celebrated heartily in the airport lounge with wicked
tropical drinks and the Belizean beer of choice, Belikin.
Before long we were the only passengers on a small
plane for the fifteen minute hop to San Pedro Island.
From the very small airport, we walked to a nearby
dock where a local, Bobby, shuttled us by boat to our
destination, Belizean Cove Estates. Once we arrived on
the dock we were warmly greeted with a rum punch
by Cove staff. Our accommodations consisted of two
adjourning three-room villas, which were absolutely
elegant. Each villa had a living room, dining room,
kitchen, three bedrooms with their own bathrooms
and outside space with access to the pool.
Before long we were treated to a welcome dinner
prepared by a local chef, Delisa, from Chefs for Hire.
Appetizers of fresh grouper fish fingers with a mango
sauce and a fantastic chicken with a pineapple salsa
and on and on. What a great start! Tired from the long
travel day, we retired for the evening.
Sunday, our first full day, the ladies enjoyed massages
out on the pier while us guys headed out with Ron
to look at the property he had purchased some thirty
years ago. Located on the far south end of the island,
it was beautiful piece of property but the area was very
remote! Did I mention that on San Pedro Island there
are very few cars and where there are roads, they are
very narrow? Nearly everyone gets around in golf carts.
The road to Ron’s property was paved through the town
of San Pedro but turned into a really rough dirt road the
rest of the way. It took a good hour to go a few miles in
our carts. His property is now for sale.
On our way back, we stopped at a palapa bar right
on the water for lunch—killer good shrimp and fish
dishes.
That afternoon, back at the villas, we indulged
in a crazy game of water football—what happens in
Belize stays in Belize! That evening we motored to a
rooftop restaurant, Rain. Dinner at Rain was wonder-
ful. Officially we were celebrating Mike and Debbi’s
anniversary with a sunset meal. The seafood there was
over the top delicious. The area is known for its spiny
Caribbean lobster and we consumed more than a few of
them along with some marvelous fresh fish options.
The next day most of us went on a boat tour of the
island with Bobby. We saw the sights from an ocean
going perspective and also toured the west lagoon
where we were introduced to some giant iguanas.
These huge creatures are in an unofficial sanctuary
where one of the locals provides them with plenty of
food. In the early afternoon, these giants were just
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018
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