My last Facebook status update before I boarded my plane I said that I was disconnecting from digital media to relax before another big month in November. I did however break down and check my Facebook account and email only for minutes since I was teaching it in Belize.
I was out of the country for an entire week visiting my friend Macarena Rose with Rainforest Realty. She is an author of Real Estate Blog International and overall… an AWESOME person. She picked me up from the airport and we went straight to the water taxi on the ocean to visit San Pedro Island, Belize. The round trip ticket was only $15 US and a 1.75 hour boat ride. When we arrived we checked in the Spindrift Hotel and rented a golf cart, the local transportation around town instead of taking cabs.
The following day I went snorkeling for the very first time. It was unBELIZEable! Even though I had never been before I was exposed to a whole new world underwater.
Check out the video of us snorkeling and swimming with the sharks, a something I have on my bucket list.
The next day I went snorkeling again but this time by myself only for an hour. We then headed for San Ignacio which borders on the western side of the country, also where Macarena lives.
She introduced me to all of her friends, agents in her office, and also her two dogs. Every night I felt like I was home. Everyone was super cool, spoke English, and was always willing to help.
The next day I spoke to her agents and non-for profit groups about social media and internet marketing. This was a rare opportunity for them since many people do not visit from abroad to share what works.
I did manage to squeeze in a little work and taught my 3 hour course Power Prospecting and Renewing Referrals in Belize.
Here is the PowerPoint
On Friday I visited the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Tour which consists of a long bus ride, hiking through the rain forest, and spelunking through the caves like the Mayans did several centuries before. Mayawalk Tours was the company which specializes in giving the exotic tours in Belize and which I highly recommend. Martin was my guide for both days and was very patient with my obsessive compulsive picture and video taking.
On Saturday I went cave tubing with Mayawalk Tours. Cave tubing is exactly how it sounds. We took a long bus ride to the entry point, hiked for about an hour through the woods, and then jumped on the inner tube and paddled through the caves. The scenery was unBELIZEable.
Later that Macarena and her friends took me to a Halloween party at the Mystic River Resort. I went as the 21st century Zoro. I wore a red long sleeve shirt, a black mask, one long sword, two small daggers, one knife, and a rubber dart gun. Zoro has to pack some heat in the woods in order to survive right?
Overall, I loved Belize and would return in a heartbeat. Thanks to all my new friends who showed me around, help me feel comfortable, and being part of a most memorable trip.
My biggest thanks to my friend Macarena. She is a cool, sincere, and ethical business woman. I learned a lot from her on my trip, not just about Belize, but about life itself. It is no wonder she has so many special friends and is a successful real estate business owner.
I published all my photos from the Belize trip to Flickr. I managed to pare down 400 pictures to about 165 for you to see what the country is like, some of the activities, and hopefully make it one of your future vacation trips.
Since I didn’t have internet or access to my iPhone like I usually do I had many humorous Facebook status updates that I have saved for this blog post:
- This Mayan omelet is so good I hope it doesn’t give me the ruins.
- Another tourist asked me, “Do you ever take a normal picture?”
- I just tickled a shark.
- I took a picture of me drinking a Red Stripe on a golf cart right outside the police department. This is too cool.
- I just told a Belizean woman “El dia es muy guapa”, or in other words, “The day is very sexy”. I need to brush up on my Spanish a little more.
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