Down to earth with a bump - quite literally

On Saturday hubby and I had to prise each other off the beach chairs and get back in to "traveller" mode. I've discovered that I really rather like the beach and hubby agrees. When we first arrived in Placencia we thought we'd only stay there two nights, then it progressed to five. We actually stayed 12 nights in all. We didn't go on one single solitary "outing", all we did was wander from beach to restaurant to beach to internet cafe to beach to supermarket - you get the picture.

Sadly, that all came to an end on Saturday when we flew to Belize City. In a 12-seater 'Tropic Air' plane. OMG, I was more than a little nervous since I'm not a big fan of flying. The 'airport' did nothing to allay my fears - please see photo of runway and steps required to board the planes. After depositing our luggage, which consisted of leaving our bags on a patch of earth slightly less dusty than the surrounding patches outside the 'terminal', we went through security which consisted of nothing. All we did was tell the lady behind the 'check-in desk' our names and we were handed two boarding cards. Then we took a seat, by-passing the plate of 'journey cakes for passengers' - nice touch, but I was waaay too nervous to eat, which just goes to show how nervous I was as I never normally pass up the chance of free food (or any food, come to think of it.) Finally it was time to get on the plane which came bouncing along the runway. We were the only two getting on and were told to sit in any of the seats at the front. Being mere inches away from the pilot and being able to see everything he was doing didn't really help my nerves. I was mostly perturbed by the fact that from where I was sitting it looked like the pilot couldn't see over the 'dashboard'. And then I was a bit more perturbed when I overheard a fellow passenger telling hubby that the planes don't normally fly "this high" (5500ft), and that they usually only go to about 1500-3000ft. Apparently though we were trying to avoid the clouds. Heck, I'm happy with clouds if it means flying nice and low. Luckily the flight only lasted 30mins and there was some rather nice scenery to admire once I'd managed to open my eyes. I even took some photos after letting go of the seat in front.

Global fame - mere moments away

To many of you this may seem very sad, but I am very excited! My blog has been mentioned on someone else's blog! With a link and everything! Someone in America who I have never met has been reading my ramblings and enjoying them. And, of course, with true blogging etiquette, I have been reading her blog and would recommend it to anyone who has children and, in fact, anyone who doesn't. It is truly laugh-out-loud.

http://www.wickedawesomeparenting.blogspot.com/

I'm afraid I don't have the technical capabilities to actually make that in to a direct link.

Wow, am just waiting for those book contracts to come rolling in now, surely it's only a matter of time...

PS Hubby has just reminded me that it is St George's Day, so in true patriotic style I wish you all a very Happy St George's Day!

Beach-induced torpor

Snore, snore. Sorry, what was that?

Oh, I'm sorry, you need me to write a blog posting to tell people where we are and what we're doing? Goodness, that sounds like a lot of hard work. Don't you understand I need all my energy to sit on the beach here in beautiful Placencia. And then what little energy I have left after hours spent topping up my panda-eye tan, is spent deciding which restaurant to eat at. Good thing that Placencia only has two streets to wander up and down (one of which is only 3 feet wide and - luckily - is pedestrianised) or I really would be exhausted.

The photos above show the cabin we stayed in and the view of the beach.

Landlubbers ahoy

Without a doubt hubby and I do not have a future as bit-part actors in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We practically did impressions of the Pope kissing the ground when we clambered, jelly-legged, from the boat which brought us across the sea from Honduras to Belize. I know that my friend Wart will probably disown me for this admission, but I categorically do not have sea-legs. Now, some of you may know that I am not a fan of flying, but compared to being on the open sea it's possible that I would actually choose to fly with Aeroflot.

You probably read in a previous post about the trials and tribulations we endured in our search for the non-existent boat office in Puerto Cortez. Well on Monday morning we turned up at the "dock" (pile of rocks under a bridge) at 10am all set for our journey. We were driven to the immigration office where I got my passport stamped with barely a murmur, while hubby endured the Spanish Inquisition over where and when he had entered Honduras (well, that'll be the same time and place as me but you didn't bother askng me any questions.) We then drove back to the boat where we all had to wait for the same lady from immigration who had just stamped our passports to come along and check us all on to the boat. What a palaver! Finally, about 12.15 we set off. OMG, the first 20mins were absolutely awful, we were bouncing around all over the shop and rolling from side to side. I could see why we had not only been given lifejackets as soon as we got onboard, but also instructed to put them on. Jeepers. At one point hubby, who is not normally a nervous traveller, turned to me and said 'If anything happens, don't worry about trying to take your bag or get hold of the passports', to which I replied 'and I'll take off my high heels before we go down the evacuation shute'. Oops, wrong mode of transport. But I knew I'd be safe; I've seen the film Titanic so I knew that, like Rose, I just needed to get my hands on a piece of mahogany panelling to float on and I'd be fine. Closer inspection of the boat led me to conclude that the door from the toilet would be the nearest I could get to that. Not quite as romantic, but it would have to do.

Needless to say, we fell in love with Belize as soon as we set foot on it. Still, it could have been the Gaza Strip and we would have been chuffed to be there.

New photos - at last!

Please scroll back through the postings as far as the one entitled 'The Caribbean Coast' to see some new photos. Apologies for the delay in adding them, but the technology just wasn't there in Honduras...

Driving - Honduran style

Here are a couple of photos showing how you get a ride in Honduras and also the potholes that you have to avoid...

How to entertain yourself with a packet of Oreo cookies

Isn't amazing what you resort to when there's no tv to watch?

Can you guess which one is hubby?