La Isla Bonita

"Last night I dreamt of San Pedro....
Tropical the island breeze, all of nature wild and free, this is where I long to be, La Isla Bonita"

Well, if it's good enough for Madonna, then I'm sure I'll be just fine. Next Thursday I head off for a few days in Belize, staying at La Isla Bonita, Ambergris Caye (that's "key"). Their motto is Go Slow.

The reason for my trip is that my 180-day tourist visa in Mexico is about to expire. Cuba was looking a likely candidate for some weeks, so much so that I stocked up with soap and toothpaste. Weird as that sounds, it seems that most personal hygiene articles are almost impossible to buy in Cuba, so it's customary to tip (and sometimes even pay!) in bars of soap and bottles of shampoo. Leave these items for the cleaning staff in your hotel and you will be assured of top-class service for the duration of your stay.

Las Vegas and Disneyworld were also-rans, but the airfares for the time I needed to go had no specials. In the end Belize won out for proximity, cost and a simple journey. The beauty of the island and surrounding reef is a bonus!

There is now a boat leaving from Chetumal, near the Mexican-Belize border, direct to San Pedro. Previously you had to bus it to Chetumal, take a taxi to the border, cross the free trade zone, into Belize, another taxi to the bus station and down to Corozal, from where a boat leaves every morning at 7am for the Cayes, necessitating an overnight stay in Corozal. The return boat left at 3.30, making another overnight stay highly likely.

Now I catch a 9.20 ADO bus for the 4hr 20 minute $20 trip to Chetumal. ADO have first class buses with toilets, reclining seats, DVDs to entertain you and air conditioning cold enough to hang meat (note to self: remember to pack a blanket!). The boat to San Pedro leaves at 3pm, giving me time for a quick lunch in town. By 5pm, I'll be settling into my room at Ruby's (private room with fan and my own bathroom for $15 a night), before heading to town for a tropical cocktail and to check out dinner options.

For sure I'll be going out on a snorkelling trip to the reef, to Hol Chan and Shark Alley where I'll see baby sharks, stingrays and lots of colourful fish.
I may also visit the Mayan site of Lamanai on the mainland, reached by a boat trip along the mangroves inhabited by lots of birds.
But I also want to just enjoy the beach and the ambience of the island, wandering barefoot along the sandy streets and checking out the shops and the local wood carvings.

This will be my 2nd time in Belize, I visited in 2008, here's me showing off my sunburn then - will try to be more careful this time!

We stayed then in Caye Caulker, so this will be my first time in Ambergris. It's a larger island with more development, whereas Caulker had just one sandy street and a dozen hotels. There are about 450 cayes in Belize. The country itself only gained independence from the UK in 1981 although there is still a british garrison stationed there due to border claims between Belize and Guatemala. 

It is the only Central American country whose official language is English, which makes it easy for us Anglophiles. Their reef is the 2nd longest in the world after our own Great Barrier Reef, and home to an amazing diversity of marine life which I'm looking forward to seeing on my snorkel trip.
Here's to my new adventure!