"First Impressions of Belize" Benque Viejo by WhirledPeas1009

The sweet smell of Belize greeted my husband and me. It reenergized us after our 12-hour travel day. It was warm, and we eagerly took off our Colorado winter coats and went through customs without any problems. On the other side, a driver from our Mopan River Resort stood with a sign with our names. We followed him to the van, where he gave us a tour of Belize as we drove the two hours to our resort.

The drive was beautiful; I loved looking at the people who all seemed to spend their time outdoors. My husband loved the jungle. Once we arrived in San Ignacio, the owner of the resort met us and led us down the pier to our boat. The boat took us to the Mopan River Resort, and we left our bags to be taken to our cabana, and we followed Ron (the owner) to the lodge.

It was marimba night, so two men played slow, wooden music that made us feel like we were truly on vacation. Victor, the resort bar tender, brought us each a banana velvet. I don't even like bananas, but I loved the banana velvet.

We sat down to a delicious dinner, and then we were told that the following morning, we'd be leaving to CheChem Hah cave to explore and see ancient Mayan pottery. Andrew and I were so excited, but also very tired. After dinner, we went to our cabana. I'd seen pictures of the cabanas, but I was still awestruck. They were unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and extremely cute. Thatched roofs and everything! From our beds, we could look out the big picture window at the Mopan River. Extraordinary.

Thankfully, the cabanas have air conditioning. We laid under our thatched roof in our air-conditioned cabana and fell asleep to the sounds of the frogs outside.