Author: marniesteve

Planning and Dreaming on the Beach

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For over 15 years we’ve owned a little piece of paradise on Sandy Beach in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. We come here to recharge, to celebrate, and to reconnect. We are beginning our retirement adventure with a quick trip to our little slice of paradise.

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View from our patio

We’re here for just two days to take care of business that will allow us to rent the condo while we are on the road. For several years we’ve kept the condo to ourselves, but it’s time to put it to work for us while we are gone.

In our downtime here we are putting plans in place for our upcoming travels, including the establishment of this blog. We hope you’ll subscribe and join us on the journeys ahead. In addition to some local exploration next month around Arizona, we’ll soon be heading to New York City.

Join us!

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Sweet Endings

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All good things must come to an end and vacations are no different. We spent our last day in Belize exploring the famous island of Ambergris Caye. Madonna sung about this place back in the 80s with her hit, “La Isla Bonita.” Her music video was not filmed on the island, as there are no buildings over three stories. Still, the song put this place on the map for those of us who grew up in the Madonna era.

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Water taxi to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye

Ambergris, or San Pedro as the locals call it, referring to the primary city, is a 30 minute water taxi ride from Caye Caulker. We made the trip with our new friend Rachel. We knew that if Rachel was along, it would be a good time!

After checking out the central tourist area of San Pedro, we rented a golf cart and began our exploration in earnest. Rachel drove and Steve and I enjoyed the views and Belikins. We explored the one road south and one road north and the entire journey took us three hours. In that time we also stopped for lunch at a burger joint out in the middle of nowhere.

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Rachel and Steve

Ambergris is dotted with resorts of all levels–luxury to affordable and nightly to monthly rentals. The island offers the closest access to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and the barrier reef, so it’s a popular destination for divers and snorkelers.

After a nice afternoon on La Isla Bonita, we took the water taxi back to Caye Caulker and decided we preferred the slower pace of our island over the “hustle and bustle” of San Pedro. We finished off our final day in Belize with a group dinner and said goodbye to our traveling companions.

There are two options for getting on and off of Caye Caulker. We took the water taxi, option one, from Belize City to get to the island earlier in the week. We took the other option, a quick flight, back to Belize City for our return.

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Waiting area at the airport

The advantage of flying out of Caye Caulker is that the flight arrives directly at the airport, saving time and the hassle of negotiating a taxi and drive in the city. For about $80 a piece, we were two of twelve passengers on the 9:10am Tropic Air flight. Below you’ll see pictures of the airport in Caye Caulker, the baggage claim, and the gorgeous Caribbean views during the 10 minute flight.

It was tough to leave the peace and quiet of Caye Caulker and Belize. We experienced a wide variety of places, people, and activities, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to explore this tropical region. Hope you enjoyed following our journey!

 

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Go Slow

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Happy New Year!

The motto on Caye Caulker is “go slow,” so we did. This place is so laid back that it’s hard to do anything but. After a great breakfast at Glenda’s, which is in Glenda’s house on Back Street (cinnamon roll comes with every meal!), we wandered through the neighborhood at the south end of the island.

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Glenda’s menu

The better cabanas and guest houses are in this area. We’re staying in the center of all the activity and our place is once again basic. Rooms at our hotel run $30 a night, even in the high season. If we return to Caye Caulker, we’ll splurge on something in the south end. While we’ve been satisfied with our mostly adequate accommodations throughout this trip, I told Steve the next trip will have a little more luxury.

We spent the rest of our day swimming and lounging at the Split where the music blares and the beer flows. The Split was the scene of the New Years Eve party last night, as well as the hangover recovery site for many today. Luckily, we were feeling great and enjoyed the scene. We also spent some time reading, relaxing, and enjoying the view from one of the island’s many piers.

We finished a great day with another group dinner, this time at Wish Willy’s. The restaurant is in this guy’s backyard and for one price you get all you can eat fish, pork, chicken, and lobster. Oh, and rum punch is included too. All for about $17 per person.

One more ore full day to go. We’ll make the most of it.

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