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2007/4/2

Belize 2007

Ambergris Caye (pronounced key) is the largest and most developed of about 200 small islands that make up the coast of Belize. Most of the island's 7,000 inhabitants live in the town of San Pedro, located in the southern part of the caye.

Getting to Ambergris Caye is an easy trip from Belize City by either water taxi or small planes. Catching a flight to Ambergris from the Belize City International Airport so easy and can be done with or without a reservation prior to arrival. There are two airlines that have regular hourly flights (which take only 20 minutes) and we cleared customs from our flight from Houston and went directly to the domestic terminal inside the airport to exchange some cash, buy tickets in Tropic Air, and be on our way to the islands. Water taxis also depart from the waterfront in downtown Belize City proper and take about 75 minutes. The water taxi terminal is a 20 minute cab ride from the Belize City International airport and the cab fare is fixed at $25BZE per person. We found that taking the flight TO Ambergris was a great intro to the islands of Belize and also was the easiest logistically (and well worth the $50USD per person ticket) after a long day of travel.

There are plenty of hotels, resorts and places to stay of all categories on Ambergris Caye. Transport around San Pedro is by foot, golf carts, or bicycles. There are three main streets on the island that run parallel to each other (ocean side, center, and lagoon side). Along all these roads are great local of restaurants, bars, gift shops, and galleries waiting to be explored. We found the best exploration time was early each morning (before and after enjoying a great breakfast at Ruby's bakery, or the little art café Tabu across from the airstrip) as the sun is in full effect by 10am and it's super hot and humid. Most shops and restaurants are open air without any air conditioning. For this reason, my favorite places to enjoy a Belekin (local beer) were along the water or on one of the many piers. However, there are some great places on the back streets for very cheap authentic Belizean food. Since Belize was once a British colony, English is spoken just about everywhere. Credit cards are also accepted in most of the shops and restaurants we went to. There are also several banks with ATM machines where you can pull out cash if you do find a shop that does not take credit cards. Since the Belize dollar is at a fixed to the US dollar, American cash is used interchangeably by all shops. The exchange rate is always 2 Belize dollars (BZE) to 1 US dollar (USD).

Belize is known for its' incredible barrier reef. It is the second largest barrier reef next to the Great Barrier Reef. This is what gives the shores its' saturated aqua color. Most of the reef is very shallow and the clarity of the water is breath-taking. Scuba diving and snorkeling are some of the best in the world. The sea life was so abundant and swimming with sharks and stingrays was absolutely amazing.

When visiting the cayes, Ambergris Caye is probably the best introduction into the islands. It has plenty of activities for you to do or you can choose to just relax and take in some sunshine. We found that a lot of exploration time on the front end of our stay helped up find our favorite spots for sun-bathing, sipping a cool drink, and catching the sunset with plenty of time to enjoy each of these at a leisurely island pace.

2004/12/8

Trip to Ohio

I'm finally back from my 2 week trip to Ohio. It was nice to finally meet the rest of Cheri's family and friends as well as get to know the different areas of Ohio. We basically stayed at each of the 3 major cities in Ohio: Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati.

Cleveland is a very industrial city. Instead of oceans of water, the landscape is filled with oceans of old factories and steel mills. It was evident that the city is no longer in its prime, as most of the city was fairly dirty and run down. There were exceptions such as the cities of Shaker Heights and Pepper Pike- but for the most part, it seemed liked its glory days have come and gone.

Columbus, at first, seemed like just any other college town I had been to. However, I was given the grand tour and was pleasantly suprised to see how large it was and how many different areas of the city there really are. The city has a progressive feel, and from what I foresee, will be growing rapidly in the next 5 years. Everywhere I turned, there were new lofts and old houses being renovated. The city boasts a very chic area named the Short North which reminded me a lot of Seattle's Belltown. Another favorite area of mine was German Village which has an urban yet quaint and charming feel about it, as you can tell from my photos. Columbus was a fun town, but I can see outgrowing it after living there a few years.

Lastly, there was Cincinnati. Home to large companies such as Procter and Gamble. Cincinnati is an old town and has a sense of history even though it is a thriving commercial city. The city seems to have a good balance of new growth as well as maintaining its charm and historic roots.