After a horrible night’s sleep in a Phoenix hotel that totally sucked, I made it to the airport exhausted. The hotel promised a free shuttle to the airport and even that was mediocre at best. I left wishing I hadn’t already booked the same hotel for the night I returned from Belize too, but for now it was a distance thought because I was headed to paradise.
I could of sworn my flight was leaving at 6am’ish. I’m so glad I checked before setting the alarm, since it actually left at 825am.
My bad luck continued when one of the people sitting by me on the airplane was your typical know-it-all and worse yet he supposedly knew everything about Alaska just because he had visited once. Since he was talking to the lady next to me and not me directly, I chose not to correct him. And, lucky for me I had my noise cancelling headphones so as soon as the plane reached altitude I turned them on and fell asleep.
The plane landed in Houston at 1155am and left at 130pm. It was the perfect amount of time to get lunch and my last Starbucks iced, non-fat, decaf, white chocolate mocha.
At about 4pm I placed my foot on Belizean soil (ok the asphalt tarmac). Even though it was overcast and humid, it still felt like paradise. I just knew this was going to be a trip of a lifetime.
Immigration was very fast, but getting my luggage took a while and I got a bit nervous. I started to think maybe I shouldn’t have checked my bag. It finally arrived and then it was off to the customs line. Interestingly enough the customs line for those who had items to declare was very short, but those of us with nothing to declare had to stand in the longer line that took forever. I started to get concerned that maybe my shuttle driver wouldn’t wait.
The two single guys I met in the customs line made the time go by a bit faster. They were headed to Caye Caulker, but unfortunately they were both scheduled to leave before I headed there later in my trip. Just my luck.
Not only did the shuttle driver wait, I found out he had dropped some other passengers off at 1030am that morning and waited for me from that point. My driver’s name was William and he was from Holland. I found him very funny, interesting, and informative. About half way to San Ignacio he asked if I minded him picking up his girlfriend on the way. I wonder what he would have said/done if I said I minded, but of course I didn’t. His girlfriend was a local and she was also very nice.
We arrived at Midas Resort in San Ignacio around 7pm. I was shocked when I saw the entrance littered with debris. When we turned the corner I was then relieved to see that the debris was from construction of a new privacy wall and pool area…thank goodness!
After checking in I walked to Hodes for dinner in the pouring rain. It was close and the food was good. Then after dinner I ended my exhausting travel day by IM’ing with my Mom and unpacking. I laid down around 930pm and it was just minutes before I was off in dreamland.
Just an interesting side note…on December 1st…I had breakfast in Phoenix, Arizona…lunch in Houston, Texas…and dinner in San Ignacio, Belize.