All of the planning, talking, and packing is done, it’s time to head to Belize!
As I mentioned before, Marty and I had to work Friday before the trip, tying up loose ends on projects and such we had going on. We were able to get out a bit early, so that we could make out 7:30PM flight out of Metro, grabbed our bags, and headed over to Shari and Robins. They had packed in much the same way we did, with both allowed bags pretty much at the limit, and half of the luggage being food stuff. So, we’re talking ~280 pounds of luggage. So, we stuffed the back of the Scurr Durango to the gills, stuffed 5 people in (Shari’s mom, Peg, was driving us down) and headed to the airport. The trip had begun!!
Our first flight was to Washington Dulles, and got in a bit after 9PM, and out next flight wasn’t till early the next morning. We weren’t about to schedule a flight out of Detroit early enough to catch a flight out of Dulles that same day, but if we hadn’t left Detroit the next morning, it would have put us a half day behind getting to Belize, so crashing the night in DC was the best option. Our only mistake was that we left the ‘secure’ section of the airport, with our luggage, to check into our next flight on Taca Air. A bit of a hassle, because United and Taca couldn’t exchange luggage, so we had to grab it and recheck it with Taca. The kicker was that when we got the the Taca counter, it was closed. They advertised being open till 10PM, but it was closed and deserted @ 9:40PM when we got there. So, we were stuck in the departure check in area for the night, with little food options. So, we found a Starbucks, got some food, and found a place to crash for the night. Once the counter opened (5AM if I remember right) we checked out bags, found our gate, and proceeded to recrash till our flight left.
The Scurrs crashed at Dulles
Our next flight left at ~8AM, and we flew to San Salvador, El Salvador for our next layover, which ended up the be much shorter then the first one. Our layover was short enough that we had just time enough to walk from our arriving gate to our departing gate, with Shari and I trying to sneak into a couple store, and get to our departure gate about 10 minutes before they started to board us. Good thing Marty and Robin kept us out of the stores.
The 10 minute San Salvador layover.
We left San Salvador for Belize City, which was less then an hour flight, and we had over a hour layover before our last fight…. so we thought.
Once in Belize City, we went got our luggage, went through customs, and headed over to the Tropic Air counter to check in for our last flight to Placencia. When we got there, they informed us that we were the only people on the flight, and they had people in Placencia that were waiting for the flight back, so as soon as they could get us on the plan, we were taking off. So, it took us about 10-15 minutes to check in, check out baggage, and go thru security. A Tropic Air employee was waiting for us at the security exit, and escorted us thru the airport, out the gate, and right onto the plane. The plane was a small Cessna C208B Grand Caravan, and as soon as we were all up the stairs, they closed the door, gave us about 15 seconds to find our seats, and started to taxi. I don’t kid you when I say that the pilot turned about, said “belts”, and started to taxi. Honestly, it was probably 5-7 minutes from walking out of security to take off.
Taking off from Belize City on our last fight.
The flight from Belize City to Placencia was beautiful, and I don’t think any of us could stop taking pictures the whole time.
Flying over Belize.
Landing in Placencia was interesting, and not for those who are fearful of flying. The airport is small and the runway is smaller. The runway is actually extended off the peninsula into the lagoon, and the main (only) road also as too route around it. Signs actually tell cars to wait when planes are landing/taking off.
Placencia Airport
The airport….well, the airport was small and interesting, but I think a few pictures would describe it better then words can.
Topic Air Placencia Terminal.
Unloading the luggage
Out front of the airport.
After we got our luggage, a cab was called for us, and we took the 5 minute trip to the Placencia Moorings base to meet up with Ray and get the boat ready to head out.
The Rum Runner, a 40' cat.
It was about noon when we arrived at the boat, and the plan had been to get our stuff stowed away, and head out. But, Ray offered some options. We had originally planned to head out as soon as we arrived, to get the most sailing time out of our trip. But, since we extended the trip by 3 days at the last minute when booking, we had a little more flexibility. Ray had discovered that the resort across the road from the Mooring base, which we had access to in a since they had a partnership with Moorings, had an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet that night for ~$30 a person, so we decided to stick around, do some shopping in town for last minute supplies, enjoy the buffet, and head out the next day.
I’ll wrap this this up for now, and start off the next post with our adventures in Placencia and heading out on the boat.
