The Pristine Resort
We arrived in the middle of a crazy rainstorm. Our puddle jumper was cancelled so we caught the “coastal highway bus” but the highway was a waterlogged dirt road. We were the only tourists and every time the bus lurched and I looked panicked, the locals would laugh and tell me it would be OK.

When we arrived in Dangriga and called the hotel, a shuttle was promptly dispatched to pick us up. They checked us in and could not have been more gracious or had more of a warm sense of humor about our journey. We later found out, of course, that had we called from Belize City when we learned the flight was cancelled, they would have sent a driver all the way there to get us. So our “Amazing Race” adventure was strictly self-inflicted!

The next morning we walked out to our porch to see the ocean right in front of us, pristine and inviting. The whole place was sparkling, and the thatched huts and the pier were charming. Each morning the staff combed the shoreline for seaweed and then cleaned the pools.

Our room was decorated with prints of tropical fish and Mayan art with colorful bedspreads, a sort of Carribbean chic. It was lobster season, so I pretty much ate lobster at every meal! Jamie had some lovely chicken and meat dishes too though.

Adventure ...
We went tubing through underground limestone caves and caverns and although I’m not convinced our underwater cameras will capture it properly, the memories will be indelible. The rapids and the dark caverns, with their surreal formations, were quite spectacular.

Our guide Cipriano was terrific, and he was also our guide for the trip to the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich and Cahal Pech. They were spectacular and, since it was the off-season, and pretty deserted, we were able to really explore on our own. Also wonderful was our half-day of snorkeling off the second largest barrier reef in the world. We saw crazy-colored fish and a stingray.

Of course we ran a lot too. We went down the road in both directions and up to the town of Hopkins. The locals there knew us and heckled freely. (“Hey, girl! If you hurry you can catch ’im!”) I took Jamie on a training run after our run together, biking beside him and playing drill sergeant. “Faster, slowpoke!”

New Friends ...
We met some wonderful people. Nearly everyone was a honeymooner and we shared a wedding date with several couples. Because of the day trips and the pool bar, we really got to know them. Dylan and Amber from Colorado were in our human train as we tubed down the river. Elizabeth and Mark from Chicago shared the fresh-picked mangos they had picked up in Hopkins, and we made friends with Liz and Frank, also from Chicago. Melissa and Bill from Colorado have already emailed us.

It was so much fun getting to know them all. The staff too made quite an impression, from Reinard our waiter (and sometimes photographer), to Mary Ann at the front desk, all were so very welcoming, friendly, and kind.

... and Romance
Aside from the bus ride down, which was both harrowing and hilarious, we got a kick out of watching me struggle to sign my new name on the check at dinner each night.

I remember holding hands as we snorkeled, climbing the ruins, reading side by side in our hammocks, working our way down the cocktail menu at the pool bar, watching the Garifuna dancers who came to dance for us at the resort our last night there, and swapping wedding stories with the other honeymooners.

There were many romantic moments! I can still picture us walking barefoot in the sand, hand-in-hand under the stars, enjoying our couples massage in our room, having dinner for two alone on the beach as the sun set one night.

I also can see us toasting our first and last nights by naming our favorite memories from the wedding and then from our honeymoon, retelling each other the vows we had written and spoken at the wedding as we sat on the porch in the early morning, ordering a cocktail “for my husband,” and also snuggling up at night in Belize, on the honeymoon our story had won for us from Manhattan Bride!