reservations. Our trip sent us into the reef of Belize and onto a island called Ranguana Caye. The island basically had a couple of huts, a bar, a few chairs and hammocks, and plenty of sand. It was breath taking. The island was that you would see on a post card. After a couple of hours of snorkeling, we then had lunch and laid around in the sand. After that, the tour then took us out a little more into the reef where the boat literally dropped us off, and left to take the divers elsewhere. So here we are, in the middle of the sea, with no boat in sight. Remind you a movie maybe?
The forth day was another tour. We did a Mayan ruins tour and a cave swim. The ruins that we were taken to is called Lubaantum (Place of Fallen Stones). They were amazing. To see the stone work and the mass of the place was amazing. It was located right in the heart of the jungle. Very cool and lots of fun. After the the ruins, we went to the Blue Creek Rainforest Lodge. Here our guide, Pedro, took us into the caves and we swam up the creek that ran through it. We had a life vest on our hips to keep us afloat and a head lamp. It was creepy, but probably one of the most exciting things I have ever done. I highly recommend this!
The rest of the trip was spent lounging on the beach and soaking up the tropical sun. We were on vacation. Why spend a vacation doing tons of things that you end up feeling tired of your vacation? You almost need a vacation from your vacation. Not for us….we were in paradise. Belize is much better then my personal experience in Mexico. It blows Hawaii out of the water. The beaches are breath taking, the people are wonderful, and the prices are cheap. The people of Placencia seem to embrace tourism, yet not a lot of tourists are in Belize (very good thing). When you walk along the board walk, people will say hello and good morning/afternoon to you.
I think Name_Removed got more tan that I did. She really did start to look like Pocahontas. I, on the the other hand, don’t think I got very tan. I did burn on the day before we left. I was only using SPF 4 because I wanted to get some color. I joked around with Name_Removed that she should call me ‘Pocahonkie’ because I wasn’t as tan as her.
While we were down there, Name_Removed and I celebrated our 4 month anniversary of dating (yet we have known each other for 4 years), her birthday, and of course Valentine’s Day. For her birthday, I was able to convince one of the ladies at the De Tatch Café to bake a cake for me. She made a nice chocolate cake for Name_Removed that I could give to her on her birthday. No way was I going to allow Name_Removed to have a birthday without a birthday cake.
Our trip sadly came to an end on Tuesday, February 15. The flight home seemed like it took for days!! You are in the air in total for about 8 hours, but I felt like I could drive home faster. We had 8 wonderful nights together in paradise. I will cherish that vacation for the rest of my days. Hands down, that was the best vacation I have ever been on.
I can’t say enough about the Seaspray Hotel. Our cabana was amazing. The hotel is just 30 feet from the beach! Arlove, the gal that works at the hotel, is like your personal travel agent in Belize. She is great! When Name_Removed and I go back to Belize, we are coming back to this very hotel.
