Category: Personal Travels

5 Days in Central America Recap

My apologies (again) for a recap taking me six weeks to finish.

Life is busy. I began a Patreon. I traveled to Miami. I have to maintain my good looks. You know, BUSY.

But I still got it done.

Here is a recap of my solo trip to San Salvador, El Salvador and Managua, Nicaragua that I came home perfectly safe from – even though so many of you said I would get kidnapped. Ha. Take that!

If you want to know how much it all cost, click here.

Wednesday, June 26th

Today I had a direct flight! Yay, for once, no dealing with layovers because I am a cheap bitch. Go me.

It was only five hours from Toronto to San Salvador, El Salvador. The process to enter went pretty fast and I paid the $12.00 USD entry fee. As I went to exit the airport a bat flew at my head and the power went off in the whole place. Dark airport. Bats. No thank you. Luckily my Uber came super fast to escape these shenanigans. FYI – central San Salvador is like 50km from the airport, it only cost $17.00 USD for the trip, which is awesome, but you should know it’s quite the distance. Overall the Ubers in San Salvador were quick, clean and well priced. Never had to wait long or pay much to get around.

Because I landed at 8pm, I didn’t really get to see much during the drive to the center. I eventually arrived at my AirBnB, which was in a gated area. Got in pretty easily and the host was talking to me on WhatsApp the whole trip. Pin pad entry, simple.

The AirBnB itself was very basic, but perfect for a solo traveler. Bed, closet, little kitchen area and a bathroom. I didn’t intend on spending much time in here anyways, but as you will see, I was wrong. If I knew the weather would mess up being outdoors and I would cancel a whole day trip from my plans, I may have opted for something a little more comfortable. Shit happens.

I would still recommend the AirBnB if you want simple and affordable + great location. If you are interested in it, click here.

I should have eaten before I left the airport. This was a big mistake I made. There are many options for food in San Salvador’s airport, but I figured I’d just order something when I got to the AirBnB. Which is usually fine right? Well it was now pouring rain and to grab the actual food I have to walk to the entry gate. Not so bright.

I ordered some pupusas on UberEats from a place named Rustica Pupuseria. Waited for a while and then yes, walked in the rain to go grab it from the delivery person.

The pupusas were good, but the SHRIMP PUPUSA specifically??? You must get that. Went to sleep finally with a full tummy.

Thursday, June 27th

I woke up too damn early today. The one complaint I have about the AirBnB I stayed in was that there were no blinds on the windows. I like to sleep in total darkness (even if it’s 2pm).

Took an Uber over to Graciela for breakfast.

This place is so pretty and so damn busy as well. I went for the passion fruit and orange smoothie, some egg crepe thing and the beignets.

The egg crepe thing was good, so were the beignets. But. But. As I would learn throughout this trip – you must have every single fruit drink available in El Salvador. I could have easily drank six of these passion fruit and orange smoothies. It was so good, that I did end up having two of them. Major brain freeze, but no regrets. Felt like a whole new person after them.

After breakfast I decided to go to a spa for some pampering and my reservation was at Green Spa for 11am. They had this amazing package deal for $55.00 USD; hot tea, aromatherapy, collagen mask, head massage and one hour body massage. YES PLEASE.

I enjoyed my massage very much and do you see the view from the massage chair? Pool overlooking San Salvador. Totally needed this.

Next I took an Uber over to Cuscatlan Park. Wanted to at least do some walking around before it began raining again. It was a nice little walk, but the heat became really intense so I ended up taking an Uber home and took a nap.

When I woke up from my little nap, it was pouring rain again. Yes of course.

I went to Señor Gaucho for some dinner.

The pineapple lemonade was good, the sample platter was OK tasting (it looked better in photos) and the dulce de leche sampler at end was delicious. Wouldn’t really recommend here, not my fave.

I walked over to Presidente Plaza, because I had read about this donut place inside of it, however, once I got there it looked like the place had been closed for weeks. Fail. Took an Uber back to the AirBnB.

Friday, June 28th

Today I woke up late, because I was up with the thunderstorms watching Law and order SVU episodes on my phone. Real adulting on vacation.

When I began planning this trip, I was actually supposed to be heading to Guatemala this day. The tour operator never got back to my messages so I ended up cancelling it a couple of weeks before the trip. This is why I ended up on all these other random side missions and restaurants in San Salvador. Had to change everything around.

For breakfast today, I was going to this place I saw on TikTok named Yorkino’s.

Aside from all the fruit juices you must have in El Salvador, DO NOT MISS COMING HERE FOR THE DULCE DE LECHE PANCAKES. Oh. My. Goodness.

The restaurant is decorated in a bunch of American stuff, very New York, hence the name. I ordered some eggs, bacon and home fries. BUT. On the side I ordered these dulce de leche pancakes and they were by far, the best pancakes I have ever ever ever tasted. You have to come eat these damn pancakes. Holy moly. The joy you and your tummy will feel after is indescribable.

Following those heavenly pancakes, yep, went to another spa.

I know San Salvador and the area have a lot to do – there is the colourful slide, the bicycle tightrope and also the nice beaches. However, I can’t risk my back problems on that slide, I don’t know how to ride a bike and taking 40-50min Ubers to a beach when it’s pouring rain constantly? No thank you.

Again, with the non-existing day trip to Guatemala and these other things not being an option because of the rain, I had to choose other adventures, like, spas.

Todays adventure took me to Sento Luxury Spa. This place is fancy pants and everyone I met in here was a foreigner. I opted for the 80-minute massage, because I definitely can’t afford those in Toronto.

I liked this massage very much, felt relaxed after. Ended up hanging out around the spa for a bit after and using their sauna, jacuzzi and having a little drinky drink by the pool, before it began raining again.

Went back to my AirBnB for some more napping, since doing anything outside was out of the question with the showers.

Eventually, I was hungry again, because all I do is eat on vacation. Went over to La Pampa for dinner.

For my starter I had some mussels with crackers and for my main I had some fish and shrimp. Make sure you eat lots of this tasty green sauce they put on the table. I dipped everything in it!

One of my favourite desserts on the planet is a nice tres leches cake. Do not order the one from here. You know when you catch Covid and can’t taste anything? That is what my experience with this tres leches cake was. I could feel that I was putting food in my mouth obviously, but it has ZERO taste. Very disappointing.

Saturday, June 29th

Today’s breakfast choice was a place named Delikat.

If you like the whole * aesthetic * thing in a brunch place, this is for you. Place is super cute.

They have these big bottles of all kinds of juice and mixes you can get, I got the ginger/lime/basil one and it was so refreshing. It’s like I knew I’d be drinking alcohol the next day and my stomach was being prepared. With the drink I also got this huge omelet meal. Be hungry when you come here.

You must indulge in their desserts as well. I literally couldn’t decide because of the insane menu of choices so I went for this chocolate one and a passion fruit one. Both were great.

I took an Uber over to the central part of San Salvador, I guess more of their downtown. I walked around for a bit. It was pretty busy around the big city sign and this massive library as well.

Would have enjoyed walking around for longer, but of course, it began raining again.

Once I took ANOTHER nap, I got up to head over to Chatos San Tecla because Canada vs Chile was about to play for Copa.

Unfortunately for me, Argentina was playing at the exact same time, so the bar would absolutely not put on the Canada game for me. Even without Messi playing? I was so annoyed.

Luckily, I liked this bar because it had everything for under like $3.00 USD per item. So clutch. I wanted to be weird so I got some cheese fries and ceviche for my first order. For my second order I got more cheese fries and some meat sides. It was pretty good bar food. Also, got some nice cocktails while there (they were also super cheap).

Made some friends from Tallahassee and we had shots. According to my ESPN app, Canada ended up winning their game. Great night overall for my last night in San Salvador.

Sunday, June 30th

Early morning today for my flight to Managua, Nicaragua.

I think the flight is only 55 minutes so it really was nothing.

When you arrive you pay $10.00 USD for an entry card and that’s that. It was a very simple entry into the country. I booked a hotel directly across the street from the hotel, and I mean, DIRECLY. Like I walked across the street for three minutes and I was inside my hotel. Super clutch.

This was the Best Western Las Mercedes Airport.

I had chosen this hotel solely because of the proximity to the airport. My flight on Monday was super early in the morning and I didn’t want to deal with transport to get there. This ended up being the best decision I made for this trip after how the next couple of hours went with said transport.

But first, dropped my stuff off at the hotel and my huge room.

Here is where the issues began.

Nicaragua doesn’t have Uber or Lyft, and I try to avoid using taxis where I don’t speak the local language fluently. They do have a ride-share app here though named Aventon. I had read about it and downloaded it before the trip began.

This is a REALLY shitty app. It is so slow, there are no drivers, the location puts you ‘nearby’ most times, not in the actual location. Overall, just trash. Also, when I ordered my first Aventon to the hotel, the person went to the airport instead and STARTED A TIMER!!! The app will literally show you a timer so you know if you take longer than this, you will have an extra charge. This was really annoying for me, since my driver decided to go to the airport instead of to me at my damn hotel.

You can see a screenshot of the stupid timer below and the pop up message that I got more than 20 times this day about there being no drivers at any of the price levels for Aventon.

I eventually got in the car and made my way over to a restaurant named El Chante.

The food here was very good, I got myself a big plate with a lot of items on it. All tasty. However, it got VERY busy and thankfully I was already at a table. If I had come like 10 minutes later, no way I would have gotten a seat.

Now, I really wanted to head to another part of Managua. But guess what??? Stupid app wasn’t working. I tried and tried and the thing kept saying no drivers available. I Googled local taxis and then found out the local taxis don’t take cards, just cash. Of course I hadn’t taken out any local currency here. Just kept piling up.

I saw a sign for a grocery store nearby and it also had a sign for ATM. It was CRAZY hot outside, but I walked over there to use the ATM. As I finish using the ATM, boom, there are now drivers available to pick me up in the app. Really getting on my nerves.

The ride took me to Plaza Nicaragua.

It is only 37 cents Canadian equivalent to enter. Thank goodness I had taken cash out, so I had something to give for entry.

This place is pretty cool, there are dozens of restaurants and places to sit. Take in the waterfront. Lots of people hanging out with their friends, families and couples. I’d totally hang here. I also got myself a banana split, which was necessary in the heat.

As I was walking along the lengthy promenade, I heard a Vybz Kartel song playing from somewhere. That got my attention immediately. I saw this place called Juicy Caribbean.

I decided I would sit here for a little drink or two. Good music, it’s hot and some rum? This is how Sundays were meant to be spent in foreign countries. I wanted to have some drinks and then head over to the rest of my plans in Managua.

Fail. Big fail. I ended up going to NONE of the other restaurants I wanted to see. The pouring rain (because nearby in the Caribbean, hurricane Beryl was storming through), and me being intoxicated – nope. I think I ended up staying at this bar for like three hours and finished a whole bottle of rum to myself. I did also have coke with it, and bought two nice ladies I met some beers. Total was $22.00 CAD. Hell yeah.

The rain was very scary though at some points, but Reggae music and rum kept me in a pretty good mood.

Once the rain died down just a little bit, I took a tuk-tuk to see other things nearby.

This area is beautiful, the church there was especially something gorgeous to see.

I wish I had spent more time in Managua, because it is definitely a vibe. But with the crazy rain and shitty ride-app, that was enough for me. I went back to the hotel and next morning flew back to Toronto.

I would really like to go back to El Salvador and actually see the beaches. I would also really like to go back to Managua to hang out at that same bar and make it to all the restaurants I had planned on going to.

Maybe another time……….hopefully another time.

I only blame myself for going to Central America during hurricane season. Of course the weather was terrible. Granted, didn’t know Beryl was going to hit nearby and add to all of that. Thankfully it didn’t hit in El Salvador or Nicaragua, shitty it hit everywhere else though.

I’d totally recommend visiting both places, I was fine as a solo traveler. I really take joy in being able to say that because when I was in high school, I knew some El Salvadoreans and no way back then was that something I could have imagined from their stories of back home.

MAKE SURE YOU GO EAT THE DAMN DULCE DE LECHE PANCAKES.

  • Mirna

5 Days in Central America Budget Breakdown

Another long weekend, another trip.

This time I did a solo trip to San Salvador, El Salvador and to Managua, Nicaragua.

Below is a photo of the budget breakdown I keep on my Excel spreadsheet:

Let me start with the flights. I booked those all the way back in August of last year.

All of the flights were with Avianca and it was three one-ways.

The first was a direct flight from Toronto to San Salvador for $144.00.

The second was a direct flight from San Salvador to Managua for $137.00.

The final flight was Managua-San Salvador-Toronto and that was $200.00.

The total cost of my flights was $481.00.

I think I did pretty well. This felt like a good deal to me. All of the flight were personal item only, but that is a simple task for me nowadays.

The first stay of this trip is in San Salvador and I chose to stay at an AirBnB.

Judging from the reviews, this is the perfect place for a solo traveler as it is safe and has just enough room for me to sleep in and hang out. Prior to the trip, the host for this place has also been really great with communication and that is always a green flag for me.

The total cost for four nights at this AirBnB is $209.00.

If you are interested in seeing it yourself, click here. I will let you know how much I liked it when I get back.

The second stay for this trip is just a one-nighter in Managua.

I chose the Best Western Las Mercedes Airport – which looks to be directly in front of the airport there.

The reason I chose this hotel was because my flight home is REALLY early in the morning on the last day of the trip and I don’t want to deal with Ubers, taxis or shuttles.

Total cost for one night is $91.00 and I will let you know if it was worth it or not when I get back.

I didn’t book any excursions for this trip, well, I DID have one booked but I cancelled it. Let me explain.

This trip was actually supposed to be three countries in five days – El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. On the Saturday I had booked myself a day trip from San Salvador to Antigua, Guatemala. However, the tour operator was not responding to any of the four emails I sent them. This wasn’t a cheap day tour either, it was almost $400.00!! But no response? Red flag. I’ve learned the hard way that if tours or hosts aren’t responsive before the trip, they will definitely suck once you’re there.

I know for El Salvador a lot of people do the volcano tours, the big slide and that bicycle on a tightrope excursion. But, I am going during rainy season and didn’t want to walk near volcanoes in rain, I can’t do the slide because of my back and I don’t know how to ride a bike. Therefore, zero excursions.

For spending money I budgeted $350.00USD which is about $500.00CAD. I figure for the amount of food and Ubers I will be taking, this should be a good amount.

The total budget for this trip is $1281.00 Canadian.

I think this is a decent budget, but I could be wrong. Who knows? Going to see what shenanigans I can get into on my solo dolo.

See you when I get back……

  • Mirna

10-Days in East Africa Recap

I know this took forever to write and upload, but, this was a lengthy trip. A lot happened. Some new experiences, some new foods and some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. Trust me, the wait is worth it.

Not even sure if people will read what I wrote in this post or just look at the pretty pictures – but I am not judging!! The pictures really are something.

If you’d like to know how much this trip cost, click here. Enjoy.

Friday, May 10th

We left at about 6pm on this day.

The route was Toronto to Philly (American Airlines) 1hr, Philly to Doha (American Airlines) 12hrs and then Doha to Mahe (Qatar Airways) I think 4hrs.

Saturday, May 11th

We landed at 4pm on Saturday in Doha.

Prior to the trip I had booked a transit tour with Discover Qatar. I think all together our layover was nine or 10 hours, so no way we were going to just spend the whole time in the airport. This transit tour was three hours and for $43.00 each? Perfect.

The transit tour took us to the Corniche for sunset, saw one of the stadiums from the World Cup, walked around some other major sites in Doha and then ended the night at a souk. If you get hungry, definitely go to the place we ate at named Desert Rose. Their chicken majboos dish was a 10/10. Just don’t be dumb like my mom and I to order TWO of them. One of these could have easily fed three people.

I wish we could have stayed at the souk later out of all the stops because I know I could have done some REAL damage shopping here. But, that is how things go with group tours. Move quickly.

Doha is BY FAR the cleanest city I’ve ever seen in my life. I was very impressed. I’d like to come back one day and maybe do two days to check out some more things.

We got back to the airport at about 10pm and our flight wasn’t still for another five hours. We were annoyed to find out the sleep n fly was closed? I don’t understand that fully, because what do you mean I can’t book a place to sleep AT NIGHT? Made no sense.

Luckily Doha airport has some quiet rooms where you can put your feet up, so we did that. Don’t expect it to be comfortable or quiet though. It was not.

Sunday, May 12th

We took off for Mahe at 245am and I think the landing was in Mahe at 8am.

It isn’t a particularly long flight, but it was full.

Landing in the Seychelles was BEAUTIFUL. Get a window seat for sure. The customs didn’t take long upon arrival either. Pleasant experience.

Our taxi was already outside waiting for us, that the hotel had arranged.

It was about a 15-minute drive over to our first stay of this trip – La Villa Therese in Anse Royale.

The staff here is lovely, the room was very nice and I like that they have an outdoor shower you can use before heading to your room. What I did NOT like was that the one time I travel with checked in luggage (the full 50lbs) – our room was on the third floor of the hotel. No elevator. So my mom and I had to carry that up all those flights of stairs, after a very long two days of traveling. The lady at the front said usually they have a porter for that, but because it was Sunday, no one.

The GORGEOUS Anse Royale beach was only about a four minute walk from this hotel. Love that.

My mom and I went there to hang out and swim. We waited a long time to make it to the Seychelles, no way we weren’t swimming on arrival. ASAPTUALLY.

On the part of Anse Royale we were swimming in there is a beachfront restaurant named Kafe Kreol we were able to get some seafood pizza and a coconut drink from. Very nice.

After much struggle, we finally gave up at 4pm. Being awake from when we left Toronto on Friday evening was taking its toll. We went back to the hotel and went to sleep. Yes, at 4pm.

Monday, May 13th

Jetlag absolutely kicked my ass.

I woke up at 4am to watch the Denver Nuggets game, because the NBA playoffs were happening.

Luckily, our tour was leaving at 6am, so I was nice and awake for that. Also, it was pouring rain when we woke up, which made me slightly nervous about the day ahead because I wanted it to be sunny and nice.

The tour picked us up on time and we went on to pick up some other people on the way to the ferry. I liked that the ferry for this tour wasn’t packed, and it was for the best since the incoming weather was TERRIBLE. I am someone who doesn’t get sick on boats but today? When some inclement weather came through, I wanted to throw myself off the boat. Two hours of rocking back and forth because of the waves was rough. My mom and I chose to sit upstairs on the boat where it was more open, while most of the other travelers sat downstairs where it was more enclosed. I am happy we sat upstairs because the cool air helped me a bit. I had no interest in hearing other people throwing up, while trying to keep myself from doing so as well. Definitely take Gravol for this journey.

The first stop on this day trip was the island of La Digue. We disembarked and went straight to L’Union Estate by bus. Our tour guide, Chloe, was lovely. There was a French group, Russian group and English-speaking group. They were going to show us how to open coconuts and the turtles – but I was totally uninterested. We came here for the beaches. So we politely excused ourselves and went ahead of the group. The turtles are huge though! You see them on the way to the beach.

We made our way to the famous Anse Source D’Argent beach.

This is officially the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Period. It took NINE years for another beach to come in first before Anguilla’s Shoal Bay Beach. But it happened. This was the most picturesque scene. All the photos I had seen of this beach were not even close to what it looks like in person. The clear water, temperature, nice sand and the cool rock formations. Incredible.

Because we had abandoned our tour group, we got to spend a whole two hours on this beach instead of just 45min-1hr. Thrilled about the decision we made.

Eventually we had to leave this paradise and set sail over to the next island, Praslin.

During this journey (a much closer one that the first one) – we also got to eat. No big waves now, much easier to stomach.

Once well fed and docked in Praslin, a bus took us to the Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve.

If you’re someone who loves lush forests and greenery, this is totally for you. Hiking and greenery aren’t really my thing as I like 1) beaches and 2) I’m fat. But it was still a lovely experience. I spent most of the time giggling at the shape of the famous coco de mer……

After the green space, we went over to Anse Lazio beach.

This beach is beautiful, but the waves were crazy. I learned my lesson from when I was in Bermuda and the Bahamas, I was not losing any piece of my bathing suit today by risking this swim. It was a shame we couldn’t go enjoy the water, but, it was still nice to see.

From Anse Lazio we made our way back to the ferry. Seeing much CALMER waters on the way to the ferry, wish we’d hung out at one of these beaches. Fine.

No more rain happened during the sail back to Mahe, so these two hours were much easier to deal with than the ones earlier in the day. We got back to Mahe by 630pm.

This was obviously a very long day and with a lot going on. If we spent more time in the Seychelles and had more money to spend, we would have spent a day at least on each island instead of rushing it all in one. But if you also don’t have much time and want to do this tour, you can click here.

Aside from the motion sickness from the storm in the morning, it was a lovely experience!

Once we got back to the hotel, we walked over to Kafe Kreole to have a quick dinner. I tried the curry octopus, it was pretty good.

Note that the cost of food in Seychelles is nuts. At this restaurant we had two bottles of water, a coconut, my mom had penne pasta and I had the curry coconut and it came to $145.00 CAD. Insane price for so little food. The Euro being much stronger than Canadian dollar definitely didn’t help either.

Tuesday, May 14th

Woke up at an insanely early time again. Just early enough to see a part of the Dallas Mavericks game.

We decided to walk over to a place nearby for some breakfast.

Got to Cafe 74.

If you are someone who loves cutesy places that are very *aesthetic* – this is for you. They did such a great job with this café. Also, it wasn’t just cute, the food was great. The Nutella waffle is something I’d highly suggest you order.

We went back to the hotel and found out they do laundry for free? HELL YEAH. It was nice to be able to hand over all our dirty laundry and have it done so we don’t travel with that in our bags.

The day before was really tiring and the jetlag was still kicking our ass, so we just hung out on this day. I watched some TV and edited some TikTok’s. The crazy rain returned in the afternoon, so thankfully we weren’t on a beach when that happened.

Eventually we got hungry and ordered on WhatsApp from a place called Perry’s Grillz. The hotel had left their menu in the room, and I think they were one of the only food spots that deliver on the island.

We ordered a bunch of seafood and they literally delivered it to our hotel room on trays! So fancy pants. Also, the fresh coconut I had ordered? The gentleman delivering it took out a cleaver and cut it open in our hotel room kitchen. That was a first time for me. Fresh as it can get outside of getting in on a beach I suppose.

Wednesday, May 15th

Today I woke up at 3am. Still not normal. Watched the Knicks beat up the Pacers for a bit.

It was pouring rain again and we had a taxi coming at 645am to pick us up for the airport. He didn’t show. Our flight was at 9am and I was like oh that’s not so bad, the airport is only 15 minutes away.

Wrong.

Thank goodness the owner of our hotel woke up and offered to drive us to the airport! Such a sweet man. We sat in that damn traffic for an HOUR AND A HALF. That is how bad the traffic towards the airport is on a weekday in the morning. Especially with there only being one lane going North and one going South. It took forever. Because of him, we did make it on time.

We were flying with Air Seychelles to Mauritius. The flight was only 2hrs and 30min. Would you believe, the airline still fed us? Got a blanket, a pillow and a whole meal for such a short flight. Thrilled and very impressed by them.

On arrival in Mauritius, we got in through customs really fast.

We had a rental car booked for Mauritius, which we picked up at the airport. Thankfully from the airport to our hotel was mostly very good and spacious roads. Was pretty impressed by how good the roads were so far, especially compared to the Seychelles. Some entertainment was also had since my mom had never driver on the left side of the road. Learning. Lots of learning.

In about 20 minutes we arrived at our hotel on the island – Blue Beryl Guest House.

Our room here was MASSIVE. Two big bedrooms with their own bathrooms, a balcony and a spacious living room and kitchen. This room easily could have fit six people. So for my mom and I? Great.

We took a little walk on the beach behind the hotel to see the area. This was Blue Bay Beach, and it was beautiful. Apparently this is ‘winter’ time in Mauritius, so it was empty. I loved it.

Hunger set in and we decided to walk over to Esco Burgers for some dinner. Got to walk through a nice little park on the way there, even though it was less than six minutes away.

My mom wasn’t too impressed by her burger, but me? I got this meat on fries / rice dish. OOOOH it was yummy and the server gave me some nice hot sauce to put on it too. Definitely order that.

Thursday, May 16th

We woke up today finally feeling a little more normal.

The hotel we were staying at offers a nice breakfast with fruit, cereal, omelets – BUT THE BEST PART? Their croissants they bake to give as a side to the omelets. I could have eaten forty of these. They were some of the best I had ever tasted. Fluffy and just perfect. Yes, the omelet was good too.

Today we had a catamaran excursion booked. It was great because the departure point was only a five minute drive from us. I had actually picked this specific hotel because it was so close to the excursion and on a beach. Didn’t realize HOW clutch and lucky I was we picked something so close, but more on that tomorrow.

We got to the catamaran, and again, it starts fucking raining. Blah.

It was still a nice day, we got to Ile Aux Cerfs to relax for an hour. I think it would have been even more nice if it stayed sunny, but whatever, still enjoyed it. Plus, didn’t have any traumatizing waves and nausea on this trip.

The boat had a BBQ on it that we ate and just enjoyed our time on the water snorkeling and swimming. Pretty chill day.

If you’re going to Mauritius, this is a nice little excursion and you can find it here.

After the boat we took a nap and then got hungry again. I read on Google there was a really popular place named Blue Bamboo near us, so we walked over there.

Make sure you come eat here. It was soooo fun!

We each got a bottle of water, two alcoholic drinks, starters, mains and two desserts for a total of $80.00 CAD. What a difference compared to the Seychelles!!!

The calamari starter was exceptional and so were the mains, and of course, the rum. However, the star of the night was the coconut ice cream. Hands down, the best ice cream I have ever tasted. I wish there was a way to take it home to Canada with me. Delicious.

Friday, May 17th

Now let’s talk about this shit show of a freaky Friday.

We had something booked for 130pm today, but in the super northern part of Mauritius. According to Google Maps, it would take us 90 minutes to drive there. Cool, we had all the time in the world. We figured if we left at 9am, we could take our time and check out all the beaches on the way driving along the east coast of the island.

30 minutes into driving, we hit a curb on the left side of the car – took out both tires. Not one, BOTH. A lovely gentleman wearing a Montreal Canadiens shirt came out to help us and called the rental company in French to let them know where we are and to come fix this. He even had us come upstairs to have some water and sit down until the rental car people arrived. He told us that curb was something they have repeatedly complained about to the government, but that it doesn’t get fixed. So we didn’t feel as bad, because he said we were the THIRD people to have that happen this week.

We waited for an hour for the rental car guys to come and take the tires and bring new ones back and then we were on our way again.

As we begin driving, another 20 minutes – we side swipe a truck. Again, on MY side, the left side. The impact made the glass of the mirror pop off.

Now listen, I don’t have anxiety attacks or get worried too much, but I was totally fucked up now. All I could think was that I will be dying today because we obviously can’t drive well on the left, and between the narrow roads and mongrel dogs walking them – we are fucked, essentially.

Using the GPS we had accidentally made the wrong turn on a roundabout and decided to pull over to a side street to gather ourselves. I am damn near crying because, what the hell are we going to do?

We had pulled up in front of a mechanic and my mom walked over to ask them if they could do anything with the mirror. This lovely young man came out with his brother to fix the mirror, for only 20 Euros. Wonderful news, between the tires and now this? We knew we were going to get a crazy bill. It was nice that at least something good was happening.

Now I begin chit chatting with the mechanic and ask him how much it is to hire a driver for the whole day in Mauritius, and he tells me he charges tourists 20 Euros for the day. I told him I’d give him 40 and to hop in the car. He did. Now my mom and I could BOTH breathe, because a local was driving and he knows how to drive there in the chaos.

We FINALLY arrived at our booked activity at 330pm. It had taken 6.5 hours to get to where we needed to, and we arrived two hours late. Total shitshow.

The activity we had planned today was a flight on a seaplane over Mauritius with Sealoy Flights. This wonderful woman, Karen, was in contact with me all day on WhatsApp as I kept letting her know how bad our day was going. She was still able to check us in and had a pilot to take us on our flights. I was so happy. After the bullshit we had gone through, I’m so happy we could still do this.

I went up in the seaplane for my 15 minute flight and my mom went after me. Awesome experience! Wish we could have gotten there earlier in the day, when it was sunny but…. yeah. What a day. The cost of the 15 minute flight was 135 Euros per person. Worth it.

The drive home felt like it took FOREVER. This was just an unnecessarily long day. We had all these plans to see other beaches and go into Port Louis for food, nothing. Absolutely nothing. Our driver stopped off at this little restaurant on the side of the road and I ordered a sandwich with lamb. Three of these came to only 10 Euros and aside from the coconut ice cream were the best things I ate on this entire trip. My mom agrees, she had the octopus in sandwich option. Filling and perfectly seasoned.

We finally made it back to the hotel at 9pm. Twelve hour day of fuckery, done.

Saturday, May 18th

This morning we just hung out on Blue Bay Beach until our flight back to the Seychelles later in the afternoon. The fourth photo is actually the view from the living room in our hotel, beautiful.

We drove to the airport to drop off the car and got hit with a $200.00 CAD fine for the tires. We expected that. Shit happens.

The flight back to the Seychelles was again with Air Seychelles.

Initially we had a car rental booked for this part of our Seychelles trip, but after what happened in Mauritius? Hell no. I cancelled that. The $200 we were gonna spend on the rental car in the Seychelles, we had paid for the tires in Mauritius. If we were failing in Mauritius with their larger roads for driving, I can’t even imagine with the more narrow and winding roads in Mahe. No way.

Our next hotel had arranged a driver to pick us up at the airport. KEVIN! We loved Kevin, if you ever go to Mahe definitely call him here is his number (+248 256 3236). Lovely man. I wish we had known about him during our first three days in the Seychelles.

We made it all the way up to Horizon View.

Another massive space with two bathrooms, two bedrooms and a huge living room/kitchen area. There was also a balcony but because it was already dark, we couldn’t see much from there.

Sunday, May 19th

When we woke up today, we got to see the beautiful view from our hotel room. Yeah, look at this.

I had booked us in for a nice day pass today! Kevin picked us up at 8am and we drove over to the Kempinski Seychelles Resort. Very fancy pants.

For $90.00 CAD each we got to enjoy this amazing resort from 9am to 6pm. Whole day.

This price included entry, towels, chairs at the beach, breakfast, a $50.00 CAD credit per person for lunch and 25% off the spa. For how expensive everything is in the Seychelles, this might be the BEST DEAL EVER.

This breakfast they give you? Wowzers. What a spread. All you can eat.

Then we went and picked our chairs for the day and the servers bring water to where you’re sitting throughout the day. The beach was clean, perfect and empty. Loved that.

I went and enjoyed the lunch with the credit and had some prawns.

The drinks were not included and I ordered this one coconut drink with four types of liquor in it? Yeah, that alone was $30.00 CAD. It was really good though.

We had the most amazing day at this resort and I couldn’t recommend this day pass enough. I even booked my mom a nice massage as a surprise. Perfect day. I would have rather spent the $180.00 CAD on this day pass than the $145.00 CAD we spent on one damn dinner the week before.

I gather this resort is super expensive to stay at otherwise because we saw people arriving via helicopter. That told me everything I needed to know.

Monday, May 20th

We woke up in the morning, but first, I wanted to show you the sunset views from night before. Lovely right? This hotel had the best views.

The lovely owner of Horizon View allowed us to check out later, so my mom and I walked down hill to a beach named Anse la Mouche. Another perfect beach in the Seychelles. It was only my mom and I on the beach, and three fisherman. We had the whole place to ourselves. Perfect finish to our trip here.

Today’s route was Mahe to Doha (Qatar Airways) 4hr, Doha to Dallas (Qatar Airways) 16.5hrs and then Dallas to Toronto (American Airlines) 3hrs. Deadly amount of hours in the air coming up.

On the first stop in Doha, my mom and I indulged a little at the Oreo Cafe. And I just wanted to say here, make sure any drinks you buy inside the airport, they put in the duty free bag. I was confused when they did it, but then I saw everyone else coming to board our flight having their drinks tossed. So yeah, make sure they put it in the sealed bag, which you can open up when you board.

This was an insanely long trip home. That 16.5hrs to Dallas was terrible. Eventually you just want fresh air and a shower okay? Tough times.

Flying over Greenland was cool as you see in the above photo and as we landed in Toronto finally, I got the notice that AA had our baggage delayed. Bit of a pain in the ass, but it arrived to my home the next day. So whatever. Fine.

Overall, what an experience. That is what travel is about, the good and the bad. Do NOT rent a car in Mauritius, unless you have lots of experience driving on the left side. But, DO go visit both Mauritius and the Seychelles. Especially the Seychelles. I still can’t get over how perfect their beaches are.

Like I said – a LOT happened during this trip. Thanks for coming along.

  • Mirna

10 Days in East Africa Budget Breakdown

Hold on to your calculators, this is going to be one of the lengthier breakdowns.

(not Nigerian-Visa-and-Yellow-Fever-Needed type lengthy, but lengthy nonetheless)

My mom and I are off to East Africa!

My mom has dreamed of going to the Seychelles her whole life and for Mother’s Day 2024 – she will have her wish…………and a little extra.

Below is a photo of the budget breakdown I keep on my Excel spreadsheet:

That is a WHOLE lot of items. I know.

The Flights

Let me begin with the most important thing – the flight to the Seychelles.

We booked our flight to Mahe, Seychelles alllll the way back in July of 2023. I know this is really far ahead, but, the price was too good to pass up.

The flights to and from the Seychelles are shared between American Airways and Qatar Airways. I had flown with AA many times, but this would be my first time flying with Qatar Airways. Have to say I’m pretty excited because I’ve only heard good things.

On the way there we go Toronto to Philly, Philly to Doha and then Doha to Mahe. We have a lengthy layover in Doha, Qatar – but more on that later. Coming home we will be going Mahe to Doha, Doha to Dallas and then Dallas back to Toronto. The flight from Doha to Dallas is like 16.5hrs long, direct. Lordy.

Cost per person to fly to and from the Seychelles, $1500.06. I think this is AMAZING for how far we are going.

The plan was to only go to the Seychelles, but of course, I had to go be extra.

Figured while we are on that side of the planet, might as well mosey on over to Mauritius. I booked that on January 6th of this year and the cost was $568.00 roundtrip, direct, per person. The flight is with Air Seychelles and it is only about two hours and a bit each way.

Total cost of all flights: $2068.06 per person

I know this looks like a big amount, but going to BOTH destinations for that? I really think we scored for the pricing.

The Stays

For this trip we will have three different stays.

The first stay is when we arrive in Mahe, Seychelles we will be staying at La Villa Therese from May 12th to May 15th. Total cost is $418.00, so $209.00 CAD per person.

We chose this stay because it is right by a famous beach on the island (Anse Royale), and duh, the price was right! Our room is the One-Bedroom Apartment.

The second stay is in Mauritius and it is called Blue Beryl Guest House. We will be staying there from May 15th to May 18th. Total cost is $527.00, so $263.50 CAD per person.

Now we chose this place, again, because the price is right, but also because it was beachfront. This was close to where our catamaran cruise is leaving from as well. Oh, and breakfast included. Clutch. Our room is the Apartment with Sea View.

The third and final stay is back on Mahe, and that place is called Horizon View. Will be staying there from May 18th to May 22nd. Total cost is $238.00, so $119.00 CAD per person.

We tried to go for whatever price for this place because we have a rental car, and want to just have a good spot to go explore from. The hotel is also close to a very nice beach (Anse a la mouche), so we can visit that. Our room is Apartment with Sea View.

Total cost of all stays: $591.50 CAD per person

Again, given that both of these islands aren’t exactly THRIFTY destinations, this isn’t too bad. I am excited to stay in various parts, gives me more things to see on an island.

Transportation (Car Rentals)

I rarely ever have car rentals on my trips, because I do not have a drivers license.

For this we have two car rentals, one in Mauritius and then one in Mahe on our final days there.

Both were booked on Expedia.

The cars are both automatic, and my mom will have to drive on the OTHER side of the road on both islands, which should provide comedy.

For the car rental in Mauritius the cost was $172.66, so $86.50 CAD per person from May 15th to May 18th.

For the car rental in Mahe the cost was $225.58, so $112.79 CAD per person from May 18th to May 20th.

I have no idea if either of these are a good price or not. But I will tell you, once I saw how much the damn taxis cost on both of these islands? IN EUROS? The car rental price seemed like the best idea.

Visas

Well, at least this wasn’t as pricy as my last jaunt into the African continent.

Entering Qatar, we don’t need anything as Canadians.

For entering Mauritius, we just had to fill out and print one form (from this site) per person giving information on when we are entering, leaving and where we are staying. But it was free.

Now for the Seychelles, we had to fill out FOUR forms and pay four times to enter. Why? Because there are two of us, and we had to enter and exit twice, since we are going to Mauritius from there.

The cost was 10 Euros per entry, so 40 Euros which ended up being $31.36 CAD total per person. The entry form is pretty lengthy – you do have to upload a photo of yourself, your passport, your flight information and the place(s) you will be staying. Have all that ready, it is all found on this site.

Just a quick note here, I was highly impressed by the Seychelles customs people. I had emailed and asked a question and someone got back to me THE NEXT DAY? Amazing. Don’t think you can email any government agency on the planet and hear back that fast. The application to enter was also approved for both my mom and I within 24hrs. Super.

Tours

For this trip, we have three different excursions booked.

The first one is actually during our layover in Doha, Qatar. We are excited to see the airport there, but not for as long as the layover is. Luckily, Discover Qatar actually offers transit tours. We opted for the ‘Transit Exclusive – Discover Doha‘ tour which is three hours. This takes you from the airport to a bunch of places in Doha and then brings you back to the airport for your next flight. These are done like nine times a day, so most people with a lengthy layover can do this. The cost was $42.98 CAD per person.

Alright, so the Seychelles have a bunch of islands but the primary three are Mahe, La Digue and Praslin. We had contemplated (before we booked Mauritius) on spending 2-3 days on each island. Then I saw the cost of the damn ferries between the islands. Absolutely-the-fuck-not. I am not that rich. But we still wanted to get to those islands and we found a day tour that goes from Mahe to both islands. This is the ‘Praslin & La Digue Island-Hopping Tour with Lunch‘. The tour starts super early in the morning and will last 11 hours in total. This includes transport to both islands, and back + a lunch on board. This way we could see it all in our limited time. The cost was pretty hefty at $410.94 CAD per person. However, like I said, after seeing the cost of the damn ferries between in islands in Euros, this seemed way more economical – although, shorter.

Finally, in Mauritius we have a nice catamaran tour. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I can’t resist some time on a boat. We booked the ‘Full-Day Catamaran Cruise to Ile aux Cerfs with BBQ Lunch‘. This tour is seven hours long and makes some stops for swimming and snorkeling. Of course, lunch on board included. The cost was very reasonable at $108.00 CAD per person. I am excited to cruise on those beautiful waters.

ESim

I never have this section in my breakdowns, but this one I will have to.

Typically, Rogers Roam Like home is what I use on my travels but for some reason, the Seychelles is not a part of their offerings. Qatar and Mauritius are though.

To avoid any stoppage in my constant posting while on vacation, I will have to use an esim for the Seychelles portion of my trip. I opted to go with Airalo for this trip, and they have a Seychelles package that is $49.00 USD for 10GB. Therefore $67.62 CAD total.

Spending Money

Whoooo knows?

$1000.00 Euros is like $1500.00 CAD – so that is what I am going with.

The good thing about going with my mom is that I am less likely to end up in a nightclub buying a bottle, or a strip club. Go me! Slightly less of a degenerate with my family trips. I truly have no idea if the $1500.00 CAD will be too much or too little, but I doubt the too little part. Mauritius looks like it can be done for smaller amounts of spending money, but I don’t think the Seychelles can. I think my food costs are going to run the bill up really fast.

The total budget for this trip is $5019.75 Canadian.

I’m pretty proud of this, because this is ALL THOSE THINGS I LISTED! That is a lot of stuff. And a crazy distance flight. I’m happy. Can’t wait to experience this with my mom, especially being there for Mother’s Day. Yay.

See you when I get back……

  • Mirna

5 Days in Caye Caulker Recap (2024)

Back from another fantastic trip.

My boyfriend and I ventured over to Caye Caulker, Belize for five days and had the best time!

Lovely people, beautiful island and some great food.

I’m here to tell you about all the shenanigans from the trip. If you’re interested in how much the trip cost, you can click here and find out.

Saturday, April 27th

Today we had a nice morning flight with WestJet, leaving behind some shitty weather in Toronto.

The flight is only 4hrs-ish to get to Belize City and you will have a lovely view of the Mexican coastline on the way there.

For those of you who have CARICOM passports, bring those with you to Belize. You have your own line, unlike the rest of us. We waited in a pretty lengthy line for almost 45 minutes to get through customs. Boooerns.

Our AirBnB host had arranged a taxi driver to come pick us up at the airport and take us to the ferry port. Shout out to Francisco, lovely dude. Even stopped at a grocery store for us so we could pick up snacks, sunscreen and of course – alcohol.

When you get to the ferry, make sure you get in the line quickly as you will want to have your pick of seats. Trust me. We sat at the front and it was great, the breeze was amazing on such a hot day with so many people on the boat. Our AirBnB host had also pre-arranged our ferry tickets for us. Seamless arrival. The ferry takes one hour to get to Caye Caulker and another 30 minutes if you’re going to San Pedro.

We arrived on Caye Caulker and walked the 10 minutes or so over to our AirBnB. What a beautiful little island. The ferry over and the arrival will have you smiling ear to ear. The views and the warmth.

Our AirBnB host, Chila, was outside waiting for us. She let us into the AirBnB. Very simple space but had everything we needed: bed, air conditioning and shower. I don’t need much else. The location was also amazing for accessing anything and anywhere on the island. The only thing we didn’t like was the actual bed – as we are two big people and we were worried every single time we laid down that the bed would end up on the floor.

If you want the information for the AirBnB, click here.

We were both hungry so we ended up walking around for a bit. The island is really small, so you can pretty much hit up anything you’d like within a 20-minute walk. We love walking, this island is great for that. Also, if you like biking, there are lots of bikes and you can rent a golf cart. No cars.

The Sip n Dip was where we chose to have our first meal. This was really close to our AirBnB and I had read a lot about if before the trip. You can even sit in the water at this restaurant and the waitstaff will bring you the food and drinks there. We didn’t go for that option, but it IS an option.

Happy Hour was in full swing and rum was aplenty. My kind of vibes. I got the wedges and some conch + shrimp ceviche for my meal. Love ceviche. My boyfriend got the wings and he said they were good. I thought Sip N Dip was a great place for hanging out and meeting people. Music was loud and everyone was friendly. Good place to hang.

Because I am old, it was time for a nap.

We had big plans for the evening. It is a Saturday, of course we were going out at night.

First we went to Bambooze, where they had a DJ playing top 40 songs and $5.00 rum punch. Outstanding. Oh, and free shots. Yes.

FYI – when I say how much things cost in this post it will be in Belizean Dollar. We used USD the entire time on the island, as the math was way easier because $1 USD = $2.00 Belizean. So whatever number you see, divide by two for US currency, and then do whatever math to get to Canadian.

After Bamooze we went to I & I Reggae Bar. I don’t understand the name of this bar at all. This island has soca and dancehall playing EVERYWHERE, except the place with REGGAE in the name? Why the fuck were we hearing Kesha? The DJ played Sandstorm. Totally lame. We stayed for two hours hoping it would change but the only good thing we heard was Belizean soca. That was really good. But otherwise? Hell no.

We walked over from I &I to a place named Las Vibras and the second we entered? VIBES. This place is smaller, but the DJ’s were killing it. If you want to hear good dancehall, go here. Thank goodness this place saved the night. I’d tell you how much alcohol cost, but I truly don’t remember. Too busy dancing.

At one point we walked back to I & I hoping that maybe it had changed to the actual music we expected, and, we were wrong. Now it was some Spanish music. I understand that too, as this is in Central America. But again, why the hell is REGGAE in your name if you aren’t playing that?

Time to go to sleep.

Sunday, April 28th

I’d like to say we ‘went for breakfast’ today, but it was definitely lunch time. We got up at like noon.

First stop was Barefoot Caribe Restaurant.

If you get NOTHING else on your trip to Caye Caulker, just make sure you get the conch fritters and the chicken burrito here. Hoooooly. The conch fritters were perfect and the chicken burrito was the best I have ever tasted. It was actually my boyfriend that ordered the burrito, I took many bites of it. Yes.

Our server from Barefoot suggested we get desserts over from Chef Juan’s Kitchen & Pastries, so we walked over to them after. My boyfriend got the key lime pie, which he said was really good. I got the carrot cake and it was so moist and the icing was perfect. Great lunch.

Guess what we did? You bet, took another nap. The night before had taken its toll on our bodies, and livers. Needed to nap again.

Big plans today!

Once we woke up we walked over to Bella’s Backpackers to participate in Sunday Funday.

Let me tell you about the awesomeness that is Sunday Funday on Caye Caulker. For $55.00 USD you get to basically party all day, and then go on a catamaran and party in the middle of the sea. Oh, and it includes unlimited rum punch. If this doesn’t sound like a ME activity, not sure what else could be.

Liquor? Party? Boat? Yes. Count me in.

We got to the party at 4pm because, again, hungover and sleepy. It ended up being the perfect time to arrive because we got to hang out on the beach with the other party people, listen to the DJ and get some drinks in. At 5pm the boats began to leave.

The boats will take you to an area that isn’t too far from land, that is shallow! So you can totally walk there, with drink in hand. Now, I say this as someone who 5’9. You little people? Probably not. Either learn to swim, stay on the boat or use a floatie.

Watching the sunset in the middle of the water, with drink in hand….. awesome experience. If you come to Caye Caulker, make sure you partake in this on a Sunday. The age range was also from 18 all the way to people in their 60s. Having an absolute ball.

Once the boats returned to Bella’s, they continued to party on the beach but we were hungry so we left.

Luckily, Chef Juan’ Dinner’s was right around the corner. They had this nice chicken, potato salad, rice and beans meal. Hit the spot. Hit every spot. It was very necessary.

I think we fell asleep at about 930pm and woke up at 130am to go out, again. I don’t know why at 37 we both think we are young party people, but, alas, outside we go.

We knew there would be parties on this specific Sunday because Monday was a holiday. Labour Day in Belize. Las Vibras was where we head back to and it was PACKED. We stayed dancing in the club until 330am. Fake young people.

Something cool that happened after the club is we made some local friends, Big Sexy and Viv. They were courteous enough to take us on a little drive through Caye Caulker in the back of a golf cart. What an experience. 4am on an island, riding in the back of a golf cart as music plays. Ahh. Happy memories that will stay in my head for the rest of my life.

Monday, April 29th

Another day of waking up way past breakfast.

Happy Labour Day!

We walked over to Ice N Beans Cafe for our lunch today.

If you are someone that is working abroad, this is the place you’d want to hang with your laptop for the day. There was so many people on their computers in hammocks. Very chill. Beautiful location by the water and good food.

I got the soursop and pineapple smoothie to drink and then a bubble waffle with apple and Nutella on it. Now I bet that sounds kind of random right? Well, because everything has to be imported onto the island via those ferries we took, I guess because of the long weekend, supplies were short. In this case, no bananas. They had run out. So I said apple. Still good, but very random with Nutella, I know.

We walked off our lunch by seeing a bit more of the island. There are all these small pockets you can turn down, from the three main streets.

In the evening we walked over to Tapper’s Dive Bar to catch some NBA playoffs. The Denver Nuggets were playing the Lakers.

Interesting thing about this bar – there is a whole Toronto section? The area we sat in had a bunch of Leafs jerseys and people from Toronto had signed the ceiling. Pretty cool.

I got some more rum and then were was the free shots of lizard juice. I don’t know what the heck they put in these lizard shots, but I could have a whole bottle of it. So yummy.

We got nachos, conch fritters and a whole snapper with rice and peas. Out of all three, the only thing I can recommend is the snapper. The conch fritters were not as good as the ones at Barefoot and the nachos were just weird. Some white sauce all over them, not sour cream. I don’t know, but we didn’t like it.

This is 10000% a dive bar. Imagine everything you’d see at most diver bars, you’ll see here. Experience it yourself. Also, Nuggets won. Good times.

Tuesday, April 30th

I think on this day we woke up at a decent time. Before the trip I read about this one place on the island that was supposed to have the BEST fryjacks. Something popular to eat here. I walked over and, they were out of eggs. Just my luck.

We ended up choosing Happy Lobster Restaurant & Bar for breakfast instead.

I got some fryjacks here and they were yummy! Reminded me a lot of the puff puff I had in Nigeria. Also, they had eggs. Win.

Then we walked around the island some more.

Took another nap and then went to check out Chef Kareem at his outdoor BBQ. Unfortunately during this time of year, lobster isn’t in season. I read that when it is lobster season, all these BBQ places are lined up with lots of lobster to be had. Guess I’ll have to come back to experience that.

I got the conch on the skewer and my boyfriend got some jerk chicken. Both were perfectly seasoned and charred. Definitely check Chef Kareem.

Naturally, had to get some dessert after,

Connected to our AirBnB is an ice cream place named The Creamery Ice Cream Shop. Get the Nutella and Belizean fudge. You won’t be disappointed.

Some people had mentioned that we should go to Coral View Hotel & Resort for drinks and for the best view of Caye Caulker.

They were right.

The view from their rooftop, especially at sunset? Unbeatable.

We got some rum and cokes and took in the 360 views of Caye Caulker. Also, made some friends who had retired and moved to the island. Pretty cool hearing from them about how the island had changed from the 80s and 90s when they initially came to Caye Caulker.

I was hungry again, of course.

Luckily walking back from Coral View we came across Roy’s Blue Water Grill.

I ordered the shrimp pasta, with some garlic bread. After all the rum and cokes (and tequila shots) on the rooftop, this was perfect. Lots and lots of carbs to fill up my tummy.

On May 1st we just pretty much walked to the ferry and headed back to Belize City and the airport to get home. Make sure you eat whilst still on Caye Caulker because the pizza at the Belizean airport is disgusting and overpriced. I will never forgive myself for not waking up earlier and indulging one last time in the local island food.

Also, I’m warning you about the jump scare with the departure tax. If you flew with WestJet (like we did) – don’t worry, it is included in the price of your ticket.

I’d tell everyone who wants to go relax to visit Caye Caulker. I heard Ambergys Caye is the livelier island, but I am so happy we chose Caye Caulker instead. The only thing that was a little disappointing was the lack of swimming we were able to do because 1) there isn’t a REAL big beach/sand to do that on and 2) the areas with some sand were covered in sargassum. I only swam a couple of times and that makes me a little sad. Probably should have taken the smaller boats over to the North Side of the island where I heard there was a beach to use, but, ah well.

Could we have done more on this trip? Yeah. We sure took a lot of naps. For as many hours as my boyfriend and I work, we needed the rest and relaxation though. Obviously, with some rum and dancing included.

See you next trip!

  • Mirna