Dan, Megan, and Jackie

Dan, Megan, and Jackie proved that you can have a successful Belize vacation with very little planning. Megan and Jackie are med students, and they had scheduled to do a two-week volunteer program in Antigua, Guatemala. Shortly before they were due to arrive in Guatemala, they decided that they’d like to squeeze in a few days in Belize with Megan’s husband Dan. So, they booked with us on Sunday, with plans for Dan and Megan to arrive on Wednesday, and Jackie to get in on Thursday. They were doing the trip on a budget – they were actually paying to volunteer in Guatemala – so they elected to get a bus from Belize City after they flew in, and then get a cab from San Ignacio to here.

When they got here, they had no idea what they wanted to do for the next three days. Actually, they weren’t even sure how Megan and Jackie were going to get from Belize to Guatemala on Saturday. They thought they wanted to see a Maya archeological site, and they knew they wanted to meet Jackie in San Ignacio on Thursday evening, but beyond that the details were a little fuzzy. So, Tom and I put on our thinking caps and sat down and talked to them, told them what some of the options were around here, and came up with a plan.

Tom ended up taking them to tour Ka’ax Tun and have lunch at Julio’s on Thursday morning. On Thursday afternoon, we took them into San Ignacio to meet Jackie, and they rented a car for $65US day from Flame’s Auto Rental, and arranged to bring the car back on Saturday when Dan would take Megan and Jackie to the Guatemala border to catch a bus to Flores for the night, and then another bus to Antigua the next day. Tom and I then left them in San Ignacio to get Jackie off the bus and go out to dinner at one of San Ignacio’s many restaurants.

Then next day, I packed them a lunch and they headed south on our road to Caracol for the day. They could have spent $80US each and had a tour guide take them, so $65US for the car for the day turned out to be a really good money-saving deal for them. They were able to stay at Rio On Pools after the tour groups left, and made it back here right around dusk.

Saturday morning they slept in, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and in the late morning headed for San Ignacio, where they intended to maybe go to Cahal Pech or Xunantunich, or just hang out, with the dropoff plan in place for the women and the car.