Our planning and research that we have done prior to today has left us little to worry about nearing 2 weeks until lift-off. Which is exactly how I wanted it to be. Worry and stress free from the moment we arrive in Belize to the moment we step foot off the plane back in Boston, MA.

• The few things left we need to plan:Transportation: After writing to Table Rock Jungle Lodge, “How far is the Closest bus stop from Table Rock Jungle Lodge (and which one is it?). What are available methods to get from the Bus to Table Rock? Taxi, etc?” They replied with, “The bus from Belize City brings you directly into San Ignacio (about a four hour ride for around seven dollars US). We are located five miles from San Ignacio and offer a transfer for up to four people for $35 US. From San Ignacio bus stop, you can pick up a taxi to Table Rock for about $20 to $25 US. The taxi service is located at the bus stop.” A FOUR hour ride to Table Rock? It takes an hour and a half via car. And then a $20-$25 taxi ride? That right there is $68 between Courtney and I from Table Rock Jungle Lodge to Belize city. That does not even include getting to/from Xunantunich and the ATM tour. And four hours each way in the bus? That’s an added 5 hours of unnecessary travel. You can’t put a price on the time that you have to enjoy Belize, and not doing so on a hot crowded bus. With that said: Buses are ruled out officially now.

• The problem with the car rental is that you can’t take certain cheap cars off paved roads. Courtney and I are asking around and may consider a Suzuki at Belize Car Rental. It’s not much more money than the Galant we wanted to get at Crystal Auto Rental, however, Belize Car Rental only has one location, and that is at the international airport. This means that when we fly in from Ambergris Caye into the Municipal airport we will need to backtrack to the International Airport to get the car, however, we can drop it off at the International airport the day we are leaving back to the states and won’t need to take a cab then, so that is nice.Travel Insurance. We have looked into our health coverage and both Courtney and I are covered outside of the United States. We won’t need that option on the insurance. Also, there is an option for the car rental insurance. We’re pretty sure Courtney’s does not carry over outside of the United States and I also am not old enough to rent a car (25 years old is the typical age) so we need to add that on. Most car rental places allow you to add on insurance at the time of rental, or you can opt to get it through your travel insurance company. We need to investigate which option is cheaper/best quality. Apparently, car accidents are the number one cause of death in Belize. Most people on the roads drive erratically and no one abides to the speed signs as police do not enforce it.

• Catamaran. See Courtney’s Post.

• We were charged a fee for everything we booked in Belize (around $20 per hotel booking) due to the change in currencies. We got charged this fee by the credit card companies, not by the actual hotels. To avoid that fee on the ATM tour we will be reserving a spot and calling the day before to book the tour for good. We will be paying for cash at the time of tour rather than reserving by credit card and paying an additional fee. We need to remember to call MayaWalk tours on September 17th. We can remember that.

• Courtney’s diving trips.

And then we should be all set!