#matachica

[mistakesandmiracless]

[jbenard001]

Someone really wise said once "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day of your life". I agree. All Copyrights 2017 © JBenard Photography. #belize #kakawsapphiredmc #jbenardphotography #ambergriscaye #matachica (at Matachica Resort - Belize, Central America)

[kumimonster]

2015 july 11 - san pedro

[richard8016]

Belize - Day 9

Travel day.  We had checked out the night before.  Matachica was serving breakfast for us a 0645.  At 0715 we were on the Matachica complimentary boat transfer to San Pedro.  After the boat, it was a short cart ride to San Pedro airport.  We caught a Tropic Air flight to Belize City airport, an approximate 18 minute ride.  At Belize City Airport, kumi and I parted.  She had an earlier flight.  My flight, though later and less direct, was shorter with a short layover.  It even arrived an hour earlier than my originally scheduled flight.

A few things to note about Gaïa River Lodge, Matachica, and Belize in general:

Though there are many languages spoken in Belize, English is the official language

1 US dollar equals 2 Belizean dollars

There are mosquitoes and other pests in Belize.  Bring repellent.  Don’t be stingy on using it

Gaïa welcomes children 10 years and older.  Matachica welcomes teens 14 years and older

You can drive to Gaïa, but I don’t recommend it.  Have them pick you up instead

If you have an issue with heights or going up stairs, you might want to avoid visiting some of the Mayan sites.

[richard8016]

Belize - Day 8

Do nothing day… For me… Kind of. Kumi went diving. I slept in for a bit, then went to the spa. I had scheduled a 90 minute therapeutic massage. Turns out I was a bit stiff. (Surprise, surprise.)

The massage finished 30 minutes before lunch started. Which gave me time to take a few pictures of the resort. Great day for it too. The sun was out. There was a little breeze. Good picture taking weather.

I finished taking resort pictures just in time for lunch. I had the Grouper sandwich. It was great. Of course, during my lunch, kumimonster had sent me an email saying she had finished diving, and was on her way back. She arrived when I was in the middle of eating my sandwich.  After insuring the lunch staff wouldn’t take the rest of my sandwich, I walked out to the pier to meet her.  I had left all of my gear to dry at the dive shop the previous day.  She was bringing it back.  (Matachica doesn’t really have many good places to dry dive gear.)  Once the gear was temporarily stowed, it was back to eating lunch.

After lunch, we began some serious “Do nothing” time.  I reclined in my favorite spot next to the beach.  I did a few web updates, but most of the time I slept and imbibed the occasional alcoholic beverage.  Kumi did pretty much the same thing.  She also commented on how we should go see the resort pool.  But then we thought about the physical effort involved in changing locations and decided against it.  (Besides, I saw it earlier.)  We did nothing for the rest of the day.  We saw some other guests and commented on how much more nothing needs to be done.

We did eventually get up for dinner (and kumi did eventually make it to the pool).  Dinner was good as ever.  There was also a wedding party going on inside the restaurant.  It didn’t really bother the guests because they were eating outside the restaurant.  Their music was good so it provided good entertainment.

[richard8016]

Belize - Day 7

More diving. Today we did 3 dives and 1 snorkel. We saw more another lionfish, a couple more nurse sharks, and a Moray eel with attitude. The eel chased our divemaster for a bit. Then it took a lionfish that another divemaster just caught. Those were the first 2 dives. We had lunch before the next dive and snorkel. We ate at a place close to the dive shop called Rendezvous. I had some Pork skewer thing with peanut sauce. (Very good). Kumi had Chicken wings. (Also very good) After an extended break, back to diving. The afternoon dive and snorkel were at Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley. This is a popular place for divers and snorkelers. The depth is about 28'. We saw a lot of wildlife during the dive. But the snorkel is where we saw the sharks and rays. The snorkeling spot is a location where the nurse sharks know they're going to be fed, so they swim up next to the boat. I jumped in the water and took a few pictures. Hopefully they will turn out well. We spent all day diving and snorkeling. By the time we returned to Matachica it was after 5. Long enough for us to shower and take a little rest before dinner. We weren't really that hungry at dinner. So I had an appetizer and kumi had pasta. We shared a rum cake. It was awesome. We were tempted to order another one, but we thought better of it.

[richard8016]

Belize - Day 6

Today kumi and I went diving. We went with White Sands. They picked us up from the Matachica pier and took us directly to the dive shop. The staff were great. Our divemaster and boat captain, Chino and Carlos, were awesome.

The dives were very good. The visibility was not the best, but it was good enough to see a lot of wildlife. Which included turtles, huge lobster, lionfish, (Which the divemaster immediately killed. Lionfish are a problem here.) and a nurse shark.

I did a 2 tank dive. kumimonster did a 4 tank dive. I was back at the resort much earlier than her. I showered, ate lunch, and got caught up on some web updates. (I was way behind.)

Kumi returned just before dinner. We ate at Matachica’s restaurant, Mambo. Dinner was good. We went to the bar, but didn’t stay long because kumi was slowly going into food coma….

[richard8016]

Belize - Day 5

Travel day. Today we transfer from Gaïa Riverlodge, to their sister resort in San Pedro, Matachica.

It’s about an hour ride from Gaïa to the Tropic Air airport at Maya Flats. I normally don’t say too much about airports. But I really liked this one. “Airport” is a bit of an exaggeration with this place. It’s probably a 30x40 foot building at the end of a landing strip. But it’s cute, clean and well maintained. It also has an outdoor deck that you could totally kick back and relax on. Our plane had mechanical problems so they sent another one. It was a 45 minute delay. No one seemed to mind. I didn’t even move from my chair on the deck.

The plane was one of those where they seat you by how much you weigh. (Some people weren’t clear on that concept.). We took off from Maya Flats. Did a quick pick up in Belmopan. (Smallest airport ever.). Then on to San Pedro.

The Matachica staff were waiting for us when we arrived. They quickly got our bags; loaded them on a golf cart (the apparent transportation of choice in San Pedro); then on to our boat. After an approximate 10 minute boat ride, we were at Matachica.

We were welcomed with a welcoming drink. (My favorite ritual.). Matachica does a slight twist the welcoming drink. When their staff meet you at the airport, they ask what drink do you want, then that is the drink waiting for you when you arrive. This caught me unprepared and I didn’t know what to choose. So when the staff guy said “Piña Colada” I said “Yes, I’ll have that.”. I NEVER order Piña Coladas. However, it was a very good Piña Colada.

kumimonster