Travel Tuesday: Belize Part 1, getting there

We survived! The wedding, I mean. Everything went off without a hitch (mostly) and we blasted off on our honeymoon to Belize. It was incredible. It would take FOREVER to blog about the entire trip in one entry, so I'm committed to writing about it every Tuesday until we've reached the end. And as the title of this post suggests, maybe I'll write about travel every Tuesday. It's a hope, not a promise.

Anyway!

Step 1: Get married

mission accomplished

Step 2: Get home at midnight. Wake up at 3 am...board an airplane

I'm telling you. we were TIRED!

and so happy. It was worth it!

Texas + Gulf of Mexico. My first time flying over water!

We landed at 2:55 Belize time at the tiniest airport I've ever seen in my life.

this photo does not really show how tiny the airport was. just trust me on that one

We proceeded through immigration, baggage claim, and customs, all of which were housed in the same room. And then we headed outside to wait for our ride to Hidden Valley Inn.

tired but excited!

behind this smile, my thoughts are: omg here we are in a foreign country where at least they speak English waiting for a stranger to pick us up and trust that he will take us to our hotel. this is a little scary but I'm embracing it as adventure!

The taxi drivers assured us that our van would be arriving soon. And it did. Rick picked us up, apologized for being a few minutes late, and was an excellent driver and tour guide as we traversed the bumpy Belizeian roads. He pointed out lots of interesting facts as we traveled through the countryside

view from the van. no clue what river that is.

Belize has 4 paved highways. This is one of them.

Can you make out the "sleeping giant"?

for those who can't afford a car (mainly its upkeep), there are horses. They also double as lawn mowers.

The last few miles of the trip took just as long as the first many miles...due to the unpaved roads. These drivers are incredible.

Did you note how GREEN everything is?! The countryside is beautiful!! Belize is beautiful! We knew already that we were going to love this place.

By the way, this is where we're headed. See Belize City on the map? That's where our plane landed. We drove through Belmopan (the capital) and then turned off the highway onto that dirt road. Hidden Valley Inn is the little red square on the map. We pretty much drove from one side of the country to the other. It took about 2 1/2 hours. And I'm telling you, the dirt part took just as long as the paved part!

After a looooong day of traveling (3 hours of sleep + 6 hours of flying with one layover + 2 1/2 hours of driving through a foreign and beautiful country) we made it to our first destination! Hidden Valley Inn, Mountain Pine Ridge, Cayo District. Let me tell you, this place is incredible. I included a link above to their website, and here are some of our pics from the inn.

the type of van we drove in

front of the inn

chillin in the lobby

back of the main building. on the right is the dining area, middle is the lobby, left is the kitchen

path to cottages

cottages

our cottage!

lucky number 12

comfy bed

cozy room

typical bathroom

 Here's some of the flora we saw around the Inn:

And that, my friends, concludes our first day of being in Belize! It was a long journey (I should have taken a picture of my swollen ankles!!), but so worth it.

More to come!

xoxo
Meg