Caye Caulker continued

HIGHLIGHTS
- Snorkeling. Lots of way cool stuff to see. Plus, Tyler got a freaky shaped sunburn on his back too, so now I'm not the only one.
- Finding out that we couldn't check out early from our nicer place to go to a cheaper one. This was secretly a highlight since neither of us really wanted to leave. Plus, the lady gave us bikes for the day since she never said that the reservation was non-refundable.
- Chatting it up with the locals. Met lots of cool peeps, and been able to get answers to our most burning questions like what language they use in the schools versus what all the kids are gabbering to each other.

LOWLIGHTS
- Water in a bag. What?
- Running face to face into two of my most hated creatures in the world in one day: the moray eel and the cockroach.
- Still searching for the answer to: "When the heck does school start and end??" Tyler has observed that there is no apparent school hours since at any given time, there are as many uniformed kids in the school as out of it. And when we passed by at 5pm, there were still kids there.




Please take the time to read this sign. It's really special.





Snorkeling. The sport for the hardest of hard core.

Caye Caulker

Ok, so the island we're at is called Caye Caulker (pronounced "Key Cocker," which in itself is a lowlight since I keep messing it up).

HIGHLIGHTS
- Location, location, location. See pics.
- Tyler getting the local vibe and spending a good deal of the day roaming the streets in bare feet.
- The little kiddos everywhere. We're right near the school. Today I saw a little boy carry his even littler sister's princess backpack because it was too heavy for her. I love them.


LOWLIGHTS
- Getting here. Missed the 3pm boat by moments, so we got to wait for like an hour and a half for the next one. Keep in mind, I was still sick so I wanted to die. But Tyler was very helpful and made me feel better and we wrote thank you notes to be productive. But then by the time we got to the island it was pretty much dark, which always makes it harder to find a place to stay.
- Tyler's all-lobster day. Gross.
- The supposed "breeze" that's actually fierce wind constantly flicking sand and your own hair into your face. Nah so relaxin' mon.


Tyler showing what it looked like to wait.



Down the dock to our place.



Us in the sliding glass door. I know, I'm a geek. But it looked so cool.



The view out our window.



The little kids with the backpack. Bro is the little one in front, sis is the littler one in the more front. (Bro is carrying the princess backpack in front of him.) Tyler captured the moment very discretely. Hopefully we don't get arrested for it.

Tikal and lots of driving

So we left our quaint abode and all our new friends in Placencia to brave the roads of Belize and Guatemala. It was basically 3 straight days traveling, so pretty grueling, but obviously chalk-full of adventures.

HIGHLIGHTS
- Tikal. Sitting on the top of the highest temple, looking out over the jungle with all sorts of temples popping up through the trees.
- The drive to Tikal. So fascinating to see all the villages on the way.
- Diet Coke and Fanta. Much yummier here. Tyler and I enjoy the two respectively.
- Filming many more episodes of "Jungle Bob and Andrea hit Central America." Don't worry. You're all welcome to see them when we get back.
- Church! Always cool to get to know people in the area.

LOWLIGHTS
- Going through immigration and customs at the border. Sent around in circles, paying $5-$10 at each window we went approached.
- Many road signs to warn about cow and people crossing in Guatemala, but none to warn about the many, many dogs and horses that leisurely dominate the roads.
- Celebrated our first week of marriage by treating ourselves to the very first available hotel we could find. $20 special. Super sketch, with walls that didn't actually connect all the way to the ceiling. Truly special.
- I got pretty sick and Tyler busted out a cold sore. We were both in sorry shape. (But Sheena, thanks for the Hydrogen Peroxide tip!)


Tikal. Obviously.



Cool dock in Placencia.



Our luxury suite.



Saying goodbye to Stefano. :( PS He said he wanted to hold up that wrench to show off his work ethic.



Fanta Naranja!

Placencia

HIGHLIGHTS
- Having our own kitchen so we could make pizza and muffins and no-bake Oreo pie.
- Tyler saying all of the shop names with Stefano's Italian accent. Such a delight!
- Tour of Monkey River with a really old Belizean man named Harrison, who insists on going by "Buck." He had us rub medicinal plants on us, showed us his village, and even ate some termites.
- Listening to the creole. Crazy to think that it's all English words, but said in a way that there's no hope of understanding,

LOWLIGHTS
- The gelataria!!!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!!!! Why a lowlight? Because we discovered it the first day and have been back at least once a day since.
- The unnerving way the sound travels, making it seem like people are right in our living room. And the bird that sounds exactly like a screen door opening and shutting, to make doubly sure you never feel completely at ease.
- That it took me until I got married to Tyler to see the crazed look on his face that he gets when there's any kind of insect in the room.
- Being the last to sight all of the animals on the river tour. Sometimes I even tried to fake that I saw them, just for the sake of time, but the guides could always tell since I was looking the wrong way.



The pad.



The pizza.



Just plain rad.



If you look close, you can read the carefully painted sign: "John the Bakerman, right in side...the door."



On the boat ride. What a babe.

BELIZE CON TYLER - Getting there

Well, technically getting here took a year+ of dating. Haha. But really, this is just about the first day of travel to get to Placencia, Belize.

LOWLIGHTS
- 21 hours from the SD airport to our final destination in Belize
- Arriving in Placencia without specific directions to our villa, only to find that really no one else in the whole city had ever heard of the name of the villa, or the street it was on.
- Finally getting to the villa, only to find out that they didn't have any idea we were coming.
- Discovering that uncertainty and lack of planning isn't quite as exhilarating to Tyler as it is to me.

HIGHLIGHTS
- Getting upgraded to first class on our flight, just cause we asked! (And mentioned that it was our honeymoon).
- Meeting Stefano, the Italiano Property Manager extraordinaire.
- Getting upgraded to the nicer, bigger floor of our guesthouse as compensation for all of the confusion. (Oops! That was just supposed to be between Stefano and us...) But now the toilet is not in the shower stall!!!