BELIZE 2026: FLIGHT, A SPLENDIFEROUS HOTEL, CAYE CAULKER, AND MAL DE MER

 March 15, 2026

Spring break was coming up for me and we didn't have a trip planned. We decided rather last minute to take a trip to Guatemala, a country I've wanted to visit ever since I went to Mexico on a summer study abroad program in college. Bob connected with a tour company called Kimkim to work out the details. We decided to start in Belize as an entry point closer to Tikal, the place I was most interested in visiting.  

We left for LAX at 5:15 AM on March 15 and flew 4 hours and 40 minutes to Belize City, a relatively short flight for us. Belize City is the capital and largest city in Belize.

We were picked up at the airport by a driver who took us to the Golden Bay Hotel, a 30 minute drive. The hotel employee checking us in said, "Oh, looks like you got an upgrade."

That was an understatement.

Our very large door (on the right below) should have given us a clue as to what was inside, but we only noticed that later.

INDONESIA: KOMODO NATIONAL PARK, SNORKELING

 July 12, 2023

I forgot to include one more part of our Komodo National Park experience--snorkeling. I don't know how I could have forgotten to include this because it was BY FAR the best snorkeling we have experienced--much better than the Caribbean or Hawaii and better even than the Galapagos Islands, and by a lot. 

Three things made it better:

1. We were in a very remote location and besides the three of us (our guide Vincent, Bob, and I), there were only one or two other people in the large bay.

2. The water was crystal clear--very little motion, no bubbles, no pollution. It was as if there was no water at all. Extraordinary.

3. The sea shelf was shallow, and we were usually only about 3-4 feet above the floor. We didn't have to swim far to get to the "good stuff." Less than 30 seconds after we got in the water, we were in underwater paradise.

4. The diversity of sea life was unbelievable. There was a huge variety of colorful coral formations, gently waving plants, and darting fish of every brilliant color, pattern, size, and shape. If it had been possible to gasp or swoon underwater, I would have.

Actually, I do know why I forgot about it. Bob and I neglected to bring an underwater camera, so I didn't have any photos of the experience in my files.  No worries, I just WhatsApp-ed our incredible guide Vincent, and within 30 minutes I had a slew of HIS photos. He had a GoPro underwater camera and took some amazing pictures.

I know I have sung his praises before, but I'll just say again that if you go to Komodo National Park, this man should be your guide. He was one of the best guides we've ever had. 

His photos and videos below are a sampling of the underwater cinema we enjoyed.

At one point, Bob pointed out what looked like a snake. Vincent later identified it as a caterpillar snake. 

All in all, I don't think I have ever seen anything as beautiful, surreal, or magical as that underwater world off the island of Komodo. This was one of my favorite days of the trip.

Thanks, Vincent, not just for the pictures and videos, but for a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Here is how to contact him on WhatsApp: Vincent Komodo Paradise: +62 823-4297-4078

He's also on Instagram:

ECUADOR, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: SANTIAGO ISLAND, Part 2

 March 25, 2022 - Afternoon

We had one final snorkeling adventure planned on the afternoon of our last full day in the Galapagos Islands off Espumilla Beach on Santiago Island. This last snorkeling trip was, in my opinion, the best of the many snorkeling opportunities we had. I wish we'd had a better underwater camera, but these posters at least illustrate the wide variety of fish in the Galapagos ocean.

ECUADOR, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: ISABELA ISLAND - URBINA BAY

 Wednesday, March 23, 2022, Morning

Every night after dinner, the crew would put the next day's itinerary on a giant TV screen so we could plan clothing, etc. Our second day would include two landings: one wet and one dry.

When we woke up the next morning, we had this view from our cabin window. 

After breakfast, we motored to Urbina Bay on Isabela Island. Bob took this photo of the Bay later in the day:

Our morning excursion required us to get out of the panga in knee-deep water (a "wet" landing).  The coarse volcanic sand of the beach wasn't very hospitable, and neither was the skull. Was it a warning of some kind? It was also already quite hot and very humid.  

U. S. VIRGIN ISLANDS: ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN

Our first port after one night on our cruise ship was the island of St. Thomas. We docked a couple of miles from Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands. St. Thomas is one of the territory's four principal islands.

Where Puerto Rico's capital city San Juan was bathed in sherbet-y hues, the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands was splashed with bold, bright primary colors--crayon colors.

A Dutch-style windmill is not the first thing that I expected to see on St. Thomas, but since coming home I have learned that the Danes who were the original conquerors of St. Thomas established sugar cane plantations here in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The fields were worked by convicts and slaves, and windmills were built to press the sugar from the harvested stalks. Ruins of 150 windmills are strewn about the Virgin Islands, with just four on St. Thomas. This one at the port is a reproduction.

Of all our ports, this was the only one where we had booked a cruise ship excursion, and since we had to wait around a bit for our departure time, we strolled through some of the open shops. I wish we had bought a "Don't Mess with Bob" t-shirt: