Everybody has their own idea of what paradise is. This morning sitting on a hammock on the end of a dock watching the sun come up in the Caribbean happens to be mine.
Yesterday was travel for most of it, but it still turned out to be gem. Met lots of people, from a wide and varied background, and everything went off without a hitch.
The four hour morning bus ride was in a modern coach, although I will say the temperature was as cold as our house when we let our friends the "hot flash girls" take control of the air conditioning. We arrived in Chetumal, the furthest point south in Mexico mainland on the Yucatan peninsula, three hours before the boat left, which left lots of time to practice my commitment to engage people throughout my escape.
The British kid in front of me at customs had walked through the Mexican border in Tijuana without getting a stamp on his passport. I knew that was trouble. Afterwards he described the situation; they declared him an illegal immigrant and were going to detain him, however, he was able to get away with a 700 peso " fee". Been there, paid that bribe in Mexico before.
Two thirty something boys from St James BC, were making their way through Central America to Rio de Janeiro to spend New Years Eve with a million other " drunken revelers". They had been back home working for four months to get some money to fund the trip, after spending the previous six months in Thailand. " you should go man". Maybe I will.
Young Brian from Caye Caulker was taking his first water taxi, which surprised me as he has lived his entire life there. I asked him " what took you to Phoenix" and he responded " a girl I met on the island". Yep, that will do it. The pic to the left is his tatoo.
It was time to go when the army showed up with the drug sniffing dogs. All the bags were lined up, as were we, while they walked through all the bags. I was thinking "hope the dog can't smell Adalat, or I'd have some documents to show "( I have copies of everything). The one place the dog got excited was the stroller and baby bag. The mother was horrified, but all was well. Drug sniffing dog or not, they still sniff each others butts, and I expect diapers were in the air.
When it was time to board, I waited until the end so not to take up a seat that would prevent people traveling together from sitting together. When I finally stepped down, there were no seats left, and they told me I would have to sit up top with the Captain, to which I replied " and the three good looking women and beer cooler". He smiled and said "si".
The boat trip was about two hours on open water without a life jacket, passing along the coasts of Mexico and Belize. The three women were from Colorado and California, though I didn't get a chance to talk to them on the boat as it was too noisy up top. The picture is of Theresa and Darcy, with Kate in the background. The boat pulled into San Pedro at dusk, where we cleared customs. The agent was not impressed that I could not remember the names of the hotels we stayed at when ML and I traveled through Belize in 2010. Hey " I'm 56 and that was two years ago". He was not amused.
So back on a smaller but faster boat, and I mean fast, for a twenty + minute drive in the dark. We all arrived alive and happy to be in Caye Caulker. There will be three days of rest before heading to San Pedro to find that bar. Unfortunately, my primary target was sold yesterday, so the agent will show me other options.
The final losses for this day included leaving my iPod charger in Mexico, and sitting on my second pair of glasses. At this rate, I'll have nothing left by the end of the month.
Yesterday was travel for most of it, but it still turned out to be gem. Met lots of people, from a wide and varied background, and everything went off without a hitch.
The four hour morning bus ride was in a modern coach, although I will say the temperature was as cold as our house when we let our friends the "hot flash girls" take control of the air conditioning. We arrived in Chetumal, the furthest point south in Mexico mainland on the Yucatan peninsula, three hours before the boat left, which left lots of time to practice my commitment to engage people throughout my escape.
The British kid in front of me at customs had walked through the Mexican border in Tijuana without getting a stamp on his passport. I knew that was trouble. Afterwards he described the situation; they declared him an illegal immigrant and were going to detain him, however, he was able to get away with a 700 peso " fee". Been there, paid that bribe in Mexico before.
Two thirty something boys from St James BC, were making their way through Central America to Rio de Janeiro to spend New Years Eve with a million other " drunken revelers". They had been back home working for four months to get some money to fund the trip, after spending the previous six months in Thailand. " you should go man". Maybe I will.
Young Brian from Caye Caulker was taking his first water taxi, which surprised me as he has lived his entire life there. I asked him " what took you to Phoenix" and he responded " a girl I met on the island". Yep, that will do it. The pic to the left is his tatoo.It was time to go when the army showed up with the drug sniffing dogs. All the bags were lined up, as were we, while they walked through all the bags. I was thinking "hope the dog can't smell Adalat, or I'd have some documents to show "( I have copies of everything). The one place the dog got excited was the stroller and baby bag. The mother was horrified, but all was well. Drug sniffing dog or not, they still sniff each others butts, and I expect diapers were in the air.
When it was time to board, I waited until the end so not to take up a seat that would prevent people traveling together from sitting together. When I finally stepped down, there were no seats left, and they told me I would have to sit up top with the Captain, to which I replied " and the three good looking women and beer cooler". He smiled and said "si". 
The boat trip was about two hours on open water without a life jacket, passing along the coasts of Mexico and Belize. The three women were from Colorado and California, though I didn't get a chance to talk to them on the boat as it was too noisy up top. The picture is of Theresa and Darcy, with Kate in the background. The boat pulled into San Pedro at dusk, where we cleared customs. The agent was not impressed that I could not remember the names of the hotels we stayed at when ML and I traveled through Belize in 2010. Hey " I'm 56 and that was two years ago". He was not amused. 
So back on a smaller but faster boat, and I mean fast, for a twenty + minute drive in the dark. We all arrived alive and happy to be in Caye Caulker. There will be three days of rest before heading to San Pedro to find that bar. Unfortunately, my primary target was sold yesterday, so the agent will show me other options.The final losses for this day included leaving my iPod charger in Mexico, and sitting on my second pair of glasses. At this rate, I'll have nothing left by the end of the month.
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