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The email came in June. I thought it was one of the regulars, but this one was different. With accompanying link she asked, "How cool does this place look?", and with that the adventure took shape. After a couple of months, travel and hotel arrangements in place, it was time for Belize - formerly known as British Honduras, and the only official English-speaking country in Central America.
We almost didn't make it. On the very weekend before we were to leave, Hurricane Dean, at the time a category 5 hurricane, was in the Yucatan Peninsula headed towards South-eastern Mexico. Belize's northern district of Corozal borders this part of Mexico, and so out of necessity we started storm watching. By Tuesday, two days before departure, Dean was a Cat 3 and weakening. Strangely enough, the idea of being in Belize post-Dean intrigued me and heightened my sense of adventure. By this time, CG was most anxious and about ready to make alternate arrangments; visions of a much anticipated shared vacation going up in smokes [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img] Thankfully, by mid-day contact was made with the hotel next door and the report was of only heavy winds and rain in the city. The airport was closed but would be re-opened the next day. Time to exhale.
About seven hours after boarding our first flight, we got into Belize City, via Dallas. But for a three hour wait at DFW for our connecting flight, both legs of the trip were relatively uneventful, and so it was with some excitement that we exited our American Airline flight into what was perfect Belizean Summer weather. No sign of Dean anywhere outside; so far, so good. That was until we ran into "the human turtle".
Belize's Immigration & Customs area is relatively small - 2 lines for locals and CARICOM citizens, and 2 for visitors. We settled into a vistors' line with 5 persons ahead of us (another flight had come in just before ours did). The Immigration Officer was out of our view, but that shouldn't be a problem. Or so we thought. Chit-chatting with other people in line, we didn't notice at first, but after a while, and much to our dismay, all the other lines were moving along very quickly; ours wasn't. After what seemed like forever, the person at the front of our line moved forward; twenty minutes later, the next person moved up. By this time, we were getting restless and the heat was starting to take its toll. People behind us started moving to the Citizens' lines, which by this time were very short, and were passing us. From where I was, I could see our "human turtle" who was s-l-o-w-l-y going through a ream of paper that looked like his version of the no-fly list. Mama Mia \o/
It was then we decided to move to another line as there was no way we wanted to be processed by him, so move we did. Everybody behind us followed, leaving that line empty. When he was through with the person he was dealing with, he motioned for next in the other line, and of course, we were looking in the opposite direction. A couple of Asian young ladies went to him. When we finally got to an Immigration Officer, he processed us in about 2 minutes; the effects of the heat showing on him as well. The good part was he was still smiling. By this time we were the second to last pair in Immigration. No waiting in Customs, thank God for small mercies [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/70384-praying.gif[/img] The worse part was that having flown business class, we were among the very first off our flight. Quite the Belize welcome, I thought. Definitely not what I was expecting.
We had arranged for transportation from the Airport, and if the "human turtle" was exasperating, our driver - Kevin - was the extreme opposite; a delightful Belizean who greeted us with a very warm "Welcome to Belize!", and proceeded to load our luggage into his car. A good conversationalist, our ride to The Belize Great House was extremely pleasant, Kevin providing numerous anecdotes about the goings-on in the country and answering our questions, including ones about Dean. I had just one concern. Belizean drivers ignored traffic stop signs; it was every man - and pedestrian - for himself [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/70384-praying.gif[/img]
It had been an exhausting day. Given the -2 hour time difference, it was earlier in Belize than our bodies were telling us. We listened to our bodies, and after checking in, without even talking about it, we knew that would be it for this day. We would be here for five days. Tomorrow, God willing, we would hit the road. Now it was time to rest.
We almost didn't make it. On the very weekend before we were to leave, Hurricane Dean, at the time a category 5 hurricane, was in the Yucatan Peninsula headed towards South-eastern Mexico. Belize's northern district of Corozal borders this part of Mexico, and so out of necessity we started storm watching. By Tuesday, two days before departure, Dean was a Cat 3 and weakening. Strangely enough, the idea of being in Belize post-Dean intrigued me and heightened my sense of adventure. By this time, CG was most anxious and about ready to make alternate arrangments; visions of a much anticipated shared vacation going up in smokes [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img] Thankfully, by mid-day contact was made with the hotel next door and the report was of only heavy winds and rain in the city. The airport was closed but would be re-opened the next day. Time to exhale.
About seven hours after boarding our first flight, we got into Belize City, via Dallas. But for a three hour wait at DFW for our connecting flight, both legs of the trip were relatively uneventful, and so it was with some excitement that we exited our American Airline flight into what was perfect Belizean Summer weather. No sign of Dean anywhere outside; so far, so good. That was until we ran into "the human turtle".
Belize's Immigration & Customs area is relatively small - 2 lines for locals and CARICOM citizens, and 2 for visitors. We settled into a vistors' line with 5 persons ahead of us (another flight had come in just before ours did). The Immigration Officer was out of our view, but that shouldn't be a problem. Or so we thought. Chit-chatting with other people in line, we didn't notice at first, but after a while, and much to our dismay, all the other lines were moving along very quickly; ours wasn't. After what seemed like forever, the person at the front of our line moved forward; twenty minutes later, the next person moved up. By this time, we were getting restless and the heat was starting to take its toll. People behind us started moving to the Citizens' lines, which by this time were very short, and were passing us. From where I was, I could see our "human turtle" who was s-l-o-w-l-y going through a ream of paper that looked like his version of the no-fly list. Mama Mia \o/
It was then we decided to move to another line as there was no way we wanted to be processed by him, so move we did. Everybody behind us followed, leaving that line empty. When he was through with the person he was dealing with, he motioned for next in the other line, and of course, we were looking in the opposite direction. A couple of Asian young ladies went to him. When we finally got to an Immigration Officer, he processed us in about 2 minutes; the effects of the heat showing on him as well. The good part was he was still smiling. By this time we were the second to last pair in Immigration. No waiting in Customs, thank God for small mercies [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/70384-praying.gif[/img] The worse part was that having flown business class, we were among the very first off our flight. Quite the Belize welcome, I thought. Definitely not what I was expecting.
We had arranged for transportation from the Airport, and if the "human turtle" was exasperating, our driver - Kevin - was the extreme opposite; a delightful Belizean who greeted us with a very warm "Welcome to Belize!", and proceeded to load our luggage into his car. A good conversationalist, our ride to The Belize Great House was extremely pleasant, Kevin providing numerous anecdotes about the goings-on in the country and answering our questions, including ones about Dean. I had just one concern. Belizean drivers ignored traffic stop signs; it was every man - and pedestrian - for himself [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/70384-praying.gif[/img]
It had been an exhausting day. Given the -2 hour time difference, it was earlier in Belize than our bodies were telling us. We listened to our bodies, and after checking in, without even talking about it, we knew that would be it for this day. We would be here for five days. Tomorrow, God willing, we would hit the road. Now it was time to rest.
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