Made it!!

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After arriving at the Belize City airport, I pretty much had the small plane pegged that we would be riding to finish our trip to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. A small Tropic Air 10 seater Cessna piloted by one, co-piloted by none (although there was a seat) was to be the smallest aircraft I have ever flown on thus-far in my life. Hmmm... but you know what, it was fun! Matt was a little nervous, but as usual he was seated in the rumble seat at the back (with a mom and daughter from St. Albert of all places) who happily took  a picture of him smiling ear -to- ear as the plane flew over the ocean flats and small islands that occupy the coast near Belize city.

After approximately 5 minutes in the air we arrived at our first stop, Caye Caulker. We landed on a small airstrip (that pretty much the entire width of the small Caye) and pulled up next to a small wooden shack-like airport which Matt said looked just like a gift shop at the flea market. I must say, from the air it didn't look like there was too much there. My friend Cynthia spent time there with her family a few years back and she actually preferred Caye Caulker over Ambergris because of it's laid-back local feel.

We then took off again and headed towards San Pedro. Since San Pedro is a little larger than Caye Caulker, the airport looked more like a typical one with a ticket counter and an air conditioned waiting area. It looked fairly new.

After retrieving our luggage we met up with Ricardo from El Pescador who took us to the pier a couple blocks away. He then loaded us and our luggage onto his boat (15 ft. approx). and we had a fairly dry ride a couple of miles north along the shore past San Pedro. Upon arriving at the resort Steve was there to greet us, escort us to our villa and provide us with a brief orientation of the resort and our villa. El Pescador is a family-owned and run fishing resort and Steve is the family patriarch who has retired from being head-honcho of all the Bloomingdales stores in New York. His wife Chris manages the office and their daughter, son-in-law and grandchilden live there as well.

Our accommodation is a well-appointed one bedroom villa which is one of a group of four villas directy situated on the beach, each one looking straight at the ocean. The covered balcony is large with a nice seating area and a great hammock to relax in. We have a full kitchen, spacious living and dining area, large bathroom with double sinks, and large bedroom with a king-size bed made from two twins.

The entire resort consists of the main lodge, and four villas to each side of the it (8 villas all together).The main lodge was constructed 35 years ago by mennonites who had to float all the lumber into shore from the reef several hundred yards out since the reef prevented large boats from reaching shore. The villas were constructed by Steve's son 6 years ago. Each two-storey villa features living, dining, kitchen, bathroom and one bedroom on the second storey. The first floor consists of two more lock-off bedrooms which walk out onto their own patio. Each group of four villas has their own pool. There is also a pool in front of the main lodge. Steve's son has since passed, but his legacy will be forever left in the work he did at this lovely resort.

After settling in, Steve and Chris hosted all of the new guests for dinner consisting of  cream of carrot soup, lobster, breaded chicken, mashed potatos, steamed vegetables and home made key lime pie for desert. This was accompanied with your choice of red or white wine. Oh yes, all the baking is home-made as well. The dinner rolls were freshly made and delicious! Everything here is mostly home-cooked which I prefer to the mass production food served in large buffets you see at larger resorts. The family presence here is warmly felt, and that is tasted in the food which they lovingly serve their guests.

Speaking of guests, we met three other couples at dinner which also arrived today as well. Michael and Tonda from Oklahoma, Charlie and Madeline from Atlanta and another couple from Ottawa of which right now I can't remember their name. Michael, Tonda, Charlie and Madeline are all avid outdoorspeople and love to fish. During dinner we spoke about everything from fishing experiences to healthcare. It was interesting to talk to them about their perspective on healthcare. Each couple had the impression that the Canadian government-run health care system was very flawed and was being portrayed in the media as being very insufficient resulting in many Canadians travelling south of the border for much needed urgent surgery. I believe there are some cases in which this happens, but for the most part I feel quite secure as a Canadian as far as being taken care of when I need to be in the health dept. Anyways, we sure enjoyed each other's company during dinner. We felt right at home!

(More photos to come. Bandwitdth here at the resort is low, so I am unable to upload any photos at this time.)