i started writing one, then stopped. does anyone still read these?

I was about to but got cut short ha ha

Everyone reads them.

Jane, do you mean trip reports in general, or your trip reports? (running away)

geez, guys - with friends like you....

to be posted in segments:


March 09 –

It was 25* at 3am when we left the house. Bruce had a tough winter. This was intended as an R & R trip. No parties. No bars.

The flight through Charlotte was as painless as it gets, and before we knew it we were there.



We see the castle cars guy pull up and I get my traditional welcome hug, (what nice young men!) For the first time, we are splitting our stay at 2 different places, and first we head south to Belizean Reef. [Thanks for the recommendation, azbob!]

It is a cute white condo a few lots north of Ramon’s. All units are oceanfront, and it is clean and comfortable with the kitchen we require. It has a shared rooftop deck with pretty views, and our ground floor patio offers us lots to look at.



We take a quick jaunt into town for basics.

We’ve now been on-island less than 2 hours. Just then, our friends Daniel & Elodia Nunez drive past, and upon seeing us yelled out the car window “Why don’t you just move here already?”!!

The only plans we had made for our entire trip were for that night. We already knew that plans never work for us down there, but I made one anyway. Naturally, we could not get it together, and we bagged our one scheduled event. Bruce wasn’t feeling well anyhow, so it was probably just as well.

Chris came by for hellos & hugs, and stayed for the requisite visit & beer. He hung out chatting for a while. Lots of smiles and laughter. He’s become a dear friend to both of us.

But we were starving, so we said manana, and headed to find food. We went to 2 places that were closed (it was only 4:40 pm), so somehow ended up at waruguma’s sit down place.



I was SOOOO tired. We ordered - bruce a big bowl of seafood soup, I got “shrimp’s” in coconut sauce. I swear it took nearly an hour to get the food. I was falling asleep on the table. It was both funny and not funny to see them send a kid off to the store to buy coconut milk & tortilla chips for the meal we ordered, but hey - it’s Belize, and the food was worth the wait. I perked up, and we ordered a conch ceviche ‘to go’ for lunch tomorrow. Smiles. Finally, I was starting to feel like I was back.



We went back to the condo to shower off the day, stare at the blustery sea, and finally sleep.

Another stunning effort by the small yet diminutive Pennsylvania-based travel author . . this critic anxiously awaits the next installment in what is sure to be another bestseller!!

I never tire of these!

keep 'em coming! love to read the trip reports! gets me thru the times that i'm not there!

Day 2

The next morning, Bruce saw Dr Lerida Rodriguez. We found her to be most pleasant & professional, and also very smart. She did her doctor thing, then handed Bruce 5 Rx’s. We started talking about how things were, how things are now, and the state of the Cuban medical system, of which she has very strong views. All the while, other patients courteously & silently waited in the small, hot waiting room. I love Belize.

Today was to be drop-by visit day. Our first stop was to be Changes in Latitudes, conveniently located right across the street from the doctor’s office, to see Shuffles & Renita. Renita was just finishing breakfast service, and it smelled GREAT. In the small Eden that is their courtyard, we yakked away while watching the birds & the lizards, each of which they have named. They are so nice, and really funny too. But, places to go and people to see, so we bade them goodbye.

We saw, hugged, and gave a quick lift to wade & tacoboy on our way north toward the bakery. I am a BIG fan of Casa pan Dulce bakery, and my mouth was watering just thinking of their spicy ham & cheese rolls, fluffy garlic bread, and those crispy, flat sugar pastries. Bag of goodies in hand (well, in cart), we popped over to Amanda’s office, and were happy to catch her for a hug & a hi before she jetted off to Disneyworld the next day (hope you all had tons o' fun, Amanda!).

We rustled up more groceries



and started back to the condo for some of the conch ceviche that was screaming to me from inside our fridge. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm I just love ceviche. We could not resist splitting a ham, chili n cheese horn, since they kept staring at me like that. Happy & fed, we carted south to Coral Bay Villas, to Ruthie & Chunky’s. Boy, they were so welcoming!





Our unannounced stop-in turned into 3 hours of extremely easy and enjoyable conversation. They are just the cutest people. Thanks, guys!

But, as usual for me on AC, it was time for Bruce to feed me (a critical and under-rated job), before i wilted. We called Chris, and he came over after work with his brother in law (very nice guy). more smiles & hugs. They quickly and gratefully polished off the rest of the ceviche.

Weeks prior, Chris had asked if we could bring him down a cheese steak - the answer was no. Bruce surprised him by bringing 2 London Broils, provolone cheese, and Amoroso Brand rolls (made in philly since 1893), and he whipped up down-home, perfect, fresh cheese steaks complete with steamed roll, fried onions and ketchup (marie sharps found it’s way on there too). Oh boy oh boy oh boy, I do NOT really love cheese steaks all that much but they were GO-OO-OOD! Woof woof woof, chomp chomp chomp. 4 clean plates. Afterward, we all reclined on couches, talking & laughing into the night, in what Chris called a "cheese steak afterglow", until none of us could keep our eyes open any longer.

I now bow to the master as you have trumped any trip report that I have ever read or written!

With this installment you just crossed over into the Seinfeld realm with bringing food into the equation. San Pedro, the reef, the water, the feeling of calmness and a “one wiz with!”
I am truly jealous now of your trip. You can stop now if you wish that is if Bruce also brought down some pastrami, corned beef, marble rye, sweet/sour pickles, a potato knish and a cream soda and day 3 you made Carnegie Deli’s own Woody Allen Sandwich!

Is anyone else’s mouth watering?

LOL LOL this was the first time we ever took food to cook, besides multiple pounds of fine coffees. i never eat beef down there, but it was a great treat to our belizean friends. it worked out great for us too, as the steak lasted 4 meals.

eating very cheap allows us to come more often, and its great having someone around who not only doesnt mind cooking, is itching to do it. (lucky me!!!)

funny you should say, cuz 3 times we brought chris & sari bagels (by request), and in nov they GOT a rye (seeded, not marbled).

i hadn't planned to, but i could insert our meals into the rest.

Enjoyed the visit, stop by anytime!

And another thing, you got to hang with C&R and C&R too!

Day 3

I am always up long before dawn on Ambergris. For us, mornings there are slow, dreamy events, with sunrises, great coffee (we bring our own), fresh tropical fruits, bakery goodies, a balcony and the reef.



Friday , we decided to just bum around. We left at noon to do our routine visit to Holy Cross School, and stopped in at Harriette’s place. Alas, she was not home – sorry we missed you - hope you got our note. That gave us extra time for a drive up to Palapa Bar for a cold one for Bruce and for me to see that view I love.



We both really like the feel of Tres Cocos, and try to drive that short stretch once each visit. I was getting hungry, and therefore cranky (NO!), so we headed back for my most favorite of san pedro activities: a snack of fruit & savories followed by an afternoon nap.

We later met up with Colette & Maya at Canuck’s for hugs & chat. They squealed like little kids at the small gifts we brought them. We talked and talked and talked, which won’t surprise anyone who knows any of us. I just love Colette, and conversation with her is never a dull event, with never an uncomfortable silence. Maya and Bruce get on so well too. We could have talked there all night, but Bruce & I were starving, so we walked south to George’s Kitchen for some yummy lovin’ goodness. How can anyone not like Maria & George? They got a real good thing going. Maya had already eaten, but I had my stomach set on George’s stew chicken & watermelon juice. Bruce had fish & chips, and Colette loaded nachos, and we all ate every drop and were stuffed. That is until we saw Maria take a 6 inch high piece of key lime pie to another table and we promptly ordered one piece with 4 forks. We could have talked long into the night, but the girls had a photo shoot to do at 9, so we hugged goodbye, and decided to brave a stop at Pedro’s.

It was the usual visit with peter. Hellos and hugs. He buys a round of Jagers, is very, very cordial to Bruce…while continually asking him why he married me. He goes on to tell us all how right he is about everything and how everyone else has wronged him.
( :p - paybacks are a bitch, peter – next time be NICE to me!)


(this isn't pedro's - its palapa, but i didnt have a pic to insert here. it reads "gravity is a bi*ch when you're drunk")

It was still worth the trip, as we ran into TBoy again and had the pleasure of meeting & chatting with jzb & travelinman. Again, more nice people. You all know I don’t drink, and hanging in bars is not my preference, so after a bit we said our goodbyes and nice to meet yous (and it was), gave hugs to all (yes, even peter). It was time for us to go anyway, cuz we had a busy day set for tomorrow – we were going to La Perla for the day, and then moving all our stuff up to Casa Caracol as soon as we got back. I had a little snack (as always), this time fresh bakery cinnamon bread toast, butter, and pineapple jam. We tried to pack a little, but instead got drawn to the balcony to stare at the sea by moonlight yet again.

(i added some pics to page 1 also.)

Day 4


Saturday was the first day that it wasn’t windy, and it was an absolutely glorious morning. Up again before 5, I flipped on the coffee, lazily gathered & bagged our day trip stuff, took sunrise pics, and pre-packed the suitcases for the move to Casa Caracol later. Bruce joined me and we had another lingering breakfast.



We hitched on La Perla’s 9 am boat north, sporting big smiles. We like their boat captain, Freddie, and greet him most heartily! He is always cool to us, and we to him. La Perla is about 6 miles north. The boat ride up the island on a day such as this is truly enjoyable. We stare, bobbing up and down, at the many pretty properties and new developments lining the beaches.

By the time we reached la perla, it was already getting to be very hot. We dropped off our stuff in Chris’ office, and i handed savory ham & cheese buns to the guys. The back office is at the west (lagoon) edge of the property there. I walked around back to have a smoke, and saw the damnedest thing: an enormous bird of prey on a dead bough of a tree. If that wasn’t cool enough, there was also a HUGE iguana on the next bough over from him. They had to be only 4 feet from one another. I made Bruce come see. While trying to get pics, 2 carts drove up the road and each time the passengers turned to see what I was shooting.



They all got out and took photos too. We stood there for a fairly long while, alternately gawking and commenting about them. Now it was getting REALLY hot. Chris, Arthur (his brother in law), Bruce & i went to hang out on the porch of one of La Perla's beautiful beachfront homes, while housekeeping was getting ready to turn it over. A friendly dog kept us company. The scenery could not be more beautiful. I have no idea how long we sat there.





Housekeeping had to finish, so Bruce and I took a walk north to Portofino. On a day with weather so perfect, it is impossible not to enjoy that walk.

Strolling up to the bar, Bruce ordered a lighthouse, and I asked if Jan was around. They made a call, and shortly Sandra (a facebook friend of mine) and Jan (we've PM'ed a bunch) came to the lobby and warmly greeted us. Sandra is adorable! We had come unannounced (see a pattern?), and she had to excuse herself to tend to the children, so Jan ushered us out to a breezy table under a sea grape tree. The view for 360 degrees was absolutely stunning.



We all ordered watermelon juice, served up fresh & frosty. Luckily for us, Jan was hungry and ordered fish fingers, a hummus platter and coconut shrimp for the 3 of us to share. We talked about how he got there (a fascinating story spanning nearly a decade), ourselves, and of course, Belize, while dipping yummy nibbles into multiple yummier sauces. Oh man, I could have sat there all day.



I probably don’t have to tell any of you how completely lovely Portofino is. We had a wonderful visit, and Sandra and Jan could not have made us feel more welcomed. But we had a time frame to keep, so we thanked Jan profusely for his hospitality. Bruce felt compelled to go in and thank and tip the chef too. You better believe we will visit there again in June!

We walked a about a mile more north to pretend to burn a calorie or two, and walked back to La Perla. Now feeling digested and pretty hot, it was time for a swim! I put on my MP3 player & we paddled about in their gorgeous pool
toweled off, and went limp on lounge chairs for an undetermined
period of time. It doesn’t get any better than this.




By the time we had to catch the staff’s boat, we were roasty toasty and ready to get back. Remember, we still had to pack all our stuff and move when we got back. The sun was starting to go down, and although there were 6 or 7 of us, the ride back to BC’s was silent and mesmerizing, as I watched Ambergris speed by.

We disembarked, gave Freddie hugs and see you next times, thanked Chris a dozen times for letting us hang up there, and carted back to Belizean Reef to pack.

I am a packing pro, so I had the food & all our stuff packed lickety-split while Bruce said our thank yous to Ken & Virginia. You can see the love they’ve put into the place.

We were so fortunate that both Ken at Bz Reef and Phil at Casa Caracol were VERY VERY cool about timing, and we could relax and check out of one place and check into the other whenever we got back. THANK YOU, GENTLEMEN!! You both saved us an enormous hassle – and we so appreciate it.

It was already dark when we got to Casa Caracol in Boca del Rio. We’d never stayed in that area before and it is a different experience; it’s more of a family area. We ended up really liking it, and dealt with some noise (particularly barking dogs) for the trade off of staying in a reaaaaaallllllllly coooool beach house.



We rented just the 2 BR upstairs, and was surprised how spacious it was, with an open kitchen/dining/living space. Best of all, Caracol has a LONG verandah with 2 sets of French doors – one from the living room and one from the master - with fantastic breezes. The entire length has a great view. This was also the first time our bedroom looked thru huge doors out toward palms and the reef.

(bedroom view)

That night was Earth Hour, and after we got settled, a little parade went by right under our balcony, complete with golf carts, baton twirlers & drummers. I leaned over the balcony and watched. It was just totally sweet. I could not wipe the grin off my face. I was digging this place already.

When Jane writes we read! Keep on writing Janie.

This is a good read, write more. Thanks

thx so much - next installment should be coming later today ...

another good report, as usual. Thanks!

sweetjane, what a great report. It should be entitled "Visiting Friends On AC"! Not the normal report. Friends really do make a wonderful difference.
I'm glad you enjoyed Belizean Reef. We sure did.

Day 5

Sunday was another nice morning. Bruce slept another hour so I sipped my coffee with the pudgy orange tabby cat that came with the property. Together we watched the sun come up from the veranda as it incrementally warmed the air.

It was still early when Bruce joined us, performing his favorite morning routine of coffee, fruit & a sweet bun, 3 local papers and smokes. He said he wanted to have ‘second breakfast’ at Estel’s later, and that sounded good to me!


We sat a good while longer, watching the locals pass by on their various ways to work and church, with the girls in their Sunday Best ankle socks and crinoline.

We got to Estel’s mid-morning. I ordered banana pancakes with crispy bacon, bruce fryjacks with jam and a side of beans, and more coffee, naturally.

i get a text from shuffles asking if we're going to BC's later. i sent back that it's not really my thing, and we wanted to lay low, and invited them over later. getting no response, i then realized my local texting wasn't working. they never get my service right!

Breakfast there is always more about the view, and we probably spent an hour nibbling, people watching and talking while sipping coffee, barefoot in the shade.

Chris lives near there, so we drove over to see if he was around. He was, and we chatted while he had his morning protein shake (oh yum). We gave him a lift into town and invited him & Arthur to dinner tomorrow.

Thinking ahead, we got a few things at the fruit stand and ran into the market on our way back. A lady was grilling chicken outside the markets. It smelled so good, Bruce thought it would make a great lunch later. I love him.

Now near noon and HOT, it seemed like a fine time for a siesta. Afterward, Bruce set up the bbq chicken, slaw & tortillas on pretty dishes and put out some refried beans and tomatoes he prepared, I made a limeade, he snaggled himself a Lighthouse,

and we ate on the verandah overlooking sand, palms and reef. The meal was really good, the view was fantastic - all for maybe $10 US total, including the beer. I was happy.

It was a great day for a lazy walk on the beach, so we started first north toward the Cut. Being a magnificent Sunday in Boca del Rio, there were families and kids EVERYWHERE.

We approach the Nunez house on the way and call out “hello? It’s bruce & jane!” Elodia pops her head out of the door. We catch up on life by her shady porch. She points to daughter Genesis (4) out on the pier swimming with friends. Soon the girls run over asking for beach toys. Mom sternly reminds her not to lose any, they say ok and run off, dropping two of the toys out of the basket on the way. (we smile and shake our heads) She proudly tells us son Josh (17?) was picked for softball tryouts on the mainland, and he and Daniel are on their way back.
(pic of Josh last august at Lamanai)
Just as we’re saying goodbye, Daniel and Josh walk up. Although we can tell they are exhausted, they give us huge smiles and hugs. We pat Josh on the back and tell him we are all proud for doing well, tell them all how great it was to see them again, and let them get back to their family.

We like that little area of mangrove there, and poke around all through it. At the cut we see the new reclamation project. There is no one else there, so we turn back south and walked at a leisurely pace along the sea’s edge to Wet Willys. We strolled past endless family outings (even a baptism), cooed at all the cute children, and suddenly a shower and an early dinner sounded like an epiphany.

We went over to the original waruguma and got a shrimp burrito for dinner and another ceviche, both to go. We were early for dinner and the only ones there. As usual we waited and waited on the back of our golf cart. The pupusa lady kept looking at us funny,

and I wondered if she thought we were going to leave or something. Finally the food was ready, the cook came out smiling and for some reason made a very big deal of presenting us the food she prepared, and had even put a little sprig of cilantro on the ceviche as garnish. Instead of bagged chips, she gave us 5 fried corn tortillas, said “NO!”, and put a 6th in the foil wrapper. How sweet was that? We gratefully thanked her very much and told them to have a nice evening, and went back to the house.

Bruce was still not all better, so we shared the burrito and went out back to watch the sunset between the houses. It was a warm night so we sat a bit on the verandah and took a short walk.

We had turned the bed so it faced the French doors and that view. The palms rustled in the breeze, and Bruce read aloud to me until I drifted off.

You tell a wonderful story...

More please!!!

Thanks for taking the time to post this Jane! I am enjoying it immensely. Keep it coming please!

Day 6


We had just two full days left. It was overcast this Monday morning, so over coffee and a nosh we deemed it would be a good day to continue our quest of R&R.

We did basically nothing - took a walk, sat on the balcony, looked at all our photos, read to each other, just happy to be there together. The sun dappled in and out as morning slowly slid into afternoon.

There was a ton of food in the fridge and after a while Bruce made little burritos for us with the leftover steak, beans, cheese & tortillas.
(i just liked this pic)

He amused himself by reading alternately interesting (news) and cute newspaper snippets to me (…After one is done making the coconut milk, be sure to then feed the byproduct to the chickens…) then more verandah sitting ensued. Phil walked over to see how we were doing, what we thought of the house (LOVE IT!), make sure we didn’t mind the cat and drop off our paperwork. We talked for a little while (yet another really nice person) and i resumed fluctuating between sitting on my butt and puttering.

Bruce was getting tired so I read aloud until he dozed off. The trade winds were again making the palms whisper, and within half an hour I followed him.

When I awoke, Bruce was already cooking. When he gets going in a kitchen, it’s best for me to just stay out of his way.

I occupied myself by flitting about as all sorts of amazing smells wafted through the air. Even the cat came by to see what smelled so good. I checked in with Chris & Arthur who were stopping for beer then on their way.

I showed them around the house and Chris and I both agreed it wouldn’t suck to live there.
(bruce and arthur) (casa caracol living room)
Bruce was making the second steak with some kind of chunky veggie herb ragout, these odd yellow sweet potatoes & onions sautéed with I don’t even know what (incredibly good), tomato and cucumber relish, romaine salad topped with the left over bbq chicken & cheese and home made vinaigrette, and I put out the rest of the ceviche.

If that doesn’t sound like enough food, Chris was bringing over some king mackerel filets and Bruce made a homemade papaya and recado based spicy sauce for them. Dinner rolls, refried beans and tortillas rounded out the meal. (still with me, Carbunkle?)

O-M-G, the meal was truly superb. Every single item was perfectly prepared and seasoned – I was in heaven (go, hunny!!). We all had seconds, and I’m pretty sure at least two people had thirds. Conversation had basically come to a halt and the only sounds were music and utensils hitting stoneware.
(random photo to fill space)
I sent the men out to the verandah to settle their bellies while I cleaned up. We all had long days and were all totally stuffed, and shortly after I had joined them, Chris was starting to doze on the couch.

Bruce & I walked them out, making half-fast noises about doing something tomorrow. Tomorrow was to be our last full day on the island, and ‘doing something’ on our last day sounded perfect.
(this looks like a nice place to 'do something')
I read to Bruce until he fell asleep. I wasn’t sleepy just yet. The realization came to me that we had only two more nights on the island, so put on my sweatshirt, walked out the bedroom doors to the verandah and stared out toward the lightly rippling Caribbean.

so what happened next??

...i eventually went to sleep, most likely to wake the following day. satisfied?? heh heh

- will work on the end later today.

thanks to all those following along with me.

I have to put in a request for a new wireless keyboard as I shorted mine out by drooling on it.
I HATE LIVING IN THE CENTER OF THE US AS WE CAN'T GET HOUR OLD SEAFOOD!!!!!!!!

sorry i'm taking so long (again). like 600 pics to pour through...

-----------------------------------------------------------

Day 7

*sniff* - Today is our last full day on ambergris. Although it was again a little windy, it was a gorgeous day. Coffee, nibbles, the cat, the sea and the sunrise. Perfect.

After a while, I see Chris pass by on his morning beach run and call out “Good morning!” Over a glass of cold water, he said Sari’s boyfriend is in town and he was going to see if they all wanted to go up to Tranquility Bay for the day.
(Tranquility Bay)
Bruce’s ears perked up. Our little goal each trip is to either see something we’ve never seen before, taste something we’ve never tasted before, or go somewhere we’ve never been. SCORE!

Chris had to go shower up and make some calls, so we talked over whether we wanted to go.

Tranquility Bay is a resort located 12 miles north of San Pedro, just south of Rocky Point, the easternmost point on the island. What that means is the beach is very, very close to the reef.
(see the reef right behind me?)
On a ‘good day’ one could snorkel off the beach, but today’s wind has us questioning whether this would be a ‘good day’or not.

It would be a long ride on a windy day on a bumpy sea in a small boat. I told Bruce it was totally his call. He said let’s do it, so we waited to hear back from Chris.

In anticipation, I pull out our backpacks, snorkel gear and suits. He calls to say Keli (i do belize weddings) is coming too, and to meet them all at BC’s at 11.

We gear up, eat & make it there right on time. No one is there. Within 2 minutes I see Chris walking down the beach, and Keli pulls up 2 minutes after that. Bruce gets a beer and we all chit chat. Still no Sari. Keli walks across the way to get fruit and I gratefully accept a banana. More waiting, still no Sari. Its now been half an hour and Chris’ phone finally rings. They swear they’re coming. 15 minutes later Sari and her boyfriend, a nice guy who she calls Splenda, show up looking great. So where’s Freddie (the captain)? Oops, Sari forgot to call him. He gets there in no time, we board his boat, and zip up to La Perla to get Sari’s gear.

No one wants to just swing by La Perla del Caribe and not stop in. Sari’s office is in one of the fantastic homes there, so we take the opportunity to cool off,

use the (FAB!) facilities, grab some water and muffins they made, and try not to gawk at how cool the architecture & décor is. I’ve seen it at least a half a dozen times and it still stirs me.

But by now it’s almost 1:00 pm, and we think the restaurant closes around 2-ish, so off to the dock we go and hop back in the boat for the pleasant yet bumpy ride northward.

and?

ok, ok - procrastination princess is making a pact with her alter ego, ms unfulfilled good intentions, and will try to wrap this baby up over the weekend - thanks for your patience.