Caye Caulker - Take 2

We're back!  It seemed to take forever for this trip to roll around, but now that we're back at Alta Vista, it feels like we never left!  

We had an early go of it this morning.  Up at 2 am to get organized in time for a 4 am car pick-up.  I've mentioned this before, I believe, but we now have a car service pick us up both to and from the airport.  One too many returns home to a Minnesota winter and car problems in a parking lot 15 miles from home has deterred us from driving ourselves.   It's much nicer to get in to a nice warm car directly from the airport and be dropped off at home!  Costs about the same as parking, too!

The airport was fairly deserted at 4:30 am on a Sunday.  The cruise ship passengers don't usually start arriving until closer to 6, so we were able to breeze through security with only a small hitch when the zippers on my Travex pants caused an alert with the body scanner.  A quick pat-down by a TSA agent and we were on our way with enough time to stop at Caribou for a coffee!  

Leg one to Miami was uneventful.  I was in the dreaded middle seat, but the woman sharing our row was very well-behaved and sat practically motionless the whole time.  The man behind me was less cooperative and snored like a buzz saw throughout most of the flight.  Despite that, and thanks to a Gravol, I slept through most of the 3-hour flight.  

In Miami we had enough time to grab a quick lunch, call Michelle to check in, and then board the plan to Belize City.  The flight was more than half-empty, such a scarce treat anymore, so we had the whole 3 seats between the two of us.  Flying bliss!  I managed to make my way through about 1/2 of my current book, and Andrew played on the in-flight wifi.  He likes to track the plane as it goes along and make sure we're on time.  

Belize City was rainy and hot when we landed.  Customs is fairly painless here for tourists and we were met just outside by one of the Tropic Air staff who collected our bags and guided us to the check-in counter for our last flight (more on that to come).  Once our bags were check through to Caye Caulker, we ran across the street from the airport to buy a SIM card for my phone.  Last time we were here we didn't have a phone of any sort, and there were a few times we wished we had.  For example, last time we had to go and pick up our pie from Caye Caulker Pizza.  This time, we can call & have it delivered!

Tower of the Belize City Airport

Now we arrive at what was my most dreaded part of the trip.  I had a momentary lapse in judgement and let Andrew talk me in to flying to Caye Caulker rather than taking the lovely, safe (albeit slow) water taxi.  For a mere $70 each, we were given the privilege of loading in to a sardine can with wings with a half-dozen other suckers for a 10-minute flight to the island.  I have to admit that the take-off & landing were both smoother than I expected.  The 8 minutes in between were less soothing, mostly because it was raining so we were flying in and out of black storm clouds while rain pelted the windows.  Isn't that how all those plane crash scenes begin?  Fortunately, the flight was very short and, in a break between clouds of death, I spotted a manatee in the water.  Very exciting!   Soon enough, we were on the ground in Caye Caulker! 

Our winged death trap

Kim, the manager of the holiday rental, was waiting for us at the airstrip (you wouldn't call it an airport really; the only building is a little shack) in a golf cart.  In less than 5 minutes we were inside of our beloved Alta Vista!   We had a moment of nauseating panic when Andrew couldn't find the bag he had all his cash in, but all ended well when he located it in the pocket of the rain slicker Kim had given him to wear in the golf cart.  Whew!   Kim then gave us the low-down on the goings on in Caye Caulker.  It's the very end of low season so not many tourist here right now.  Crime is up (robberies and muggings), so Kim cautioned us to hide our valuables in the house and to not carry much cash when we're out.   Once Kim left we spent about 15 minutes coming up with creative places to hide computers, cash and passports around the house.  I hope we remember where we put everything when it's time to leave! 

After hiding everything, we headed in to town on foot to find some dinner.  It rained here much of the day so the puddles are like small lakes in the sand roads.  We thought bikes would be less practical than our feet.  Being Sunday and low season, many of our favorite places were closed.  However, we did find Rose's open and shared conch ceviche and shrimp kebabs.  

Back at Alta Vista we unpacked, showered, and are now lounging around for the evening.  We're tired from a long day, so keep your fingers crossed that we can sleep in past 6 am.  No sign of Freaky yet, but we did swing by the store for a can of cat food on our way home.  We'll see if she happens by in the morning!