We had Makenzie, Ella, Gavin and Sara on the boat for their Spring Break week. I did the boat survey which basically asks what everyone’s favorite food and drinks are. I also helped plan the meals for the week.

When they got here we took them to a bar on the beach called Barefoot, where we had dinner. They were starving after their long travel day. The next day we went to Lark Caye where we swam off the back of the boat with Caper.

We went to King Lewey’s. We jumped off a trampoline, had a drink(I had a coke) and ate lunch at the bar. We even played golf. It was a fun day.

We then went to Southwater Caye. We checked out the beach, went snorkeling and explored the island. We also hung out in the sun chill and the floats and swam off the back of the boat with Caper.

We then sailed back to Placencia, it was a long sail. The next day we went to the beach club to hangout. We swam in the pool, had lunch and drinks. I had a virgin pineapple mango daiquiri and a coke.

We went shopping on the way to dinner.  We ate at Chachi’s and got gelato for dessert. The next day Makenzie, Ella, Gavin and Sara had to go to the airport and we said goodbye for now. I really enjoyed  having them on the boat. I hope we get to see them again soon.

We went on a snorkel tour around Caye Caulker with a company called Caveman.

We fed the tarpons. The tarpon came and was ready to take the sardine out of my hand, but then I pulled my hand back and threw the sardine into the water because I was scared.

We then went to see the manatees and swam with them. We didn’t scare them so they stood still which was pretty cool.  Some people call them sea cows because they are ugly, but I actually thought they were really pretty.

We then went on a guided snorkel tour where we saw an eel. The eel’s name was Angela. She was really friendly with the boys. She particularly had a crush on Dad and loved his camera. 

Next we saw an alligator on land. It was actually pretty cool that we saw it right when it was going hunting. Next we saw a Christmas tree worm, which are underwater worms shaped like a Christmas tree.

We then saw about 50 nurse sharks and a dozen sting rays.  Dad and I went swimming with the sharks and rays.

At the end of the tour, we had fruit and happy juice. I tried a couple sips of happy juice and it wasn’t bad. I still would prefer to drink a coke. I was used to snorkeling with people I know, so this adventure snorkeling with people I didn’t know was new to me, but it was enjoyable and I had a really good time.

We took a ferry to Belize City. It took about an hour. They picked us up from the ferry dock and took us to a little hotel where they served us breakfast. We then went on a tour of the Mayan ruins.

I was really interested by the Temple of the Sun God. The story behind the temple fascinated me.

We ate at this little restaurant on the side of the road; you wouldn’t really know it was a restaurant. They served either beans and rice or beans with rice. I had the beans with rice (beans and rice mixed together) and Dad had beans and rice (beans and rice separated). Dad’s beans were like a soup. They made it however you like it. After lunch, we went on a river tour.

We saw howler monkeys. We could just barely see them because they were hiding in the trees.

We went back to the hotel where our tour guide Ben picked us up and took us back to the ferry terminal. The ferry took us back to Caye Caulker and then it was back to the boat. It was a long day. On our other island tours they did not always remember to feed us. What was cool about this tour is that they actually remembered to feed us and we ate really well. It was a fun tour.

Everytime we go to a new country we have to check-in.  For Belize this included Immagration, Customs, Health Department and Port Authority.  Our visa was only good for 30 days. We had to pay $1,500 Belize which is $750 US for the first check-in. Our first check-in was very expensive but easy. We were able to dinghy to the dock in Placencia and meet the people right there. We had to recheck-in twice because we stayed so long. When we went to check-in a second time we went on a water taxi from Placencia to the mainland.  The water taxi ride only took 15 minutes, but it was not somewhere we could bring our dinghy. We went in this old beat up taxi car with a missing door and the other door was being held by a string. We called it an “open air taxi”. It probably shouldn’t have been on the road. We went to Port Authority and to Immagration which was in a different building. We didn’t have to do Customs because this time we were rechecking-in.  It took a while for us to get our passports back.

This time we paid $550 Belize or $275 US.  We then got back to Placencia and ate lunch at the Pickled Parrot. It was a long day, but it was pretty fun.

When our second 30 days were up and we were ready to head to Mexico, it was time to check out.  In order to do this, we had to take a ferry from the island we were on, Caye Caulker to another island, Ambergris. When we got there, Kathy, Mom and I sat outside on the steps while Dad and Kent went into Customs and Immagration. We had to pay $150 Belize or $75 US. In total it cost us $1,100 US to visit for 2 months. This was the most expensive country to check in and out of that we’ve been to so far.