Belize-Day one

February 6, 2008,
We arrive in Belize City’s Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport at approximately 4 pm Central Time which is also Local Time. American Airlines flies daily to and from Belize City and the trip can be as short as 2 hours and forty minutes with wind at your tail. We cleared Immigration and Customs easily, gathered our bags and proceeded to the Tropic Air counter where we obtained boarding passes for our flight to San Pedro. It was a smooth process and Tropic Air does a very good job, or at least they have the two times we flew to Belize. Immigration and Customs were easy too; we always smile and say sir a lot which is the way to go.

At about 5 pm Local Time, we arrived in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize, Central America, after a short 17 minute flight on a small Cessna 15 person aircraft. It is a tiny little thing, difficult to get and out of, but Tropic Air flies to San Pedro every day light hour of just about every day. We expected to be met my Miguel or Caesar, or one of the other guys from VH and after cooling our heels for 30 minutes, we took a cab to Victoria House. (I was more than a little miffed by this, btw. We were told by Houston we would take a boat to VH because the road was impassable due to construction, but we obviously did just that.) After a bumpy ride on a hard seat in a hot, dilapidated cab, we finally, praise Mother of God and the Saints, arrived at Victoria House or VH going forward.

We were met by the usual crew, at the front desk Greg, Tico and Abi. The entire front desk crew is efficient and more than competent. We were quickly checked in and shown to our Plantation Room, Room 25. It was adequate, but not a Suite and there is only but so much room. We unpacked and washed a little of the trip off in a bathroom that can be hot and humid at times and the plumbing is soon going to need an upgrade. It needs a vent fan as well, but the window does open and it has a screen and when open can be quite nice. Outside the room is a riot of palms, jasmine, ficus, pine, mimosa, and every other known tropical plant.

After cleaning up, we head to Palmilla where we see the same crew as before: Oscar, Francisco, Miguel, Hilbert, Sherry, Angie, Leo, Carlos and other names I am forgetting, but not the faces or service. The bar crew of Lelo, Ruth, Rudy (and again names I am forgetting, but not the faces or service) are put to work on drink orders. Our first dinner was the grouper special for me and Pecan Crusted Chicken breast for Laura. We did not have an appetizer, but did have some of their rich, thick bread with oil and balsamic vinegar with spices.

I need to say right here that Palmilla has, for years, had an outstanding reputation as a top class restraint in not just San Pedro, but Central America or at least Belize. Former Chef Amy Knox now owns and operates Wild Mangos in downtown San Pedro and Palmilla lost another Executive Chef in the fall when XX left to open his own restraint in Mexico. I compare Palmilla to Chamberlains Fish Market Grill for Dallas residents and Trulucks as well, at least in terms of food quality. The least expensive entrée is $23.95 (Pecan Crusted Chicken Breast), so you can see that it certainly is a match to those seafood restraints in terms of prices. I like the new menu and I understand the new EC, name here, has introduced more Mexican influences than his predecessor. Whatever, I like the food and will spend about US$150.00 per day, on average, at Palmilla during our trip, so clearly they are doing something right.

One of the reasons I like VH is that well, I have a cool life in Dallas, and I eat well. Why can’t I eat well in Belize, just like I can in D? Well I can! So we had a nice first supper and then walked down to the water’s edge and took in a beautiful Belizean night, full of more stars than back in Dallas. The only other place I have seen more stars is in the Saudi Arabian/Kuwaiti desert and that was not nearly the pleasant experience that star gazing can be on Ambergris Caye. After a few more minutes of being truly glad to be alive and lucky enough to live a cool life in Belize too, we hit the hay hard. Travel can be a grind and little did we know we were under assault by cold viruses and bacteria we picked up on the aluminum tube AA calls a 737 aircraft.

A word here now at the end of day one about Ambergris Caye, Belize, Central America. Note that ‘caye’ is pronounced ‘key’. I write it out that way because that is how the Belizeans do it: they write out a full name of a place, not just town and state. They write out town, region or state or Caye, Belize and follow it up with ‘Central America’. It shows me they most definitely have strong identification as Belizeans, yes, but also as members of a larger Central American region. I think the fact that the Mayans stretched their culture and race across parts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua helps in this of course, but it is also the fact that Belize is a small country, very dependent on its neighbors for food, trade, government and NGO cooperation, etc.

I love Ambergris Caye, ‘La Isla Bonita’ made famous by Madonna’s 80s hit. It is a beautiful island from the ground, the air, the sea and it is surrounded by some of the most spectacularly blue water in the world. But I like the people and culture more than the natural beauty, believe it or not. I can see myself living in and among the denizens of Ambergris Caye and that is very significant for me and L. Belizeans tend to be very friendly and unpretentious, many are devout Christians and most are generally good eggs. I like the fact that they can be so full of good humor and so down to earth. I live in a world of some pretty high powered people, my clients being Fortune 20 corporations, so the chance to be around people without pretension is a welcome change of pace.

They physically can be a light as me, a los ojo verde blanco (green eyed blonde), to dark black, but most on Ambergris Caye can trace some of their family tree back to a Mayan at some point. Many are very attractive, having thick black hair, big brown eyes and big wide smiles, often with multiple dimples. The children are almost always incredibly cute and adorable, all with big wide smiles and big, round brown eyes. I interacted with the children of two VH employees and they ranged from a little brown skinned boy with a big smile and delight at seeing his father, Caesar, to the children of Sherry, little girls with dark skin, more African features, but with the same big brown eyes and smiles. Adorable children all and just like the children I see at TELOS in many ways, but clearly different in others. The children on Ambergris Caye do not have the sheer amount of ‘stuff’ American kids have, but they have nature and the Caribbean Sea to entertain them. While American boys would use their half day off from school to play some moronic video game, Belizean boys are obliged to hang out with the verde ojo blanco and jump into the Caribbean from the end of the VH pier. I am sure those same boys would love the stuff kids here have, and they asked me if I would buy give them “snacks and chips from your room”, but that is just not the way most kids are raised on Ambergris Caye.

But that is precisely why I love Belize: it is far and away from the American rat race and the materialism and commercialism of our 21st Century lives. I clearly have a cool life in Dallas, but do I need a house, two cars, six rooms full of stuff, a pool, memberships, catalogs, malls, political come-ons, war without end and impending economic hard times? The best thing in my life are the people, not all the stuff and my time in Belize makes me realize I want less, not more stuff. So know here now that part of our trip to Belize is so much more than a vacation and birthday event for L. It is to scout a place to live, with the goal being to live there 1-3 months per year, with the possibility to live the year round in the back of my mind. My biggest challenge is TELOS, as they are such a big part of my life in so many ways. But, life is dynamic, we shall see.

I also like the fact that Belize is a tax haven and has great international banking and expatriate services. They have outstanding telecom and internet connectivity, there being a main internet cable off the coast (they have Vonage in Belize!) and I could easily work as an Executive Recruiter in Belize with no problems. And they have programs for Americans to gain residency and take full advantage of the financial benefits accorded to a smart expatriate. Belize has a stable, two party democracy and they had an election on February 7 and the government changed hands in a hotly contested, emotionally charged election and they did it peacefully. Any way I slice it, Belize is a very compelling place to hang the hat.

So, we arrive at the end of day one and a short note on Belize. Stay tuned.