2-26-20 - That's the plane?

Today, we fly from San Pedro, Belize to Belize City to Cancun, Mexico — both flights on Belize’s Tropic Air. The first flight is a 15 minute puddle jumper in a tiny plane with 10 seats.  Kyle is in the front row and he notes that he was practically sitting in the pilot’s lap.  No barrier protecting the pilot; this is a terrorist’s dream.  Although unlikely a terrorist would have his sights set on taking down a 10 person mini-plane.

The flight goes well.  We get some great pictures since the plane doesn’t go above 2,000 feet. The flight lands safely and we head inside for our next flight.  Since the flight is an international 2 hour flight, we are expecting a normal commercial 100+ seater but…nope.

We emerge from the terminal to see the same 10-seater propeller plane. Yes, the same plane where you sit in the pilot’s lap and feel like you’re in a US Army commercial. Yes, the same plane where they have to balance the passengers on each side to avoid the plane tipping over. Yes, the same plane where if the pilot has to go to the bathroom mid-flight, he has to land in the ocean and go out the window.  

There are the 7 of us and two other passengers.  The plane seems a little overloaded with 9 of us and our luggage. “That should work,” says the attendant eyeballing the passengers as she slams down the small overhead door. “Should work?” “Well, what’s plan B if it doesn’t work?” we are left to wonder staring at the now shut door.

It’s one thing taking this puddle jumper for a 15-minute flight under cloud layer and quite another taking a two-hour trip up the Central American coast through a few different countries’ air spaces.  “I guess there’s not going to be any drink service on this flight,” Kyle jokes.  He seems to have a knack fort plane jokes in dire circumstances.  “If you got to go the bathroom, you better be able to hold it for two hours,” he continues on. 

Kyle then pulls out the inflatable life vest, holds it up and says, “do you think this could double as a parachute?  I have a feeling we’re going to need one of those.” The other two passengers not in our group turn a shade paler.  Leanne is hoping for a boring flight but Kyle is making it difficult with his antics.

Despite Kyle’s joking, the views over the Caribbean were to die for (thankfully we didn’t!). Every shade of gorgeous blue, turquoise, sky blue, cobalt blue, navy, Tiffany blue and bluish green just to name a few colors.  Kyle wants to know if Leanne looked the blue color list up on Google or just knew them off the top of her head. The sun emerges as super white fluffy clouds peak out to say hello as well. It’s a beautiful day for a flight North.

We land at Cancun’s FBO airport which is the beautiful new private plane airport. The bathroom has the same creamy Mexican limestone tile we have in our bathroom at home. This airport terminal sets a record for the least number of people waiting on the passport control line which would be exactly 0. We breeze through immigration and customs in two minutes flat. The transport is right outside.

The driver is all jumping up and down excited when we emerge. Kyle had arranged the transport through Viator (Trip Advisor).  The driver has us stand in the front of the terminal and take a picture.  “This is the first time Viator has picked up anyone at the private plane terminal,” he gushes excitedly. We want people to know we pick up here.  Is it ok if we post your photo on the website so people know that if they own a private plane, Viator has provide their ground service?” 

Ok, I think this guy clearly has us confused with someone who owns his own plane.  Kyle notes that the driver would likely be a whole lot less impressed if he saw the puddle jumper, propeller, mini-plane that we actually flew in.  Best keep that one our own little secret.

Whisking us away in the van to the Westin, our overeager, enthusiastic driver wants to plan our time here during the drive. The reality is that we only came to Cancun (and Mexico) to visit Chichen Itzu, one of the 7 Wonders of the Modern World on our quest to see all 7 on our trip and only because it was close to Belize. So our schedule is arriving in the afternoon, go to Citchen Itza the next day with a tour John booked through Trip Advisor and then leave the next morning.  So we need to tactfully dance around the driver’s questions as he is intent on convincing us to book several tours while we are here. 

Arriving in Cancun we find the blue water equally as mesmerizing as the waters of Belize.  We eat lunch by the pool and chill for the rest of the afternoon.  For dinner, John has found a hip Mexican restaurant so we head out to Distilleria for dinner enjoying the cuisine we feel most comfortable with as Mexican cuisine is our LA cuisine. In a way, coming to Cancun with its beach, fine stores and awesome Mexican food reminds us of being at home.

During dinner, we get serenaded by a mariachi band.  They hand out big Mexican sombrero hats and we get great pictures with the band. A massive storm blows in but our outdoor table is under a protective overhang so we can enjoy the view and rain without getting soaked.