Where to even begin??
Let me just say that when the group first told me that we had picked Belize as our yearly travel destination I was VERY unsure. I hadn’t heard too many things about it and my desire to go to Central/South America over Asia or Europe was low. However I decided to “lean in” and book my ticket moments after seeing the flight deal information. $300 round trip the day that United has a major debacle?? Awesome. 🙂
We booked the trip in early April, but didn’t actually go until the end of September (narrowly missing rainy season). Months of excitement from the group worked its way to me to pump me up for this new adventure. I had ample time to research everything about this little known (to me) country.
Some quick stats about Belize:
- Most people speak English, Spanish, or an Indian dialect.
- They use the American Dollar as well as the Belizean Dollar interchangeably. The American dollar is worth two Belizean.
- Most places prefer cash to cards
- There are A LOT of bugs in the jungle as well as near the ocean
- People are super friendly!!
- The food is incredibly tasty!!!!!!!!
We all met early one Saturday morning to caravan down to the Houston International airport to fly out. I got to ride with Travis, Danielle, and her boyfriend Blake. We of course had to make a Buc-ee’s stop because what Texas road trip is complete without one?
We get to the airport, get through security, and then Ben and I try to get into the United Lounge with everyone else but our attempt is foiled. We instead head down the way to another restaurant where we had some drinks and food to pass the time. I updated Ben’s online dating profile and he watched the A&M game with another diner who was rooting for the rival team.
We made our way to the plane and friends just in time to board the plane. A very short two hours later we land in Belize City and meet up with the rest of our group. We get our rental cars situated and head out to our first location. I love Air Bnb so when Blair announced we were doing Belize I came across this super awesome nature resort and sent him the info. He agreed that it not only was cool, but it was a super great deal too and booked it for all of us. We spent the first half of our trip being so chill, listening to monkey noises, and eating the most delicious food I’ve ever had. We were the only ones staying at this nature resort save for this one other guy and his wife for part of our stay. The resort only recently had listen themselves on Air Bnb so we had really gotten there at a great time.
The first night we really just got there, figured out the room situation, and ate dinner. My roommate for our little cabin was Rachel since we were the only single girls in the group. Couldn’t have asked for a better roommate! We cranked our air conditioning, read our books, and had a very chill time. Each cabin had a hammock so we would all jump around to other cabins to hang out, swing, and chat. There were some dogs and horses on the property too that we hung out with and named.
The next day we awoke for THE BEST COFFEE and breakfast before heading out to go Zip Lining and Cave Tubing in the jungle! That was Carly’s one request when we booked the trip and it was such a fun suggestion. I had never done zip lining for more than one run at my childhood summer camp so this was awesome to be able to just zip through the forest so high off of the ground. Some had fears, but we worked through them and had a great time. After the zip lining we traded our cables for tubes and made our way to the water. Our guides were awesome and hilarious as they led us through the river and into the caves. We had little head lamps that also would blink like you were at a rave. The tubing was so soothing and I was so relaxed I almost fell asleep on the tour.
After the tour we climbed back into the van and picked up some snacks since it was still going to be awhile before dinner. After getting back to the cabins we all just took a very long nap and then had another delicious meal prepared by our new favorite person, Marcilena. Originally we were only going to eat like two meals at the resort and find food elsewhere. After scoping out our options we asked if instead she could just cook for us the rest of the time and fortunately she agreed. It was consistently amazing and we were a very happy group.
The next day we got coffee, but before breakfast we went on a short nature walk through the jungle that was across the street from the resort. Our guide showed us how you can use different plants from the jungle to heal a variety of medical conditions or illnesses. We got to finally see a few monkeys and I even got to feed one!
After the monkeys we went back to the resort for breakfast and to get ready for our trek out to the Mayan Ruins. Hector almost got left at the resort, but fortunately Rachel remembered him and we all made it there without a hitch. I got to sit shotgun in the car so I asked our guide a million different questions and also tried to get him to let me drive. #nodice.
The Mayan ruins were much cooler than I thought they were going to be. There were hardly any other tourists there so we basically had the place to ourselves. I also got to hold three baby crocodiles that some random guys were showing tourists. I also saw part of a tarantula which was freaky! I wouldn’t say that I’m scared of spiders, but I totally would never want one crawling all over me especially one that huge.
After the ruins we got to visit a “winery“. Belize grows currants as well as cashews so the locals have started making wine out of them. It was super cheap so I bought a little bottle of each, but I wouldn’t say that I am a fan. I don’t like cashews anyway so it just tastes exactly how you think cashew wine would sound.
We headed back to the resort to hang out, have dinner, then hang out and drink. We watched Ben and Travis dance to throwback rap and we tried to make Melissa twerk. Some ants crashed the party and we were momentarily distracted by treating our bites but it was still a great night.
That wraps up Part 1 of the adventure. Stay tuned for Part 2!
Happy Reading!
–Savvy
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