Belize Day 6

February 1. 2017

Time to return to winter in New England.

Everyone went to bed relatively early so, refreshed was the order of the morning. Yoghurt and fruit with trail mix, as usual. I tied to finish off the food last night so i have cereal with milk and carrot cake 😃.

The cottage had been a nice place to stay. It was comfortable, convenient yet quiet. We had a little beach behind ( very little as Ceni shared that erosion was taking away more and more each year).

All packed and ready to go, we walked to the airport, just over a 5 minute walk from the cottage,

Checking in took just a few minutes, and we were given plastic boarding cards (purple group). I told the check in agent that we would be back as we wanted to give the Belizean Art shoppe a last go. Naitro had made a decision and wanted to buy some art. He said to be back by 9:50am.

Wednesday morning streets of San Pedro were buzzing with activity. Golf carts, scooters, and minivans galore. We snaked our way though the small streets to front street. I stopped in briefly to take a couple of shots in the church and a shot in the park.

The Art shop was just past the park. We entered the courtyard and the shop had not opened yet...what??? It was 9:25??? We waited until 9:30 and then Naitro gave up, she said that it wasn't meant to be.

We walked back to the departures area in the airport and quickly our color, purple, was called for boarding, a man came up and said that we weren't here for the boarding and we were being added to the next flight...but we were walking to the plane. It was only 9:45and our flight want until 10am. I told the guy that I had told the guy at check-in that we were going to a shop and would be back in 10 minutes, we were 20 minutes early and being told that we were late...whatever.

We were pit on a propeller place, no turbo prop...whoohoo! Naitro sat next to the pilot...excited about that. I sat just behind the pilot, I wanted to get some shots of the islands.

Take off was quick and very smooth...great pilot. Flying over Cay Caulker and Lighthouse Atol, it was great to see there relationship to one another and the path that we had taken on the boat, yesterday, to the Blue Hole. The most impressive view was the Atol. What a crazy wisp of islands. It looked like god had slung a paint brush of sand and this was the result - Jackson Pollock like.

Simple / easy landing ( great pilot), baggage waiting, and only a few minutes to check in...couldn't be easier.

The gate area was busy! Naitro did find a third cross for a gift and I bought 2 mini bar sized bottles of Belizean Rum. There was nothing good to choose from, for food, until I saw a restaurant with a kiosk of a menu. This was for a restaurant in front of the airport and they would being the food inside,..nice, I had a grilled cheese with fries...passable. As there would be no food on the plane, I was happy to have it.

We said our goodbyes to Naitro. It had been great to see her and spend some time exploring another country, I wished that she had experienced a better time yesterday. The Blue Hole was really not for her. You take chances and learn. I've certainly done it. We do have another trip planned together - October in Peru (Machu Picchu) for my 50th birthday.