Belize Day 2

Day 2 didn't begin very well. Having had only 4 hours of sleep the night before we left and getting a whopping 4 hours our first night in Belize (I'm not usually a great sleeper) I woke up with a skull scrapping headache. I wanted to die. I curled into a ball and just cried. Luckily Jim woke up at about 6 and ran to get me a soda (caffeinated) so I could take some Advil AND Tylenol (the secret is using them together with the caffeine). I was able to snooze a bit until 10 or so and take more drugs. I then sat by the pool and held very still until it was time to go snorkeling.  I really didn't want to miss out on that!

The morning was so beautiful. I enjoyed just taking a minute to enjoy the sunshine and warm breeze. This really is a beautiful place.

Jim and the Walker's played in the pool. I became the group photographer. I enjoyed my duties and the minute it gave me to feel like I was engaged in the activity without  having to bounce my head around!

Then the boys wanted me to come closer and take their pictures coming out of the water slide.

Of course I was happy to do it. They were having such fun. It was a beautiful day!!

Jim's vacation pose. He's a fan of  blue skies and warm air!!

The afternoon of the second day we went to the barrier reef and Hol Chan Marine Reserve to try some snorkeling. I didn't do very well the last time I tried so I was determined to do better this time around.

Spiny Sea Urchin....whoa!! Cool!! Our guides Candyman and Ariel were fun and knew a lot about the coral and the life around it. They kept us on task and all together. There was a Moray Eel that they had to steer away from the swimming tourists. It looked like it could do some damage.

A Sea Turtle!! She was right there!! Munching grass. This was the last picture on my camera. It broke. The buttons on the tops stopped working. I was so sad. Right after this she went up for air...RIGHT NEXT TO JIM!! He had to hold very still as not to scare her away but he could have reached out and touched her!!

After that we went to the shark and ray feed site. We swam with the Nurse Sharks and the Rays while they were being fed. Creepy AND cool!! Then we boated past San Pedro and back to the resort. It was an amazing afternoon!!

When we got back we swam for a bit. This is the view from the bar into the other pool  area and hot tub. It was one of our favorite spots!!

During the hours we were there it wasn't loud or crowded. Just a nice place to hang out and get some lunch. We sat in the hot tub before dinner to warm up and it rained. Not just a little rain...it poured from the sky like you would expect on a tropical island. Some thunder and lightening and huge buckets of warm rain. It was one of our favorite things about the trip. Weird, I know...sitting in the hot tub in the rain. Tourists...sheesh!!

After we dressed for dinner we decided it was a good idea  to walk toward town...in the dark....in a foreign country...in. the. dark. Not sure if you picked up on my hesitation. Let me set the scene for you...We walked out the back of the resort, away from the ocean. There was a nicely paved road. No lights. There was a light at our resort and then about 100 yards away there was another light...and then no light. Like at all! The newly paved road was nice, apart from the 3" gaps in the concrete along the way. Pretty sure they were for drainage.  Creepy night sounds all around, (me afraid of the dark in my own house) not really sure where we are going. We had a map...never trust a map. Never go in the dark. Just saying. We had gone about a mile and a half (felt like 10) and suddenly the road stopped. Technically the road was still there...just not the paved part. So we decided to turn around and rent a golf cart from the resort to continue our adventure. By this time it was about 7:00 and we were getting hangry (OK...maybe just me). We got the golf cart and headed back. When we reached the point where the road ended we were so pleased (note the sarcasm) to notice that the rain had created these HUGE puddles of undetermined depth (remind me sometime to tell you about my recurring nightmare about driving into water). There was no way around them...we had to go through them. Golly. Not fun. But we made it (both ways) without being swept out into the ocean. We continued on until the road ended...again. Couldn't really tell where it headed as it was so dark so we decided to turn around and find a less than repulsive looking resort and try our culinary luck there.  The one we settled on was called Rain. Appropriate since the lounge (the only available seating) was open to the sky. Risky. But we were all hungry by then and so we stayed. There was a lovely live band (and by band I mean a bass player and a guy on a keyboard) pumping out some smooth jazzed up hits from the 80's. Oh yeah!! I ordered a chicken dish. It was OK. Jim had the snapper. It too was OK. My mashed potatoes were YUMMY and the chocolate lave cake with coconut ice cream I ordered for dessert was the bomb!! 

We made it back to the resort safely and said good night. The next day we'd be catching the taxi to town at 6:00 a.m. for our Mayan Ruin/Cave Tubing adventure. I wanted to try to get enough sleep so the headache stayed away!!

Lots of fun and laughter for the day. I loved being there with Jim and of course the Walker's. What a day!!!