A SAMPLE ITINERARY FOR MY VISITING FRIEND

It took a while, but we have a visitor that came to see my island. Yay!

You haven’t heard from me in a while because we’ve been out and about quite a bit. Before my friend arrived, I sat down to come up with activities that I thought she would enjoy. This is a sampling of the many things you can see and do here.

DAY 1:

Pick up at airport at 1:45pm. Sometimes it is hard to predict what time a person will arrive because the airline from the mainland  just fills up planes in the order that people check in. Just because you book a 1:40 flight, doesn’t mean you will wait that long to board. Most of the time, you can count on arriving 30 minutes earlier than you thought.

The Runway Bar is a great place to wait for arriving planes.

For dinner, pick a tasty place on the water to get into the island groove. I personally like Wild Mangos because the menu offers a good variety and the food is excellent.

DAY 2:

Start with yoga at Akbol. Luckily, it is only a five minute walk from our condo. They also serve delicious food if you are hungry.

Beautiful view and breeze!

After yoga, we can join in the poker run with the walkaholics and walkettes, or just hang out at the pool. A poker run consists of walking to four bars and collecting a card at each. When you arrive at the final bar, you throw out some of your cards and use cards from a flop. The best hand wins the pot of money collected as the entry fee from each person.

If we opt for a pool day, eating poolside is a very good option for a late lunch and early dinner!

DAY 3:

Take a catamaran trip that stops at Hol Chan Marine Reserve to snorkel and visits the sister Island of Caye Caulker. Sightings of manatees and dolphins are definitely added bonuses.

Calm water is the cherry on top for a sailing day.

Get home, shower, and head to the Truck Stop for trivia night. There are usually ten to sixteen teams fighting for the top prize (cold hard cash).

Every Thursday night is trivia night at Truck Stop.

DAY 4:

Everyone should spend at least one day of vacation on the mainland of Belize. Our favorite trip starts on a boat headed to Lamanai, one of the Mayan ruins. I find the Mayan culture and history to be fascinating.

One of the excavated temples at Lamanai.

DAY 5:

Attend aerial yoga at the newly opened Science and Soul Wellness Center at Mahagony Bay Village. During slow season, the class sizes are very small and personalized.

Photo credit – Science and Soul Wellness Facebook page.

After yoga, go to the Truck Stop’s famous Farmers Market. There you can find wine, bread, sweets, veggies, and other healthy treats.

Finish the evening with dinner at the Palapa Bar to watch the holiday boat parade. Some years are better than others due to the number of participants. The entire town gets excited to watch the boats and the shoreline is filled with people and golf carts.

Picture from a previous year’s boat parade.

DAY 6:

Since this is the last full day, it is mandatory to eat breakfast at Estel’s. Everyone needs to taste the best fry jacks on the island.

Fry jacks are made from pieces of dough.

The afternoon should be spent soaking up some sunshine near a pool. Especially if you are heading back to freezing weather. Our condo complex likes to throw a Sunday Barbecue right beside the pool bar.

The pool at our first condo in 2013.

Many other bars and resorts offer their unique versions of Sunday Funday for those who like to drink and socialize.

DAY 7:

Time to head to the airport for the flight home. I call this the sad goodbye day. If time permits, we can drop off luggage and walk across the street to Bluewater Grill for breakfast.

Stay tuned to hear about our adventures with Barbara……