Saturday 02/12/2011
Who arrived first? Brother Ed wanted to take the water taxi from Belize City to Ambergris Caye. I wanted to take the air taxi. He wanted to enjoy a leisurely boat ride. I didn't want to haul my luggage from the airport to the port. So, he took the taxi and I took the air shuttle. We planned to meet at the resort.
There was a unspoken brotherly/sisterly competition of who would get there first.
Carolyn's Trip:
My trip started perfect. The prop plane left Medford exactly on time and arrived in San Francisco a half hour early. I easily found my way to the Continental terminal and settled in for a two hour wait for the flight to Houston. Since airplane food is no longer available without a charge (thankfully, it really was awful), I decided to get a dinner at the airport. The $8.95 for a hamburger and fries didn't seem too bad for airport prices. My mistake was also having a beer. Total price for a good old hamburger and fries plus one beer: $18. Oh well, the beer was worth it.
The flight to Houston took off at 5:41 as expected. We were settling in for the four hour flight. I had just swipped my card to rent a movie when the captain came on talking about a drop in oil pressure in one of the engines and the necessity to turn the engine off. We turned back to San Francisco. It would take about 15 minutes and we'd be on the ground again, he said.
That might have been the longest 15 minutes of my life and the lives of the other 200 people on the plane. The pilot brought the plane in slowly. Before we landed he announced that we would have emergency vehicles following us as we taxied. The people were quiet but calm as he gently set the plane down, back where we started. We sighed a collective sign of relief and applauded his excellent landing.
Two hours later we were aboard another plane headed again for Houston. This, of course put us into Houston at 1:30 am instead of 11:30 pm. At that time of morning there are no hotel shuttles so we all had to grab a taxi for a short night sleep.
The flight to Belize City Saturday morning was uneventfully crowded with lots of excited people, anxious to start their tropical vacation. After much sorting out in the tiny Belize City airport, those of us headed for Ambergris Caye awaited our shuttle to the island. The flights to Ambergris are numbered: 70A, 70B, 70C, 70D, 70E, 70F, 70G, 70H. It appears you get your seat on a first come, first served basis, mine being 70G, the second round of flights. But my turn finally arrived. I climbed aboard the about 12 passenger shuttle for a lovely flight to the island over reefs and cayes.
Edward's Trip
Boston to Ambergris:
I decided to do the trip in one day which meant leaving Boston's Logon airport at 5:30 AM. Well being a little excited about the trip, I woke up at 2:00 a half hour before the alarm, and caught a taxi at 3:30, got to the airport a little after 4:00 and boarded the 5:25 flight to Miami. The flight was packed. So packed that you would think Boston was 25 degrees F with three feet of snow on the ground, which was true.
The flight was smooth and arrived on time, but without any food, just coffee for me. The connection to Belize city was tight, so no snack, no drink, just hussle from one end of the airport to the other, wait 10 minutes and board. Then wait, and wait, listen to the pilot contend that we would leave in 10 minute, and wait and wait. A full hour on the plane and still at the gate. Leave an hour plus late, for the 2 hour flight and arrive Belize City at noon.
I decided to see a bit of the city and take the water taxi. I took my bags outside the airport and there were taxis waiting. I took the first one. $25 US for the twenty minute ride to the water taxi terminal on the lesser side of town, where everyone knew my driver. I think there are two water taxi ports, a new and old. This one was not the new one shown on the web. I did not feel that I was in any danger, it was full of other tourist as well as locals. Well, I wanted to see some of the local color, and I did. There was a wait for the next scheduled departure, and I had only about three hour sleep for 12 hours of travel.
The water taxi was a low wide cover boat with seat for about fifty down the center and benches around the wall. The boat was full of about 100 women, children, men and tourists, with priority given to tourists for seats, then locals lining the wall and standing. As we pulled away from the dock I notice a strong exhaught fume oder. The window at the front was open and soon cleaned the air, then it start to rain so they closed the window by putting a stick under the edge of the upper pane. The trip was to be 90 min. The water was rough, the sky full of rain and the engine noisy. This was not what I had in mind, when I decide to do the water trip.
After about a half and hour of bouncing and rocking, the captain, if that what he is called, cut the engines and the crew started looking at the engine. I could not see what if anything was done, but there we sat. After a while they started the engine back up and continued for about fifteen minutes, then did the same again, in the rain and waves and the fumes. Start up again and continue on. We reach Caulker Caye after about an hour and 75 of the 100 people on board get off.
I move to the back of the boat stretch out in about three seats and watch them work on the engine. They take out what looks like a filter cage, and leave it on the deck, start the engine, make adjustments and decide that is OK. One of the workers takes the cage and leaves.
The rain has eased and it is no longer uncomfortably crowded, so I am enjoying the ride. The sea is rough but the boat is throwing a spray 8 of 10 ft in the air, so it's OK. If it had been sunny it would have been ideal.
We arrive at San Pedro after 2 hours and change. I find a rusted out van that calls itself a taxi and decide to pay the 5 dollor US fee to Ramon's. I share the van with an older woman, that could have been and expat or local, could not tell which. Along the way we added a local to the front seat, drive by the airport about a hundred yard or less and there is Ramon's.
Carolyn Again
When I arrived at the Ramon's resort, I stood in line behind several people I met waiting for the plane at Belize City I turned to check out who had joined the line behind me and, after several beats, recognized my brother. He had arrived about 2 minutes after me.
So, technically, I won. But really, we arrived at the same time, him from Boston and me from Southern Oregon. What great timing!
Who arrived first? Brother Ed wanted to take the water taxi from Belize City to Ambergris Caye. I wanted to take the air taxi. He wanted to enjoy a leisurely boat ride. I didn't want to haul my luggage from the airport to the port. So, he took the taxi and I took the air shuttle. We planned to meet at the resort.
There was a unspoken brotherly/sisterly competition of who would get there first.
Carolyn's Trip:
My trip started perfect. The prop plane left Medford exactly on time and arrived in San Francisco a half hour early. I easily found my way to the Continental terminal and settled in for a two hour wait for the flight to Houston. Since airplane food is no longer available without a charge (thankfully, it really was awful), I decided to get a dinner at the airport. The $8.95 for a hamburger and fries didn't seem too bad for airport prices. My mistake was also having a beer. Total price for a good old hamburger and fries plus one beer: $18. Oh well, the beer was worth it.
The flight to Houston took off at 5:41 as expected. We were settling in for the four hour flight. I had just swipped my card to rent a movie when the captain came on talking about a drop in oil pressure in one of the engines and the necessity to turn the engine off. We turned back to San Francisco. It would take about 15 minutes and we'd be on the ground again, he said.
That might have been the longest 15 minutes of my life and the lives of the other 200 people on the plane. The pilot brought the plane in slowly. Before we landed he announced that we would have emergency vehicles following us as we taxied. The people were quiet but calm as he gently set the plane down, back where we started. We sighed a collective sign of relief and applauded his excellent landing.
Two hours later we were aboard another plane headed again for Houston. This, of course put us into Houston at 1:30 am instead of 11:30 pm. At that time of morning there are no hotel shuttles so we all had to grab a taxi for a short night sleep.
The flight to Belize City Saturday morning was uneventfully crowded with lots of excited people, anxious to start their tropical vacation. After much sorting out in the tiny Belize City airport, those of us headed for Ambergris Caye awaited our shuttle to the island. The flights to Ambergris are numbered: 70A, 70B, 70C, 70D, 70E, 70F, 70G, 70H. It appears you get your seat on a first come, first served basis, mine being 70G, the second round of flights. But my turn finally arrived. I climbed aboard the about 12 passenger shuttle for a lovely flight to the island over reefs and cayes.
Edward's Trip
Boston to Ambergris:
I decided to do the trip in one day which meant leaving Boston's Logon airport at 5:30 AM. Well being a little excited about the trip, I woke up at 2:00 a half hour before the alarm, and caught a taxi at 3:30, got to the airport a little after 4:00 and boarded the 5:25 flight to Miami. The flight was packed. So packed that you would think Boston was 25 degrees F with three feet of snow on the ground, which was true.
The flight was smooth and arrived on time, but without any food, just coffee for me. The connection to Belize city was tight, so no snack, no drink, just hussle from one end of the airport to the other, wait 10 minutes and board. Then wait, and wait, listen to the pilot contend that we would leave in 10 minute, and wait and wait. A full hour on the plane and still at the gate. Leave an hour plus late, for the 2 hour flight and arrive Belize City at noon.
I decided to see a bit of the city and take the water taxi. I took my bags outside the airport and there were taxis waiting. I took the first one. $25 US for the twenty minute ride to the water taxi terminal on the lesser side of town, where everyone knew my driver. I think there are two water taxi ports, a new and old. This one was not the new one shown on the web. I did not feel that I was in any danger, it was full of other tourist as well as locals. Well, I wanted to see some of the local color, and I did. There was a wait for the next scheduled departure, and I had only about three hour sleep for 12 hours of travel.
The water taxi was a low wide cover boat with seat for about fifty down the center and benches around the wall. The boat was full of about 100 women, children, men and tourists, with priority given to tourists for seats, then locals lining the wall and standing. As we pulled away from the dock I notice a strong exhaught fume oder. The window at the front was open and soon cleaned the air, then it start to rain so they closed the window by putting a stick under the edge of the upper pane. The trip was to be 90 min. The water was rough, the sky full of rain and the engine noisy. This was not what I had in mind, when I decide to do the water trip.
After about a half and hour of bouncing and rocking, the captain, if that what he is called, cut the engines and the crew started looking at the engine. I could not see what if anything was done, but there we sat. After a while they started the engine back up and continued for about fifteen minutes, then did the same again, in the rain and waves and the fumes. Start up again and continue on. We reach Caulker Caye after about an hour and 75 of the 100 people on board get off.
I move to the back of the boat stretch out in about three seats and watch them work on the engine. They take out what looks like a filter cage, and leave it on the deck, start the engine, make adjustments and decide that is OK. One of the workers takes the cage and leaves.
The rain has eased and it is no longer uncomfortably crowded, so I am enjoying the ride. The sea is rough but the boat is throwing a spray 8 of 10 ft in the air, so it's OK. If it had been sunny it would have been ideal.
We arrive at San Pedro after 2 hours and change. I find a rusted out van that calls itself a taxi and decide to pay the 5 dollor US fee to Ramon's. I share the van with an older woman, that could have been and expat or local, could not tell which. Along the way we added a local to the front seat, drive by the airport about a hundred yard or less and there is Ramon's.
Carolyn Again
When I arrived at the Ramon's resort, I stood in line behind several people I met waiting for the plane at Belize City I turned to check out who had joined the line behind me and, after several beats, recognized my brother. He had arrived about 2 minutes after me.
So, technically, I won. But really, we arrived at the same time, him from Boston and me from Southern Oregon. What great timing!
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