Belize | Mistakes We Made, So You Don't Have to!
Who would turn down an opportunity to go in on a beautiful villa/resort to ring in the New Year? We went, we celebrated, and we made mistakes as always! Here's what we learned.
Things we learned:
Don't break your ribcage (maybe don't underestimate wildlife. or my friend's powerful backstroke kick)
Not wearing bug spray is a death wish
Stop thinking you won't drop your phone in the water! you will.
Don't be so scared of jellyfish! unless they're big
Don't break your ribcage
It was really a hairline fracture, but it hurt like hell. Off the coast of Belize is the second-largest coral reef and we got a great opportunity with our resort tour guides to see some nursing sharks and some pretty large turtles. You see this cute little blob floating towards you and then it just kept getting bigger and faster, and then you're scrambling to get away in time. I'm not sure if it was the turtle or my friends kicking me to get away, but the turtle hitting me is the cooler story.
Not wearing bug spray
I hate getting bug bites and this area was not free of mosquitos. I recommend spraying yourself down everywhere your skin is showing especially when going on trails to avoid more serious complications like a tick! That being said you also want to make sure what you are using is doing as minimal damage as possible to the ecosystem around you, whether that's in the ocean or hiking through the forests. See my recommendations below:
A favorite of mine, this bug spray has a nice lemon scent that lasts through sweat and all for I would say 4ish hours.
This can be applied to skin and clothing with no oily residue! It's perfect for anyone aged 6 months and up.
Since we are talking about environmentally friendly bug sprays, might as well include the sunscreen option too:
This is my only option. Unicorn Snot is a great brand dedicated to creating clean products that have little to no environmental impact. The bioglitter is subtle and blends well with your skin. They only offer 30 SPF, but that isn't much different from 100 SPF despite popular opinion. I can usually wear this in a hotter climate and feel like I'm not burning for up to 3 hours. Overall I highly recommend it!
Stop thinking you won't drop your phone in the water!
If there is one thing I learned on this trip it was about the resilience of Apple iPhones in water.
After my uncle dropped my other uncle's phone off the dock, it took about a few minutes for the people at the resort to find it and it was working fine! But then he tried to charge it. Do not charge your phone when it gets wet. Try putting it in rice first for around 2-3 days for your best chances of saving it!
One day later my aunt lost her Apple Watch in the waves. Then two days later my friend dropped her phone in the water. It took us about 10 minutes to track an employee swimmer to go diving for her phone and took him not even one minute to find the phone and Apple Watch lost two days before! After a couple of days in rice both the phones and watch were good to go!
Jellyfish aren't too bad, unless they're big
The Lodge at Jaguar Reef has cabanas deeper into the ocean that offer places to jump off into the water. From the top looking down, it looks perfectly safe, but if you look closer, you'll see the translucent jellyfish floating around of all kinds of sizes.
The fear we felt went away pretty quickly when we saw a resort team member pick up two jellyfish with their bare hands and bring them to us to pet them. It felt exactly like you would expect: jelly-like.
We rang in the new year on the beach where we had a large table set up for good eats, drinks, and views! When the clock struck 12 we saw a little fireworks show appear in the distance as we all scratched our bug bites, while I struggled to breathe from my damaged ribcage, and with 1/4 of our group with their phones in a big bag of rice.
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