Back to Belize

“The Accidental Tourist in San Pedro”

Last fall I planned for this trip. In my mind, I wanted to stroll the beach, wear a white linen jacket, and utter a few memorable words, like in the final chapter of an Ian Fleming novel. Well, life often has a way of reminding us that we are not on our own timeline but a part of God’s divine plan. So on this trip I flew solo to Ambergris Caye, Belize.

Monday

Today was also my yearly celebration of orbiting the sun in one piece. The journey since the fall of 2014 has been challenging to say the least. From career chaos to children living several states away, these have been difficult times. 2016 had been surprising. I traveled a great deal around the Texas, Florida and California with my Koshka. Like seasons though, things change. These thoughts rushed through my mind as I drove to Hobby Airport on this last Monday in February. I called my mom, knowing I’d be out of telephone range for the next few days. At 80, it amazes me how she and dad are never home.

They are the living example of the fountain of youth and love. I also spoke briefly to my adopted little sister Sonia, about my current mood and what I hoped to accomplish on this journey to Belize. Her words, “embrace the fun that’s heading your way, and leave the crap in Texas.” Upon arrival at the parking garage, I quickly gathered my things and boarded the shuttle for the 8-minute ride to the airport. I was reflective, and holding a great deal of anxiety in my spirit that I was trying to hard to release.

At Hobby, I had to check in at the counter and of course show my passport to get the right stamps to move through security. For some reason, without signing up I was a TSA Pre traveler. It happens that way with Southwest. I’m guessing I travel just enough to earn that little perk. But on this day, it was no perk. When I jumped in line, a husband/wife travel team several people in front of me basically had everything that was against the rules in their travel bags. At the same time, the TSA person scanning the bags was in “training.” Luckily, I was not running late so I just passed the time in thought and reminding myself how blessed I really am. At the gate, I saw the usual excited group of people heading to Belize. You know, the black sock, sandals group mixed in with the young, “how many drinks can we handle before and during the flight” crowd. As for me, I’ve done this now almost a dozen times. It’s almost like going home. When boarding, I always remember to sit as close to the front of the aircraft as possible. As beautiful as this country is, getting through customs is never a fun experience. And the Belizeans working here often get frustrated with arrogant north American tourists, so being one of the first to deal with them usually means and uneventful process. After sitting down (on the aisle seat) 2 young ladies sat beside me. One was a first time traveler to Belize; the other had family ties to Dangriga, which is the southern tier of the country. We chatted a bit before I drifted off to sleep. Yes, I did enjoy a fine Tennessee beverage while in route to Belize. It’s a tradition of sorts for me. Landing is always exciting, as there’s only one runway, and the aircraft turns around and travels back up the tarmac to the terminal. Speaking of the terminal, you deplane the old-fashioned way, outside down a staircase circa 1973. Still, awesome though. I then boarded a Maya Island Air flight (puddle jumper) for the short 12-minute flight to Ambergris Caye. Keep in mind; it was more expensive to fly from Belize City to San Pedro, than it was from Houston to Belize. Yes, that’s right. But, the alternative is taking a 2-hour long ferry to San Pedro. The flight as always is amazing. Remember though, if taking this flight sit on the right side of the plan while heading to San Pedro and on the left side returning. You get to see the Cayes (islands) and the Belize Barrier reef. Upon landing, I gathered my bag and walked to my hotel. Carnival was in full swing and the parades were already underway. I also noticed the kids with paint all over them. I was trying very hard to avoid getting crushed in a paint attack. Luckily I emerged on the other side of this holiday unscathed. Checking into my hotel was a breeze and I quickly changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and headed off to Lola’s, a bar owned by a couple of retired Chicago Firefighters. It’s kind of like my “Zimms” in Belize. The place has a great vibe with a mixture of tourists and locals frequenting the place. I hung out there for several hours, later venturing out to see some of the town, with hopes of not being splattered by paint.

Tuesday

When my alarm sounded at 5:40 I figured I would have plenty of time to stumble to the beach and capture the sunrise. I was amazed that it was already bright and I had to dash out the door. I found a few shooting locations and began taking pictures. With my Nikon, tripod and remote trigger I was hoping for longer exposure shots before the sun broke from behind the clouds. My photos (probably 200 or so) turned out decent and I headed back to the hotel. There, I enjoyed a cup of coffee and an Excedrin to fight back the feelings of last evening’s festivities. Taking a short nap, I woke feeling refreshed and ready to explore my home. I stopped at Lily’s Treasure Chest for Bacon, fruit and more coffee. There, I surveyed the terrain and did a good deal of people watching for the next hour or so. I then walked north along the beach. Most of the locals and expats live along this area. You can usually see them sweeping off the porch, working on a boat motor, or teaching a young child (or grand child) to swim. You will see just about anything. The other thing I noticed were the number of signs talking about drug, aids and alcohol. Clearly, this is a growing problem in paradise. When I reached the northern end of town, I took a shortcut back to one of the main streets and walked leisurely back towards the center of town and ultimately to the San Pedro Lagoon. I love these walks. There are no tourists here, just the locals trying to make a living, love their family, or grabbing a quick bite to eat. This is part of the real Belize. Today was also, THAT DAY. Clearly though “THAT” didn’t happen so I walked along the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean, captured pictures, talked to old friends on the island and planned for the rest of my day. Later that afternoon, I bumped into Kendall. He owns a diving/eco tourism business and invited me to ride on one of his catamarans the following day. He shared that business is usually slow from mid-February to spring break so there were not as many charters happening. As for me, I was thankful he offered to let me go along. I also met a couple from Denver who came to visit with their daughter who transferred to Belize with her job, a skydiving business. They were also enjoying the sun! But, perhaps the most bizarre chain of events happened at a restaurant called “Melt.” I met a retired couple who’d been visiting Belize since the 70’s sharing stories about skinny dipping and 2 payphones on the entire island, a bartender who wrote a book about Belize from “Behind the Bar” and yes, a Cougar on the prowl. I’ll leave it at that for those younger readers. She was not successful, at least not with me! Hungry, I wandered down the beach to grab a bite to eat and a cocktail before waiting to catch the sunset on the lagoon side of island. After an hour or so at Estel’s, Dine by the Sea, I slumped into a beach chair, no hat but covered in sunscreen. When I woke up, I wondered why were the shadows were in front of me? Oh heck, it was almost sun set. I dashed to my hotel room, picked up my tripod and hurried to the lagoon side of the island. Yes, I looked like a tourist. The pictures though were amazing. Later, dinner, beverages, conversation and late night munchies were taken care of at the beach park in the center of town. Basically, it’s a stationary food truck with great sandwiches. That night I tried astrophotography. But, I was unsuccessful. Perhaps, success will happen another time in the skies over Texas in 2017.

Wednesday

This morning I was ready for the sunrise. Waking up before my 5:30 alarm, I noticed the wrappers from my late night food stop. Perhaps not in the right mind at that moment, but I remembered it tasting so good. The sunrise was amazing, rivaled only by the Labor Day sunrise near the Pleasure Pier in Galveston. I probably captured another 2-3 hundred stills and headed back to the hotel. Later, I ate breakfast at a little place I noticed while walking the previous day. I met a couple, also from Denver who were visiting Belize for the first time. I shared some of the places to go and to avoid and quickly left them to explore on their own. As for me, I was killing time before my time to jump on the catamaran and sail out to watch divers and perhaps chat with the sailing team. None of this happened unfortunately, the charter was postponed until Thursday (the day I was leaving). The rest of the day was spent capturing images around San Pedro. Later in the day, I bumped into one of my best friends in Belize. He is a tour operator, who has booked trips to the Mayan ruins during previous visits. He’d been visiting with family in Belize for several days. Always the businessman, he was trying to get me to do a morning trip to Al Tun Ha before my flight back to the states. Lets just say I had memories from one of his trips being on the side of the road near Guatemala! Good and inexpensive, but not always reliable.

We shared pictures of stories and pictures of our children, and stories about the recent fire, hurricane, and our travels. He’s a good dude. The afternoon passed without incident with me mainly walking from store to store, talking to people and doing that thing I do, exploring. The sunset that evening was nothing short of amazing. I arrived early and wandered out to one of the piers to set up, mindful to have foreground, centering and of course the sun/clouds in one shot. While waiting, I could not help but notice the people who were ignoring this amazing event. For the locals, paradise is fairly normal. One this late afternoon, the piers were loaded with watermen, sipping cocktails and sharing “fish stories” about today’s haul. As I was about to being capturing this moment, I could not help but notice one woman, who also noticed this marvel and walked out to a pier next to watch God in action. I fired several shots, changing the shutter and aperture each time and watched the sky show. I actually cried by the end of this event. It was one of those times where sharing this experience would have been incredible. I slowly gathered my things, and walked back to the hotel to drop off my trip. Dinner was waiting for me out there; I just had to find it. Back at the Mayan Princess, I spoke to the staff.

They remembered me from previous visits and often wanted to see my images. After brief small talk and then a quick shower, I was off for my last night. After dinner and drinks, I walked up the beach. Noticing a lot of chatter, I wandered into a bar, connected to a Hostel. I’ve never traveled that way. Perhaps, I may have tried this in my 20’s, but not now. The people though were friendly. One guy, and older gentleman struck up a conversation. He traveled often and enjoyed the hostel lifestyle. Later, I met a man from Houston (who worked for the city) and a young lady (from Atlanta) he met at the bar. Within about 20 minutes, someone said Fireballs and the evening quickly deteriorated. The young couple wanted to go dancing. I acted as a tour guide and showed them the two clubs I was aware of. Being over 50, I wasn’t up for a role as the “old guy” at the club so they went in and I wandered back to my room. One day to go….

Thursday

Thursday morning, I noticed the room was very bright for this last sunrise capture. Realizing quickly it was 9:45am; I’d overslept by 4 hours! Danged fireballs! But, I needed water, coffee, Excedrin and a Thursday morning “do over.” But who gets those? I went over to Lily’s Treasure Chest for coffee, bacon and fruit. Yes, more coffee please? Can you just leave the pot here? Thanks! Each day I wandered out to one particular coastal palm tree. This I called the “Glenn tree.” Despite Mother Nature’s best efforts to kill it including massive erosion and a hurricane, it was still thriving. It’s my reminder that God does not put us here to quit. Check out was at 11 and on this day, I was trying to hydrate before my return to the US. I went to Lola’s ordered bottled water and watched European soccer. My flight back to Belize City was at 3 so I had a few hours to kill. After about 90 minds I needed a change of scenery and strolled over to Estel’s Dine by the Sea. There, the crowd was lively and there was a ringside seat to the Atlantic Ocean.

2:30 came and gathered my bags and walked to the airport. We boarded and took off. The sight below was amazing. This flight could easily be the best part of the trip, as I never tire of it. We landed in Belize City, gathered bags and headed to our respected carriers for the flight back to the United States. I met a few nice people on the way home, including a wonderful couple from New Mexico. He was an ER Doctor and she was a nurse. They’d traveled to Belize to fish. The best anglers in the world travel here. Clearly they had a good time. Landing, customs and picking up my car wasn’t an issue. Driving back home was reflective and quiet. “The Accidental Tourist” was back on the ground but always thinking about the next adventure.