Day One-Let the adventure begin!

We flew into Miami a day early in order to make connections with the noon flight to Belize City on the Fifth. Miami Int. was in it's usual state of organized chaos but as soon as we boarded the A.A. flight for Central America the transformation was palpable. The passengers were all relaxed and happy, the crew was friendly and helpful, the seats had more leg room, we even had an inflight snack--it was magical!! The flight was short but we missed our connecting flight on Tropic Air. Not a problem, Mayan Air had room for us on the next flight 30 minutes later. The plane was a little 5 passenger job that skimmed over the ocean to a small metro airstrip made out of a macadam-type material and covered with gravel and a few white egrets. The pilot picked up a load of fresh fruit then jump-started the plane with an old battery his buddy dragged out on a wagon and we were off again. We got to sit up with the pilot and it was pretty exciting in the cockpit! We were met in Dangriga by two Hamanasi guides who gave a tour of the countryside on our drive to Hamanasi.

We were greeted by Pauline, the Garifuna ''Jill of all Trades.'' She sat us down and ordered a late lunch for us while acquainting us with the resort. We had a beautiful ocean front room with a porch all furnished in wonderful mahagony furniture from the Belize rain forest. We chose the 6:30 dinnr seating and enjoyed a fantastic epicurean meal. The menu had 5 or 6 entrees from which to choose and the selections changed every night-this place is awesome!