{"id":5810,"date":"2013-02-18T10:46:07","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T09:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tokao.com\/?p=5810"},"modified":"2013-02-18T10:46:07","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T09:46:07","slug":"trip-to-belize-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/18\/trip-to-belize-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Day -2: Trip to Belize"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On my first post regarding our trip to Belize I added a map with the places we are going to go. Here I would like to document a bit our pre-trip research. Follow the trip <a href=\"http:\/\/tokao.com\/tag\/belize\">#belize<\/a><\/p>\n<p>To organise this trip we have used the following tools:<\/p>\n<h3>Tools<\/h3>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;Hotels&#8217;]<\/p>\n<p>For <strong>reviews<\/strong> I always use:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 13px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tripadvisor.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">TripAdvisor<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For <strong>booking:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 13px;\">My favorite is <a href=\"http:\/\/trivago.com\" target=\"_blank\">Trivago<\/a>\u00a0but I also use:<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/booking.com\" target=\"_blank\">Booking.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/kayak.com\" target=\"_blank\">Kayak<\/a><\/li>\n<li>For low budget the best is <a href=\"http:\/\/hostelworld.com\" target=\"_blank\">Hostelworld.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Eventually for a week stay somewhere (I did not use it for this trip: <a href=\"http:\/\/airbnb.com\" target=\"_blank\">AirBnb<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;Flights&#8217;]<\/p>\n<p>For checking flight prices I use:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 13px;\">My favorite is <a href=\"http:\/\/skyscanner.net\" target=\"_blank\">Skyscanner<\/a>\u00a0(they have a nice iPad app)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/kayak.com\" target=\"_blank\">kayak<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;Activities&#8217;]<\/p>\n<p>To see what to do and plan the itinerary:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 13px;\">Buy paper copy of the <a href=\"http:\/\/shop.lonelyplanet.com\/central-america\/belize-travel-guide-4\/?lpaffil=lpdest-shoppod\" target=\"_blank\">Lonely Planet guide <\/a>(Belize in our case)<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Then check in <a href=\"http:\/\/tripadvisor.com\" target=\"_blank\">TripAdvisor<\/a>\u00a0&#8220;to do&#8221; and forums<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/foursquare.com\" target=\"_blank\">Foursquare<\/a>\u00a0(yes&#8230;) and other local search tools such as Yelp.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;Tools&#8217;]<\/p>\n<p>My main tools to plan trips are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/evernote.com\" target=\"_blank\">Evernote<\/a>: where I print out all the boarding passes, receipts by tagging them with #belize. I just print them from my browser or if they came via email forward them to my\u00a0Evernote\u00a0address to the right notebook (subjet @nameofnotebook) and tags (subject #tags). Evernote keeps everything, from checklists, to bookmarks, to actual\u00a0tickets\u00a0and receipts.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/tripit.com\" target=\"_blank\">Tripit<\/a>: here I forward every confirmation I get, from flights and hotels. It automatically puts it in a plan and my calendar is subscribed so I see it in my calendar. Very very handy. Also there is an app for that.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/fr\/app\/xpensetracker-expense-tracker\/id290874373?mt=8\" target=\"_blank\">XpensTrkr<\/a>\u00a0is an iPhone app to track the expenses. Before I used a plain note, but at the end of the day it was a pain to add everything, track different currencies, etc&#8230; This app is great because you can add your payement methods, different curerncies, take photos of receipts, and ad geolocation. Great app.<\/li>\n<li>For mapping is a bit more complex. The first map on the first post is just google maps. The second is <a href=\"http:\/\/tripline.net\" target=\"_blank\">tripline<\/a>\u00a0(has an iPhone app). Tripline is cool because it creates sort of a slideshow of your trip plus you can importe it from tripit (that I use for every trip). You can also link it to foursquare,\u00a0Facebook\u00a0and Twitter. In our <a href=\"http:\/\/tokao.com\/tag\/tdm\" target=\"_blank\">TDM<\/a>\u00a0I used <a href=\"http:\/\/everytrail.com\" target=\"_blank\">everytrail<\/a>\u00a0(has an iPhone app).\u00a0The beauty is that I always travel with a GPS logger (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.qstarz.com\/Products\/GPS%20Products\/BT-Q1000XT-F.htm\" target=\"_blank\">qstarz q1000xt<\/a>), so I can Geolocate the photos of my Nikon, and I can have a detailed log of all my movements for 40 days. The file GPX can be imported into everytrail (and the photos) and then you can share the map. The is also a WordPress Plugin to map that file that I tried (<a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/xml-google-maps\/\" target=\"_blank\">XML Google Maps<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>For WordPress, the mapping plugins I use are: <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/mappress-google-maps-for-wordpress\/\" target=\"_blank\">MapPress<\/a>, and the one outputting where the blog entry was created (the Posted in . with the popup map) is <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/geolocation\/\" target=\"_blank\">Geolocation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;Tips&#8217;]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Insurance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every time we go on a holiday trip we take an insurance. If you see when I went to <a href=\"http:\/\/tokao.com\/tag\/route-66\/\">Route 66<\/a>\u00a0we took ACS-AMI that costed around 30 euros for a month or so.<\/p>\n<p>Now we found a better deal, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.globelink.co.uk\/policy-options\/annual-multi-trip-for-people-aged-up-to-70.html\" target=\"_blank\">Globelink<\/a>: an annual multi-trip insurance. I paid 183 euros for a year, but for the whole family (4 people).<\/p>\n<p><strong>VISA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We have a VISA gold. We make sure when we rent a car we pay with it. It covers the insurance. Also it may cover baggage loss if you pay the air\u00a0tickets\u00a0with it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Travel light<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I always try to travel with <a href=\"http:\/\/tokao.com\/2010\/09\/17\/packing-like-a-pro\/\" target=\"_blank\">hand luggage<\/a>\u00a0(video) only. Specially with long flights and short connections you do have a lot of numbers that your bags don&#8217;t make it on time.<\/p>\n<p>I also have a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scottevest.com\/v3_store\/Fleece_Jacket.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Scottevest<\/a> fleece that I use. I call it the Ryanair bag&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>[\/wptab]<br \/>\n[end_wptabset]<\/p>\n<h3>Where are we staying and where are we going?<\/h3>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;<strong>20 Feb 2013<\/strong>&#8216;]<\/p>\n<p>My flight is from Geneva to Washington D.C.<\/p>\n<p>There I have a couple of hours to change to a flight to Houston, where I spend the night in a hotel near the airport: the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.redroof.com\/property\/Houston\/TX\/77032\/Hotels-close-to-George-Bush-Houston-Airport-I-45\/RRI758\/\" target=\"_blank\">Red Roof \u00a0Inn Houston IAH<\/a> that I booked using <a href=\"http:\/\/booking.com\" target=\"_blank\">booking.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;<strong>21 Feb 2013<\/strong>&#8216;]<\/p>\n<p>The following day \u00a0I take to plane to Belize city, there a cab to the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.radisson.com\/belize-city-hotel-bz\/belize\" target=\"_blank\"> Radisson hotel<\/a>, where Nuria is staying for work. We stay there for a couple of nights.<\/p>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;<strong>22 Feb 2013<\/strong>&#8216;]<\/p>\n<p>Friday Nuria finishes work at noon and then we go <a href=\"http:\/\/cavetubing.bz\/cavetubing\" target=\"_blank\">cave tubing<\/a>\u00a0with Vitalino Reyes. From 1pm till dark (they say is the best experience).<\/p>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;<strong>23 Feb 2013<\/strong>&#8216;]<\/p>\n<p>We check out early and we take the water taxi (<a href=\"http:\/\/sanpedrowatertaxi.com\" target=\"_blank\">San Pedro Water Taxi<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/cayecaulkerwatertaxi.com\" target=\"_blank\">Caye Caulker Water Taxi<\/a>) \u00a0to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tripadvisor.com\/Tourism-g291962-San_Pedro_Ambergris_Caye_Belize_Cayes-Vacations.html\" target=\"_blank\">San Pedro in Ambergris caye<\/a> (which is the Isla Bonita from Madonna)<\/p>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;<strong>23 to 28 Feb 2013<\/strong>&#8216;]<\/p>\n<p>We stay at a B&amp;B called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tripadvisor.com\/Hotel_Review-g291962-d310268-Reviews-Changes_In_Latitudes_Bed_and_Breakfast-San_Pedro_Ambergris_Caye_Belize_Cayes.html\" target=\"_blank\">Changes in Latitues<\/a>\u00a0which is run by Renita and Cindy, very very helpfull. They are making sure that wen we arrive <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecologicdivers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ecologic Divers <\/a>are ready to take us out for diving.<\/p>\n<p>The plan is to take the Advanced Open Water course that consists on 5 dives (we already have the PADI Open Water) and also to dive (3 dives, all day) in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tripadvisor.com\/Attraction_Review-g291961-d296241-Reviews-The_Great_Blue_Hole_at_Lighthouse_Reef-Ambergris_Caye_Belize_Cayes.html\" target=\"_blank\">Blue Hole<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;<strong>28 Feb to 2 Mar 2013<\/strong>&#8216;]<\/p>\n<p>Take the water taxi and go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tripadvisor.com\/Tourism-g291963-Caye_Caulker_Belize_Cayes-Vacations.html\" target=\"_blank\">Caye Caulker<\/a>. There we just relax at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tripadvisor.com\/Hotel_Review-g291963-d489105-Reviews-Seaside_Cabanas-Caye_Caulker_Belize_Cayes.html\" target=\"_blank\">Seaside Cabanas<\/a> for a couple of days.<\/p>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;<strong>2 Mar 2013<\/strong>&#8216;]<\/p>\n<p>We check out early and take the water taxi to Belize city, there a taxi to the airport.<\/p>\n<p>I will flight to New York and I will stay at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.equity-point.com\/fr\/hostels-new-york\/equity-point-new-york\/equity-point-new-york-hostel.html\" target=\"_blank\">Equity Point at Times Square<\/a>. Nuria has a different route.<\/p>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[wptab name=&#8217;<strong>3 Mar 2013<\/strong>&#8216;]<\/p>\n<p>I stay in NY for the day. At 5.30pm I have a direct flight to Geneva.<\/p>\n<p>[\/wptab]<\/p>\n<p>[end_wptabset]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On my first post regarding our trip to Belize I added a map with the places we are going to go. Here I would like to document a bit our pre-trip research. Follow the trip #belize To organise this trip we have used the following tools: Tools [wptab name=&#8217;Hotels&#8217;] For reviews I always use: TripAdvisor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,19],"tags":[210,32],"class_list":["post-5810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal","category-travel","tag-belize","tag-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5810\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tokao.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}