Two Days in Belize: An UnBelizeable Birthday

Two Days in Belize: Pre-Trip

Boise Blizzard

Less than a week after writing about going with the flow, I found myself sleeping on a bench in the chapel of the Houston airport, forced into practicing what I preached.

How I ended up there is a short but frustrating story. My city had experienced one of the driest winters I can remember, and I’d been praying for snow for months (along with the rest of my fellow skiers and boarders).

On the morning I was planning to fly to sunny tropical Belize for my birthday weekend, I woke up to a snowstorm that had already left a few inches on the ground.

As one of the first flights of the day, we knew we were destined to be delayed for a bit. We made it on the flight (barely), but missed our connection to Belize by just 20 minutes.

As we taxied to the gate in Houston, we literally watched the flight we wanted to be on take off. It was heartbreaking.

But as a standby flier, I should probably get used to not making it on flights and hanging out in airports.

The next flight to Belize didn’t leave until 9 AM the following day, leaving us with 20 hours to kill (longer than the entirety of our Chicago trip).

A Night in the IAH Airport

We wanted to explore Houston, but the weather was terrible and everything we could do in town was an expensive hour-long taxi ride away.

Determined to still have a good trip, my travel companion (Wyatt) and I proceeded to entertain ourselves.

Truthfully, we did not get bored. I’ll spare you the details, except for one.

I have a tradition of eating macaroni and cheese for my birthday, so after a few failed attempts we found a place that served it (with lobster nonetheless).

I think it was the only restaurant in IAH where a person took your order, not an Ipad. After an exhausting, disheartening day and before a restless, uncomfortable night, this meal lifted my spirits.

While stalking around looking for a suitable place to lie down, a fellow hardy traveler let us in on the secret of the chapel’s quietness and comfy(ish) pews. “I’m sure God wouldn’t mind if you got some rest,” she winked.

Side note: We truly did not see the “no sleeping in the chapel” sign until we woke up… 8 hours later.

Two Days in Belize: Day 1

First Taste of Island Life

On our flight out of Houston, we had the fortune of sitting next to a Belizean lady traveling home to see her mother.

Our conversation started when she heard us practicing Spanish. “Necesitamos un taxi a la estación del taxi de agua.” She leaned over to inform us that the official language is English. Go figure!

The woman on the plane was just the first of many new friends we’d make on this adventure. After landing and clearing customs, we shared a taxi from the airport with a Canadian girl who ended up with the nickname “New York” (even though she only moved there a couple months ago).

The three of us boarded the water taxi bound for Caye Caulker. As we cruised along, we were unanimously wonderstruck by how blue and beautiful the water was.

It was at this moment that I realized I’d never been to an island before.

Waiting for us on the sand were Wyatt’s parents Nan and Brady, sister Savannah, and our buddy Jordan. They were on that flight we’d forlornly watched take off the previous morning.

As soon as we stepped off the dock, I was handed a fresh coconut filled with some tropical alcoholic concoction. I could get used to island life.

Wyatt’s family couldn’t wait to take us to the Lazy Lizard, a cute beach bar they were already regulars at. We stashed our backpacks at the hostel, then walked to the very northern tip of the island.

Under swaying palm trees, I cracked open a local Belikin beer, feeling so grateful to be here.

Hostel Barbecue

During our journey to this country, we thought we were being funny and ridiculous by saying “You’d better Belize it!” “That’s unBelizeable!” etc., only to see these phrases and more plastered on every souvenir you can think of.

(My family was not as amused when I used “unBelizeable ” in casual conversation the day after I got back to America. My response to their objection? “Take it Belizeeeey!”)

Our group definitely did not take it Belizey on the rum punch!

I have a riddle for you: how many happy hours can you fit into two days in Belize? The answer is one—one nonstop happy weekend.

Not only was it my own birthday weekend, it was our hostel owner’s too! This was a lucky coincidence, and we got to celebrate together with rum punch (of course) and a barbecue with by far the best potato salad I’ve ever tasted.

All the hostel visitors came together for this night of fun and rum, and we made even more great friends.

Nightlife in Caye Caulker

This international group of people who were strangers hours earlier took to the (two) bars for a night to remember. Sports Bar was up first.

I somehow ended up in a dance competition with Wyatt’s mom and sister, and a middle-aged Italian woman.

The DJ was narrating our awkward, semi-collaborative movements while the rest of the packed bar surrounded us and cheered.

The audience was supposed to pick a winner, but they decided we all sucked so bad there couldn’t possibly be a number one.

All four of us were declared losers and sent to the bar for a free drink. I suppose the thinking there is that the more drinks we have, the better dancers we’ll be?

Oh well, I’m not one to argue with a good thing. Two of Sports Bar’s claims to fame are the limbo contest and free fireball shots, both of which we got to experience that night.

The bartender stands on the bar with a bottle and everyone gathers below with their mouths open. We looked like a nest of baby birds waiting for our next meal.

Soon after our collective liquid feast, Sports Bar closed for the night and the entire flock migrated to Reggae Bar.

En route, an unruly dude thought he’d get cute and steal my water bottle. In his drunken mind, he was probably trying to be flirtatious. Wyatt wasn’t too happy about that, and I wasn’t thrilled about losing my bottle.

I didn’t think it was worth the trouble, but Wyatt confronted the guy. After an intense standoff that just about led to blows, he saved the water bottle.

Reggae Bar was the perfect place to chill out with our new pals. (The barstools here are swings!)

Our favorite person we hung out with was Nina from Germany, who has become a lifelong friend. To this day, we keep in touch. We’ve met up all over the world. How crazy to connect with such a kindred spirit on a tiny little island. That’s the power of travel and the magic of hostels.

After swinging around for a bit (on the barstools and to the music), we decided to call it a night. (Or a morning? It was 4 AM…) But we changed our minds, and Wyatt and I took a long walk to the best beach.

The idea was to stay there enjoying each other’s company and the sound of the rolling waves for a couple hours then watch the sunrise.

This was a good plan for about five minutes. It was windy, and we hadn’t thought to bring shoes, let alone jackets.

Although we didn’t get to witness a beautiful Caribbean sunrise, I went to bed that morning absolutely content.

Two Days in Belize: Day 2

Snorkeling in Belize

I had gone snorkeling around the island with Savannah the evening we arrived on Caye Caulker. Despite her teachings, I kept fogging up my goggles and letting gallons of burning salt water seep into my nose and eyes.

I just couldn’t seem to get it right. Understandably, I was a little worried when I found out we’d be going on an all-day sailing/snorkeling expedition on my birthday.

What if I can’t see anything at all because I suck at snorkeling!?

This concern washed away the moment I jumped in the ocean. My snorkel issues apparently worked themselves out, and I found myself face-to-face with a cow of the sea.

Our boat crew had left out “manatee” on the list of sea creatures we were going to swim with. It was such a wonderful surprise! And it really was a surprise—I didn’t even know manatees inhabited the Caribbean.

Shark Ray Alley

Our next stop on the excursion was Shark Ray Alley. Rays, okay cool. Sharks?! Now you have to understand something about me—I’m scared of fish.

I deal with this pretty irrational fear and don’t let it stop me from swimming, but I still get very uneasy. Sharks are fish that kill you.

At least this is what my brain told me as the captain baited five large sharks to the side of our sailboat. But do you know what my mind also whispered?

“Do what scares you.”

I jumped in. I was screaming, but I jumped in.

Hol Chan Marine Reserve

After that experience, I was ready for anything. We saw a huge sea turtle who was blind in one eye, so you had to steer yourself away every time he headed towards you.

This was truly one of the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen. The Moray eel was one of the most terrifying.

We had 45 minutes to explore a reef on our own, during which Wyatt was attacked by a fish. (See they DO bite! It was only about 5 inches long, but that’s beside the point…)

We came across a ray at least six feet across with U-shaped gold markings on its black wings. Its beauty took my breath away. Time stood still as it gracefully glided directly below us.

I couldn’t even tell you how many conch shells we saw. I thought conches were a rare treasure, but they’re basically part of the daily diet here.

We got the chance to taste conch when one of the crew members caught, cleaned, and cut one up for fresh ceviche.

The beverage accompanying our delicious snack was water served in plastic bags. Apparently this is common in Central America, but it was new for me!

Birthday Puke

I will let you in on a little secret. My stomach was in knots for a great majority of our time on the boat.

I’m not sure if it was seasickness, a hangover, or the fry jack dripping with grease I’d had for breakfast. It was probably a combination of those factors. I threw up right off the side of the boat into the sea, as the entire group cheered me on chanting “Birthday puke! Birthday puke!”

As soon as I was done, I sat up and asked the bartender to fix me another drink. Of course I would’ve liked to feel perfect, but my stomachache didn’t stop me from enjoying my day.

Moving On to San Pedro

I was sad to leave Caye Caulker after only one day, but it was time to head to San Pedro. A water taxi took us to our next destination.

This island was completely different. It was busy and noisy and there were golf carts zooming around every which way.

It took us a while to find our AirBnb in the dark, but we finally did. All that walking made us thirsty, so obviously it was time for some drinks.

We didn’t have any chasers, so we drank our whiskey straight. The rule was that you had to be “The Mixer” yourself, and gyrate in a circular motion until your shot was sufficiently settled in your belly.

After many shots and many Mixers, we were in need of some food. We walked to the beach and saw a restaurant perched on the water thirty feet from shore. It looked awesome, like a beacon in the night. We all took pictures of the glowing hut as we wandered towards it.

As soon as we were seated, we noticed there were zero Belizean people here. The speakers were blasting American country music.

As this was my official birthday dinner and my last night in Belize, we decided to find something a little (a LOT) more authentic.

We walked out and asked someone where their favorite place to eat was. This inquiry led us to a fun little beach shack filled with only locals, complete with a live DJ.

In the morning, I had to catch a ferry back to the mainland and fly home by myself while the rest of the family continued their trip. But that was tomorrow’s problem.

Without a care in the world, I danced the night away with my travel buddies and drunk Belizean bar patrons, buzzing from happiness and rum punch. What a birthday.