The past month was a bit tiresome for both of our work schedules. The airline had me working multiple blocks of five days in a row, culminating in last week where I worked SIX DAYS IN A ROW. It should be illegal. Nicole meanwhile had to once again attempt to teach middle school kids how to high jump without any facilities despite coaching at a school that charges upwards of $55,000 per year. So after dodging a norovirus outbreak at the school, battling 150mph headwinds in the skies, dealing with middle school drama, and deicing in Jackson Hole, we were both ready for a vacation.
We had a few options in mind including a trip to the biosphere in Tucson, but we ultimately agreed that Belize seemed the most like an actual vacation. After all, it was easy enough. There were over 50 seats on a direct flight on Alaska to Belize city. We were issued our own row in premium economy. It only took us about four hours to get there — faster than a flight to Hawai’i or the east coast. Our plane was the only commercial jet parked at the rather unassuming Philip S.W. Goldson international airport.
We were through customs and immigration in about ten minutes. We then went through a door that dumped us into the checkin area for other flights. I had listed us for a Tropic Air flight departing at 4:00pm to San Pedro. It is not an island, but it also doesn’t connect to Belize on land, so we had to fly. Randomly, we could both fly standby on this small airline that operates primarily just single-engine Cessna Caravans. We were checking in at 3:15pm and the ticket agent told us to go straight through security to get on the 3:20pm flight. Surprisingly it all worked out.
Nicole had booked our hotel when we boarded the Alaska flight this morning, so there was a bit of confusion with the Hilton staff because normal people don’t do these kinds of things. Luckily it was all sorted out, and we were driven to the Mahogany Bay Resort — part of Hilton’s Curio Collection. We have a little bungalow-type house situated above a series of canals.
The property is quite sprawling and also very confusing. Some of the buildings can be purchased as condos which makes things even more confusing. Also, unlike most other Hiltons that treat themselves like some kind of fortress to shield their visitors from the scary outside, this one’s boundaries were very blurred. There are many restaurants in the area, but it really isn’t clear which ones are or are not part of the Hilton collection. As it turned out, we ended inadvertently eating at a non-Hilton property. How is Nicole supposed to get 12x points to enhance her Hilton Honors Diamond status?
After dinner we walked back to our little bungalow thing to relax for the rest of the night and try to sort out the next couple of days. I arranged for us to rent a golf cart starting tomorrow morning so we can venture outside of the Hilton (and Hilton adjacent) areas. We are also looking to go to the beach at some point (surprisingly there are not that many beaches on this caye). I am also researching ways to swim with the sharks again. I heart the shark. That’s all for today. Tomorrow we venture outside.
passports & pepto bismol 