Hey all! It's been a minute, but life is finally getting back to normal and I'm glad for that. It's hard to get in touch with everyone in a timely fashion so to I'll catch you up here.
First of all, the wedding was fantastic! We had the best time, the best weather, the best music, the best food, and the best friends & family with us. Stories for years to come!! Now I've just got to get through all the hoops it takes to change my name and we'll be set!
The honeymoon was far beyond what we could've imagined! I'm so glad we waited a day to leave b/c this provided us both with much smoother travel attitudes than we would've had on Sunday. We were just too exhausted to have pulled off all day travel the day after the wedding.
We took off on a plane that sat only about 100 people from ATL and flew direct to Belize City. We then took a 10 seater hopper plane (barf!) over to the island of Ambergris Caye to the city of San Pedro. THHEEEEEN, we grabbed a water taxi for a 6 mile ride to our home for the week: Portofino! We were welcomed by a friendly staff with rum punch in hand and shown to our room. It was so gorgeous, and totally different from anything we'd ever done.
The small resort had a max of about 40 guests and during our stay it was a little more than half full. The staff were like family and took lots of time to make us feel at home. The owners, a Swiss couple, live there full time and raise their 2 kids there. We honestly felt like we were visiting friends. A few other mid 20's- mid 30's couples who were also honeymooners gave us people to chat with at the pool and get tips from.
Days 1 & 2 were pretty calm, we spent most of our time lounging around and exploring our immediate area.
Day 3 was a long one. We started at 6 am headed out for a day of fishing and snorkling. After fishing for about 2 hours, our captain took our group over to a deserted area of the island. We pulled up and saw a few large cable spools burried in the sand to act as tables, and a campfire smoldering. He then proceeded to filet up all the fish we caught and cook it right there for us! DELISH! We mostly caught snapper, it's everywhere around there. After eating and resting we went over to Hol Chan marine park. It's a protected area near the reef where you get some of the best snorkling in the world. We saw a sea turtle, eel, parrot fish, stingray, several pretty fish, and a couple of tarpin.
Day 4 was another day of R&R complete with a massage for each of us, pure heaven.
Day 5 was another early one that started at about 7. We headed out an hour by boat through the New Belize River to a small village called Bamba. We the rode by bus for about an hour to Altun Ha, Myan Ruins. This is one of the ruins with the most reconstruction done, but it's also one that historians know the most about. It was excavated in the late '60's, and most of the digs into the pyramids caused them to crumble. Only a few of the many pyramids are still standing there now, the others look like large mounds of rocks with grass and dirt filling in around them.
Days 6 & 7 we continued our relaxation and just tried to take it all in. We saw and did things we'd never had an opportunity to before, and may never again. Belize is a very peaceful country with lots of happy people around. Some other little perks, most people there speak English, and they accept American dollars so you don't have to convert. I'd love to go back some day, but I've got to get through some of my laundry list of travel wishes before I can do that. It was not a commercialized or "Amercanized" place at all, so and authentic experience is what you'll get if you visit. We'd highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a tropical getaway!
