You better Belize It

The first question most people ask is "where is Belize?".  So for clarity, Belize is a country located on the northeastern coast of Central America.  Bordered by Mexico in the north, Guatemala in the south and the Caribbean sea in the east, its the only country in the region where English is the official language.  Its a small country of about 22,800 square kilometres and a total population of 320 thousand plus people.  But it is a beautiful, lush country that sits right on one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world.

So with a pretty hectic and stressful month behind me, I decided to escape the hustle and bustle of the Houston front yard for some peace and quiet in Belize's backyard.  The first thing I noticed was how amazingly friendly and welcoming the Belizians are.  They love their country and are very proud to welcome you into it.  Everyone from the kids on the street, to the golf buggy about to run you over, is happy and smiling.  That's the other thing - no cars on Ambergris Caye where I escaped to.  Only golf buggies and push bikes.  So the air is clear, the sky blue and the ocean like bath water!!  And the water and beach was what I was really looking for.

The Belize Barrier Reef, as its known, is about 300km long (part of a much bigger 900km reef system making it second to the GBR in Queensland).  The reef is Belize's top tourist destination and has some brilliant snorkeling and diving.  Apparently, old Charlie Darwin described it as the "most remarkable reef in the West Indies" in 1842 and he wasn't wrong.

San Pedro, the main town on Ambergris Caye, is tiny and reminded me a little of Thailand.  It had some great little restaurants and bars - some of which are built out over the water, and serve not only great  Rum Punch but also more lobster that this gal could ever eat!  So that was a huge bonus.

But I guess the main attraction for me was its history.  Belize was (and still is) part of the Maya civilization which emerged three millennium ago on the Yucatan Peninsula.  This fabulous culture still persists in the area despite 500 years of European settlement and domination.  Locals will still tell you that they are Mayan and you can see it in many aspects of life from the architecture, to their paintings and sculptures and in the jewellery designs.

Having been to a couple of other Caribbean countries, Belize has a much slower pace and none of the big touristy glitz and glamour that you might find in say Grand Cayman.

Its old world and charming and is genuinely a place where "foot wear is not required"!!

A Brush with the HPD

Firstly, my apologies for my complete absence from the waves.  I have been without comms now for a few weeks thanks to some slick thieves who enjoyed a free reign in my home for a few hours.  Which brings me to this week's blog - my brush with the great people of the Houston Police Department.

Let me set the scene.

I started my day in a great mood as I had some pretty cool things on my morning's agenda followed by an appointment at the collision centre to get an estimate on the damage to my car door as a consequence of a brush with a pole (another story).  So following the usual 'toilette' process, off I went on my merry way and had a fabulous morning.  I was feeling on top of the world and buzzing when I then headed off to the collision centre.  Of course, Houston's freeways being what they are, part way en route, a semi-trailer sent a rock my way which made very quick work on my windscreen.  The cracks were pretty significant but the potholes and bumps on the freeway (yep the freeway) just made those little suckers grow exponentially such that I knew I would have to detour to an emergency windscreen repair joint or lose the whole thing.  So thanks to my trusty Garmin, I located the nearest place.  Driving in, I kind of got the distinct feeling that I really shouldn't have been in that particular suburb.  I felt like I had driven onto a movie set for the Gangs of LA or something.  Jacked up cars pumping and grinding down the street and pulling in beside me.  Gang members jumping out and having a heated conversation outside my car door.  All pretty disconcerting really.  Meanwhile, the windscreen dude calmly tells me "stay in the car, ma'am".  I of course did exactly as told.

With repaired windscreen sorted, I got the hell out of Dodge!  And then headed off to the collision repair centre.  All went well there, but by now I was about 3 hours overdue to be home.  A friend tells me it was the universe's way of making sure I wasn't home.  When I pulled into the garage and walked into our foyer - I knew something wasn't right.  My Sherlock like detective skills were ably assisted by the fact that there was broken glass everywhere and blood.  Needless to say, I freaked and immediately got out of the house and made my first 911 call.  I then called my lovely boy who came to the rescue.

So that brings me to the HPD.  Two officers initially arrived and with guns raised and instructions to "stay clear", they proceeded to search the house and ensure that we were safe to enter.  Amongst the things stolen was all my jewellery, all my beautiful cameras and associated equipment, my beloved laptop, iPod and iPads x 2.  Now I don't normally engage in advertising something, but the good ole' "Find My Phone" app came to the rescue in respect of one Ipad.   C's phone was showing that the iPad was on the move and in the neighboring back yard.  So before you could say alacasam, there were 4 squad cars, multiple police officers with guns out and a firetruck in the street.  It was all action and very dramatic.  They searched all the neighboring yards for people and our property.  No luck on finding the perpetrators but they did find one iPad.

Anyway, several hours later, with black fingerprinting dust on everything and blood samples taken, we were finally left alone to survey the damage.  Once the adrenalin lowered, the heartbreak set in as we discovered not only some very valuable jewellery was amongst the haul, but also our most treasured and sentimental and heirloom pieces were gone too.

The whole thing was a horrid experience, but given we live in Texas where everyone is armed, all I can say is thank you to the semi who threw up that stone and delayed my home time so that I wasn't there when our nasty friends arrived.  I don't want to even contemplate what might have happened to me home alone.

So with the experience behind us now and a new collection of stuff to shop for, I have to acknowledge the response and professionalism of the HPD.  They were excellent and treated us with sensitivity and priority!!  I don't however want to engage their services again....if possible.