home sweet home

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 tnguyen308 0 Comments

We're back from our short trip to Belize and we are glad to be home. It was nice to get away and just be with each other, but boy was it hot. We got off the plane in Houston and said, "Man, this feels good." Do you believe that? Houston weather feeling good. Belize was hot and humid with attacking mosquitoes.

Our trip began on Saturday afternoon with a short flight to Belize, then a puddle hopper into San Pedro, then a short boat ride to the resort. I got pretty nauseas when on the little plane but was a-okay once my foot touched ground. It was a nice, small resort with 12 units, with 4 condos in each. The first night we decided to order room service because we were just too pooped to go out to get food.

We woke up bright and early Sunday morning and decided to go into town for church and see the city. We rented bikes for the day. It was a 4 mile ride into town and the roads were not paved. Lots of bumps, lots of rocks and lots of sand. It was a hot ride into town but we made it in, however, missed mass. We were able to go into the church and say our prayers. Afterwards, we went into a few shops and tried to find a lunch spot. Little did we know, we were riding on the roads the wrong way. I just couldn't figure out why everyone was looking at us crazy until one man finally said to me "Wrong Way." Opps. The roads are not marked with street names nor "one way" signs. We finally see a map to lead us to where we should eat. While my hubby is looking at it, I'm waiting next to a shop called "The Salty Dog," when a local comes by and says hi and asks me if I'm from California. Then he talks to my hubby and gives him suggestions on where to eat. Then he asks, "is that your lady?" How funny, huh. We end up eating at Fido's (fee-dos) along the beach. Pretty good food, but not mind blowing. We finally make our way back to our resort, but my this time, my knee was getting pretty tired and worn down. I almost fell about 3 times. Not good at all. We did see two iguanas on the road that I thought were rocks, until they moved out of the way. I did scream like a baby. But we made it back without scratches or cuts, only mosquito bites. We decided to cool off in the pool and have dinner at the resort. The best key-lime pie I've ever had, well the only one I've had, but it was delicious!

On Monday, we decided to stay at the resort and kayak out to the coral reef, the second largest in the world. We first dipped into the pool to warm up a bit then headed out towards the ocean. We brought our own snorkel gear but rented life vests and fins. The guy told us where we could paddle to and warned us to make sure we tie the kayak up real tight and put the oars under our seats, because if we lose them, we would be paying for them. I was a bit concerned since he didn't take our names or room numbers down. If we were to be lost at sea, no one would know since our information wasn't taken. But we went out to sea anyways, it was about a 100-225 meters out and was told the water was only 6 ft deep. We got to the buoy and I made sure the kayak was tied up pretty tightly. After tying it, I waited about 5 minutes before I was sure it wasn't going anywhere. I was the first to jump in. Mind you, the water was a bit choppy, it had been seriously windy for the last 2 days. I was doing fine, swimming along and seeing school of fish. My hubby finally jumped in and were doing great. Then I had to readjust my goggles, and once I did that, I couldn't get it to sit right again. Water kept going in my goggles and I kept floating farther away from our kayak. Then I started panicking. What if a shark comes up to us, what do we do? Who will know what to do? It was just me and my hubby out in the ocean and no one knew of this. I kept thinking about that movie "Open Water" and I just wanted to get back in the kayak at that time. I didn't tell my husband my concerns until after we were safely in the kayak again. Once I told him, he said he was thinking the same thing too. Dude, that was scary. Next time we snorkel, we're going in a group. Like my hubby said, the percentage of us getting attacked is less if more people are out there. Too funny.

So, we lift ourselves back in the kayaks. I was worried about this part because I didn't know if I had enough upper body strength to pull myself up. No worries needed, I was able to get on and my hubby did too. However, we did throw off the balance of the kayak and tipped off, this time we didn't have our fins on. Now, more of my body was exposed. Eek! I quickly jumped in the kayak again and balanced it for my hubby to jump on. Whew! Safe and sound in the kayak. We paddle around in the ocean for a little while longer then decide it's time to head in.

All in all, we enjoyed our short time in Belize. Traveling together has always been great, no matter the destination. For us to spend great quality time together, exploring new sites and sounds, that's always exciting and fun!