"Your mom's an 'effing' Legend!" - 5/22/07

This statement was uttered by a particularly drunk, but very well-meaning, Irish student on our third evening in Caye Caulker. But, I am getting a little ahead of myself…

Mom was here a total of 10 days and we had a great time. It was really nice to have someone to show around this beautiful country. Mom has a great adventurous spirit, so she was ready for all we were willing to dish out! After Chan Chich, we headed back through Blue Creek and out toward Belize City, making a stop at the Mayan ruins of Lamanai. We have 2 previous blogs about Lamanai, so I won’t go into all the history and what-not. I just want to say that mom climbed the ruins, braved the Central American mosquitoes, dodged the army ants, searched for and hooted at howler monkeys like a local. We had an amazing time and got some wonderful pictures.

That night we continued to Belize City where we spent one night and caught a water taxi to Caye Caulker the following morning. We arrived on the island and began the sweaty task of finding a hotel for 4 nights. Yes, I know what you are thinking, you think we should have made reservations somewhere. Well, low season locals know it is better to ask around for a room than to make a reservation because you are more likely to get a good deal. So, we found two great rooms with A/C and cable that were right on the beach. Mission accomplished, it was time to find out what the island had in store for us.

We signed up for the same sunset tour Nathan and I took on our last trip to the Caye. So, at 5 pm, we and about 10 sunburned tourists set sail. It was a beautiful evening. The sun sets behind the island, so they sailed a few miles out and we watched the sun disappear and the stars and moon grew brighter all around us. Stop for a moment and try to picture this. The gentle rocking of a sailboat inside the reef, the sound of the water against the side. The wind is blowing gently, bringing the clean, refreshing smell of the ocean along with it. The only light you see is the streetlights on the distant island and the glow of the heavens. And then the raucous sound of a half dozen Irish college students bellowing drinking songs at the top of their lungs. …Oh yeah, there was also lots of rum punch. As soon as we set sail, they chopped up some delicious fresh conch ceviche- which, for some of us, was the only food we had had since breakfast. After they finished making the ceviche, they began passing around pitchers of rum punch which they had all prepared in a 5 gallon jug. Yes, the surroundings were beautiful, paradise even, but everyone knows that Caribbean + tourists = rum!

Anyway, the college students were singing Irish drinking songs and my mom was teaching them YMCA camp songs in return. They also taught me an Irish phrase which they told me meant, “Hello, nice to meet you.” But, surprise, surprise, it doesn’t mean that at all. It means something much more offensive. So, the boat docked about 2 hours later and we continued the rest of our vacation, which included getting some food in our stomachs.

It was two days later that Nathan and I came across the charming young man who provided the title of this blog. He saw us, immediately recalled the evening with mom on the sailboat, and wanted to wake her up and have her come drinking with him and the rest of the college students. Reggie you’re right, this certainly is a new world.

We also went on our final snorkeling tour while we were on the Caye. Mom was not excited about snorkeling because she had only gone once before in Cancun, which has no reef and was recently hit by a major hurricane. But, she was awestruck by the beauty of the barrier reef in Belize! We saw some striking bright blue coral, TONS of beautiful fish that would cost a small fortune at a pet shop back home, sting rays, sharks, a moral eel and 2 bottle-nosed dolphins all backdroped by beautiful sun-soaked coral. Mom, who before this trip wasn’t excited about either sailing or snorkeling, can now be classified as an “enthusiast.” It was the perfect day for our last snorkeling trip in Belize.

We headed back to the mainland on Tuesday the 23rd and made two more tourist stops with mom. We went to the Belize Zoo and got some great pictures of the local wildlife and Old Belize, which is like the “Old West” of Belize, where you can purchase great wooden souvenirs. Finally, we headed back to the Radisson for dinner and mom’s final sleep in Belize. Dropping her off at the airport the next day was sad, until we realized we could say, “See you in three weeks!” It was a great way to end an unforgettable trip.