Adios Mexico – My Flight to Belize

I am glad my Tropic flight to Belize from Mexico was not till 2:00 pm, it gave me the morning to do a bit more last minute shopping in Playa while the Kumar’s were at their Yoga class. Of course I had to do a last pass by Mega and Walmart as I wanted to pick up a few presents for Paul. I got back to the hotel just in time to pack up before Carolyn and Surendra came to get me. We were running a bit behind schedule and all agreed to go with plan b and head straight for the airport instead of our plan a taking the long way there 🙂

When we arrived,  they came to check in with me and we went into a small Tropic Air room with a counter and a couple of chairs. There I paid $58 usd departure tax and the agent  gave me the customs forms I needed to fill out at both airports. He handed me the papers, explained them and laughed when I told him I wish I was declaring over 10,000 🙂 When we were done he said  I could go sit in the waiting area and gave me a time they would be collecting my Mexico customs forms.

As soon as we got out of the check in room Surendra and Carolyn were ready to extend our adventure and decided we could to a short drive. That was a first for me, leaving an airport after I had checked in. When they asked where I wanted to go between a quick drive along the hotel zone or or shopping, Starbucks was my answer 🙂 I  ended up in heaven to find there was a Sushi place at the strip mall. While the Kumar’s finished up in the smallest Walmart I have ever seen – smaller than Wings, I was ordering salmon rolls and edamame to go.

Kicking myself for not buying one of the two blankets I liked between the India trinket store and Walmart because I did not want to add to my carry on baggage. It is total blanket weather in San Pedro right now. daydreaming of hot sunny Playa Del Carmen, though I know it is likely on the cool side there too.

As  soon as we were in the air I enjoyed my edamame, a perfect after takeoff snack, I  had already devoured my sushi  rolls in the car. After seeing customs confiscate a guys johnny cake type snack with cheese on the way in I was not chancing salmon rolls on the way out. We had a great view flying home, lots of interesting things to look  at. Saw some king  size resort pools and it reminded me of flying as a kid and how I used to watch for swimming pools in peoples yards during take off and landings.

Travel tip: A pashmina shawl makes an excellent airline blanket and is great for dressing up an outfit while on vacation.

Soon the view turned very green and I knew we had crossed over from Mexico to Belize. As much as I  was glad to be home, I wish I could have stayed on longer. All our friends there said we need  to come back again sooner than Taste of Playa 2014 and I told them I would get tacoboy in on that idea.

On March March 25th, 2013, Tropic Air launched 6 weekly flights between Belize City’s Phillip Goldson International Airport (BZE) and Aeropuerto International de Cancun, Mexico (CUN). You can fly from Belize to Cancun any day except Saturdays- makes a great weekend getaway to leave on a Thursday or Friday and come back Monday or Tuesday. Cancun is Tropic’s first destination in Mexico and its third international route. Last year, Tropic added Belize City to San Pedro Sula, Honduras service to complement its existing daily Belize City to Flores, Guatemala route. This is in addition to its 11 domestic destinations within Belize.

After checking in and passing through the x-ray machine, I walked  into  the departure area and ran into Jim Blackburn who was heading stateside. As  we were chatting Jet  walked by  and Jim jokingly asked if I wanted my picture taken with Jet. Then this  guy  turned up asked where to get a drink, left his bag on the bench saying something along the lines of he did not care what happened to it and headed  off to Jet’s.

I asked Jim if he would watch my  bag so I  could use the bathroom and did a minor detour on the way to get a funny pic for him. Not only was Jet happy to comply  he directed the photo shoot and told me what  side of him to stand on and who  should take the picture. When I got back to Jim, I  told him the  picture below was for him and we both had a good laugh over it.

Note to first time travelers: Jet is quite a character and while most people I know love seeing him in action, his style is not for everyone.

When I got back to San Pedro, tacoboy was there happily waiting to see me waiting when I got  to the airport and agreed absence makes the heart grow fonder and it was a good idea a quick stop at the Baker for roast beef sandwiches on the way home 🙂

Note to Jim: I told  Paul about our airport encounters and he knew exactly  who the crazy character was in our story because he had just  stayed at Pedro’s.