July 1, 2025 • 26 mins
Thank you to Sirenian Bay Resorts and Villas! sirenianbay.com
Have you ever dreamed of escaping to a tropical paradise where palm trees sway, crystal waters beckon, and adventure awaits around every corner? Join us as we kick off our summer series exploring Placencia, Belize—a stunning 16-mile peninsula that captivated us from the moment we arrived.
This episode serves as your comprehensive guide to planning the perfect Belizean getaway. We break down everything from what to pack (multiple swimsuits are non-negotiable!), to navigating flights with Tropic Air's scenic puddle jumpers that offer breathtaking aerial views of mountains, rainforests, and winding rivers. You'll appreciate our practical tips about currency (the easy 2:1 exchange rate makes math simple), language (English is the official language), and the fascinating cultural mosaic that makes Belize so unique.
Discover accommodation options that cater to every preference—from Serenian Bay, Belize's only all-inclusive resort where we stayed, to private islands with personal chefs, to the garden paradise of Ceiba Beach Resort. We take you behind the scenes of each property, sharing the distinct atmosphere and amenities you'll find. Transportation is a breeze with golf carts from Captain Jack's for peninsula exploration and boat taxis for island hopping.
What makes this episode particularly valuable is our firsthand experience navigating the quirks of Belizean travel—like how to handle those pesky "no-see-ums" (sand fleas), the unexpected flexibility of flight schedules, and local customs you won't find in typical travel guides. We even share the story of a mysterious bird encounter that left even long-time locals puzzled!
Whether you're actively planning a trip or simply dreaming of your next escape, this episode will transport you to the sunny shores of Placencia. Subscribe now to join us next week as we dive deeper into our adventures with snorkeling, spice farms, chocolate making, and more unforgettable experiences from our Belizean journey.
Gecko Vacation Rentals: reservations@geckovacations.com 972-383-4443
Prana Maya Island Resort: info@pranamayaresort.com 888-487-2011
Travel Advisors to help book your trip:
Destinations by Kami, LLC: destinationsbykami@gmail.com, 419-957-2087
Dream Vacations:JoAnne: jmichaud@dreamvacations.com, 919-452-0227
Samantha Garrick- Travel Advisor Sam@MadHatterAdv.com 601-658-8484
Brook Ray - brook@travelwithdirection.com @travelwithdirection
Melanie Rodriguez, CTA, VTA - melanie@travelwithmelanie.com, 215.240.1327
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are the
Romies.
We are married To each other.
Right?
We are a touring musical duo.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And our music has taken us to all kinds of places
all around the world and keepsus always on the go.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
running around working to keepall your plates spinning.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
And, we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug.
Hi y'all, we are kicking off anew summer series and we're
taking you with us to Placencia,belize yes, not to be confused
with placenta.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Placencia is aia is a place, not a thing.
Well, I guess it's a thing too.
Did you really say?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
that yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
So all right, so let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
All right.
Well, this started over like 15, 20 years ago, something like
that in Nashville, when ourfriend Nyla told us that she was
from Belize.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yes, and for me it started even sooner earlier,
really Earlier, yeah, when I wasa boy.
Sooner earlier, really Earlier.
Yeah, when I was a boy what?
When I was a younger boy than Iam now.
We used to fly down to Hondurasin the summers to work with the
homeless and street kids andstuff my family did and we would
(01:21):
always land in Belize on theway down.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
What?
Yes, I've always known ofBelize.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So you've technically been to Belize.
Yeah Well, technically yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Braggart, I didn't even know that.
I didn't even know that.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Whatever Okay.
So, speaking of Nyla, she'sjust one of those people that
you meet and you instantly fallin love with them Right.
She's super great I mean notlike her husband Scott did, but
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But just yes, she's smart, beautiful, super nice,
and she made us this incredibleBelizean meal.
It was so fun which.
I still think about it, andever since then we have wanted
to go to Belize.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And finally we made it.
Yes, we visited Plasencia andstayed at the beautiful Cyrenian
Bay Resort and Villas.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
So over the next few weeks we're going to be sharing
our full trip, our favorite tips, local flavors and inspiring
stories.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And we're originally calling it our Serenian.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Bay Series.
He gave me this look like saythis with me, Well, it was kind
of like.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
it's such an original name that we came up with.
It's creative, I should say,and today's episode is all about
getting to placentia yes, sogetting there.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So we're gonna break down this episode.
This is we're gonna give yousome practical nuts and bolts.
We're gonna first talk aboutwhat to pack yep.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And then flights and getting there yep.
Currency, language and culture.
Yep planning your stay.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yes, and number five.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Visiting.
Oh sorry, Planning yourtransportation.
Very good, very good, all right, I don't know why I do that,
but I can't help it sometimes.
You're just so talented thatyou have to share all the sides
of your vocal talent.
Yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
And accents, and stuff yeah Now.
Which we're going to talk aboutin a pack.
So what?
The pack, rory, plus I willpack you because I like you to
come with me, but besides yourspouse, placentia is casual,
tropical and beachy beachy soyou got to pack accordingly.
So you want lightweight,breathable clothing like cotton
(03:17):
and linen, things like that.
Um think, shorts, tanks,t-shirts, sundresses, cover that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, and for me multiple swimsuits, because you
know, one's drying.
You don't want to put on a wetswimsuit.
Some people do.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I'm just saying but you do want to be in the water
like every day, and especiallythe where, like where we were
staying.
There were multiple wateroptions.
And so you like wanted to doall of them and you kind of, but
then you're doing like a mealin between them or you're doing
something, so it's nice to notbe able to take it on, put it
off and not put on wet take iton and put it off.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
You know what I?
Mean right right and if you'relike me, if you're not like me,
I don't like flip-flops andsandals because the sand between
dirt between my toes is just me, you might want to bring your
sandals or flip flops.
Yes, and closed toed shoes forexcursions and hiking.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Because excursions are a really great thing to do
you really want to do that?
And, according to my wife,water shoes are a must if you're
headed to waterfalls, rivers orrocky beaches.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
And if you're paddle boarding at the resort.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
That's what she says, but we're going to talk about
that later.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
All right, bring wide brimmed hats so that you can
keep your skin young andbeautiful.
Sunglasses, reef safe,sunscreen, insect repellents and
they have a local one that theyencourage people to get for
sand fleas and they call themnotsiums.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And they will bite you yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And they call them not-see-ums Mm-hmm, and they
will bite you.
Yeah, but you can also bringyour Avon.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Skin so Soft.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yes, that's supposed to be really good to just rub on
your skin for those little guys.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
And a long-sleeve shirt keeps not only sun
protection but also bugprotection.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Okay, also reusable water bottle.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I like that Waterproof phone pouch, which
was awesome for snorkeling, sobring that and boat rides or
pick one up while you're thereBecause again, you're going to
be in the water.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yep Small first aid kit.
You know, because you will getscratches and bites, and the
resort had one, but you mightwant to bring one along.
Camera scratches and bites, andthe resort had one, but you
might want to bring one alongcamera, which is your phone.
So bring your phone and aportable charger.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I love the little bricks you can travel with to
charge your phone those aregreat.
And a beach bag.
Yes, I had a.
Just uh, I folded up the bag inmy main suitcase, or whatever
that I brought over things aboutthe space of a shirt for like
day trips and stuff is reallyeasy and great so optionals yeah
, right towel clips it's juststuff to bring, but yeah flavor
packets for water.
If you're into that, or youre-boost if you like that a small
(05:55):
dry bag right for your clotheswhen you're going home, and what
you don't need to bring is aloevera if you stay at Serenian
Bay.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
That's right, they got it.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
They have their own gardens and their own grounds
and we just got fresh aloe likefrom their garden.
We just asked their people thatare helping there, and we said
hey, You're holding the aloeleaf in your hand.
Yes, and one day they knew wewere on an excursion and we came
home.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
And one day they knew we were on an excursion and we
came home and in our littlefridge in our room was the aloe
vera.
Every single one of us who wenton the excursion.
They gave fresh leaves of aloevera in the fridge to cool them
off for us to put on our sunburnor the sun that we've got.
Pretty awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
So, depending on where you stay, you would not
it's your name, my resort Rightday.
You would not, right then, youdon't necessarily need to bring
some aloe vera, but you aregoing to be in the sun, so keep
that in mind, all right, sothat's kind of just like what
you should kind of pack whenyou're heading to placentia in
belize.
What else?
So let's talk about roryflights and getting there.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yes, so there are practical things so, for we had
flights and getting there, whichwas also a flight, well, and
then a little short van ride,but everyone flies to BZE Belize
Cities International Airportand from there we took a little
hopper flight, right, yeah, itwas really super fun.
(07:19):
A domestic flight to Plasenciawith Tropic Air.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
On Tropic Air.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And to get let me just back up a quick second To
get to Belize you can fly onSouthwest Southwest flies that.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, you can fly Southwest there.
Yep, love it.
And multiple other airlines,we'll get you there as well.
Yeah, okay, so a little puddlejumper Once we arrived at BZE,
belize Cities, international.
Puddle jumper on Tropic.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Air which seats that was the smallest plane I've ever
been on.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I've been on smaller Whatever Of course you know.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Like I said earlier, I'm way cooler than you are.
Yep, yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I've actually flown across Houston from one airport
to the other-.
Whatever In a little Cessna sowe could get to the airport on
time.
Isn't that cool?
That's because I know coolpeople.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
That's because you're important.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah, I know cool people like Michael who flew us.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
That was really awesome.
Thanks, Michael.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yep.
Thanks, Michael.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Okay, well, tropic Air made me feel important and
special.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It was a super cool flight because you don't get so
high and you can see the groundbeneath you almost the whole
time.
So you're looking as you'reflying across, you're seeing the
country, and the countryside isgorgeous we saw very cool, just
multiple terrain.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So you're looking out the window.
Rory was on one side and I wason the other, and so we got
video from both sides.
But, um, and even our differentsides showed different terrain
at different times, which waslike cool and bizarre, yeah, but
we went from seeing like flatwith these windy rivers to all
of like these hill, hillysections and like mountainous
(08:53):
sections.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, mountains.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And then you'd go into like rainforesty looking
stuff and then it would be flatagain.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
And one side of the plane was towards the ocean and
the other was towards inland, soit was cool.
Depending on which side you sat, you got really different views
, so you'll have to check outthe video of our in-flight time.
It was super fun.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Very fun.
So there are two differentairlines that service you, but,
like I said, we did, or likeRory said, we did, tropic Air.
And what was cool is you can?
We had our time and andSerenium Bay took care of all
the details for us, so that wasreally great we didn't have to
think about it.
Worry about it.
Travel agent can do those samewonderful things for you, yeah
(09:33):
real easy.
They got that all situated sothat was something we did not
have to mess with.
But they knew when we werecoming in into Belize City and
booked our flight for like twohours or so after that so that
there's plenty of time forcustoms and immigration, all
that stuff and you can fill outyour immigration forms in
(09:53):
advance so that you're you knowyou can make it even faster.
You get a little qr code onyour phone and you can show the
people and blah, blah, blah, soyou can do a lot of that in
advance.
But we got like we landed and wedidn't want to stick around for
two hours yeah, and you don'thave to like you can just go to
tropic air and say hey, we havethis flight at four and they're
(10:15):
like it's two o'clock, you canget on, we have one leaving
right now and there's room.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Go on over.
Yeah, which is what happened tous.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
It was awesome, we got out two hours early and so
we think that's kind of like thenorm is that they will
accommodate you, and so you kindof just want to book a flight
with enough time so that you canget your luggage and do all
things settle in.
However, you need to do that.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
But when you're ready .
Speaker 2 (10:40):
it's just yeah, and it's not too big to get from one
place to the other and you canjust hop along and get where you
need to go.
So it's fun and easy one placeto the other and you can just
hop along and get where you needto go.
So if you're tired of fun andeasy if you're tired of flying.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Once you get into the into bze, the airport there in
belize city, syrenian bay.
If you're staying there, theyoffer a round trip ride via
air-conditioned van along thecoastal highway okay, so you can
take that as well.
I think it's about $550 perperson round trip US.
So $550 round trip, not one wayRound trip US for the van ride.
(11:14):
And then you're on the coastalhighway.
You get to see stuff, but itdepends on what you want.
Airplane van, both available.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Most everybody flies into Belize City, but that's not
necessarily.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
We didn't actually visit Belize City, right, but as
any country is, you fly intothe major, the largest city in
the country.
You get to experience a lot ofstuff, but it's cool to get out
and see the rest of the countryand it's been recommended to us
that Belize City, while it maybe a nice place to visit, it's
really cool, really really cool,to get out and see the rest of
(11:44):
the country and spend your timein all of the other surrounding
places so much to see that's notjust city, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
right, okay, rory.
So once we get there, like whatare we gonna do?
Like how are we gonnaexperience language, culture,
money, things like that?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
let's dive into that well, they made it really simple
.
For us currency was basicallytwo belizean dollars to one us
dollar, so two to one exchangerate.
I mean you don't need toexchange cash.
Most places will take american,but they'll generally give you
change in belizean, so just beprepared for that.
(12:21):
Just make sure that when you goyour money's in good condition.
They don't want it a half tornup dollar bill and things are
really hard for.
Are old and worn out hard toread because it's hard for them
to yeah, it's easier for them toget them exchanged right.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
So now one cool thing and you can use your credit
card in most places yeah, now,if you stay at a place like
syrenian bay, which we didthere's all inclusive yeah, so
then you're not like everythingis kind of done.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
We never did exchange money.
Did we Right Like?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
it's just, we went into town one day and got some
ice cream and like that waspretty much, you know if you
want to buy a souvenir orsomething like that.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
And they gave us change Belizean.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
So it's just, it's so super easy.
Now, what is extra easy?
If you are American and you'regoing to Belize, or if you are
American and you're going toBelize, or if you are British
and you're going to Belize.
Belize was a British colony,and so their main language is
English.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
English.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
So it is super easy to get around.
So again, we've talked aboutlike if you want to go overseas,
you can go to England orAustralia, new Zealand, like,
start with the place that speaksyour language and then it's
easier for you to adjust to thedifferent country because you're
not having that extra learningcurve of, like, a foreign
language.
And so that's the case withBelize.
(13:37):
If English is your mainlanguage, then you can go to
Belize and you can hear otherlanguages as well, which we'll
talk about in just a second butEnglish got it going for you.
Another thing with the currencyand the English language is
that their currency has theQueen of England on their bills.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Even though there's now the King of England.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Not the.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Queen Right, and this was like a younger picture of
her too.
But they very highly esteemQueen Elizabeth and we were
asking the locals they wereshowing us their bills and what
they look like and stuff,because we were curious and
they're like, yeah, we reallyadmire the queen.
She did such a great job and soeven in Belize they still have
high regard for their Englishheritage.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, here's something cool being a guy who
likes languages and history andcultures and stuff, or I guess
we both do right, mm-hmm,otherwise we wouldn't travel
like we do.
They have four main culturalgroups.
The country's made up of it'slike a cultural sampler platter,
yeah, kind of yes, yes, Onewhich you run into a lot is
Creole.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
We're really connected with that.
Yeah, well, you know it's basic.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Its root is French.
Like the Creole from Haiti, theculture there is descended from
the African slaves and Europeansettlers and obviously the
French influence from thathelped create the language of
Creole.
It's like a patois of Englishand French and some of the local
languages.
It's really an interestingthing.
(15:05):
So anyway, creole is one ofthem.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Another one was Mestizo, and that is a blend of
Spanish and Mayan heritage, andso the Mestizo peoples brought
in their spices, traditions andtheir cuisine into the culture.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, the Creoles brought rice and beans, stew,
chicken, you know things likethat.
So yeah, each culture bringstheir own stuff with them.
Obviously, Mayan is alsoanother, so they are the
indigenous people of Belize.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I think they're known for corn mostly right.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Well, I've always thought of them as like this
ancient sort of mystical thing,but they are still very present
there in Belize and you'll findruins.
That's so cool.
You can still go to theseancient Mayan ruins there in
Belize, food and livingdescendants who will proudly
share their history with you,yeah, and their language, I mean
you can speak Mayan we evenvisited we asked questions and
(15:57):
they were teaching us a fewthings.
I don't remember any of them.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
We visited Cancun a few years ago.
Our shuttle driver spoke.
Mayan and so it's just it's socool.
All right, this is one I couldnever remember the name of.
It is Garifuna Garifuna,garifuna, garifuna, garifuna.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, so much so she can't remember, I can't, she
can't remember how to pronounceit.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
It just never connected in my brain.
It's not something you reallyhear of, but we heard it like
all the time, like this was abig influence in the Placentia
area where we were, and sothey're known for their drumming
, their dancing and theirtraditions.
They are descendants of WestAfrica, caribs, like Caribbeans
and Arawaks.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Okay, you're going to talk about that one the Arawaks
.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
No.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
But there is a Grufana settlement day on
November 19th, like the wholecountry celebrates this, so we
also heard people talk quite abit about the Mennonite
community.
That was surrounding them inPalencia.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
I think that's really interesting.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
So there's other cultures that are infused into
here but it's quite the culturalmosaic, but the main languages.
After English, you're going tofind Mayan and Garufana and some
Spanish.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
And Creole.
And Creole yeah, yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
All right, Rory, let's talk about planning your
stay.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Planning.
Rory, let's talk about planningyour stay, planning your stay.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Where are you going to stay when you go?
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Well, we stayed at Serenian Bay, so that is what I
would definitely recommend Ifyou're going to Plasencia, which
is a peninsula that we stayedon.
It's 16 miles long.
It's pretty narrow.
Sometimes you can drive downthe road and see the ocean on
both sides.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah, that was so cool.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Yeah, super fun.
So if you stay on the peninsula, we recommend Cerulean Bay, but
there are islands everywhereout there you can stay on, also
private islands like you're theonly ones on the island with
really nice digs, so you can dothat.
There are rainforests, beaches,Mayan villages Everything's
right there within reachMountains.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Rainforest stays.
Yeah and everything's rightthere within reach mountains,
it's rainforest stays.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Yeah, that are like cool, very remote in the rain.
Yeah, very remote, veryconnected to the environment.
You stay there, it's all verynatural and green and you hike
through the rainforest and seethe crazy snakes and all the
animals and all this kind ofthing.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Oh, y'all, I was chased by some bird oh, I got
chased, I went on a walk and Iwas trying to like walk the
beach or whatever.
All of a sudden I heard thissquawking, and people do this as
an Instagram story or something.
But it was like chasing me andit was like this little bird and
I've never been chased by abird.
(18:38):
And I had no idea what to do andI started like running a little
faster Because I wasn't sure ifit was just like trying to be
my friend or like mad at me orlike cause I couldn't.
I mean, I really could not tell.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
It must've had eggs nearby.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
That's what?
Yeah, that's what one localfinally told us.
But I would run and then likeit flew to catch up with me and
then I finally just ran, ran,ran, ran, ran and just like I
think it finally gave up onhanging out with me.
But it was really bizarre andso I ended up getting video
because at first he was superinteresting looking bird.
That was like our last day, andso the people that took us to
(19:13):
the airport, I showed them thevideo of the bird and they're
like we have never seen thatbird before.
Like locals that have livedthere forever had never seen
this bird before, so I had somecrazy wild bird anyway yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
So, aside from the bird, not only did we stay at
serenium bay, but they did areally cool thing they took us
to see other properties as wellyeah, so we are going to show
you on our socials.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
This week we're going to give you like a little tour
of homes and like a littleparade of homes we do, we
normally do like a walk with meWednesday, kind of thing.
So you're just going to get alot of tours on Wednesday from
Gecko and they have a lot ofthese just private homes that
you can rent.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yeah, but it's not the same as insurance things.
But Gecko, it's easy toremember because of that, right.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
And we'll put links to that in the show notes.
And then Pranamaya is also avery high end, gorgeous place to
visit and to stay.
You can also stay at the SebaBeach Resort we're going to give
you a tour of that beach resortas well and so that is a very
relaxing beachfront stay.
They have different littlevillas all throughout their
properties and then they have agorgeous pool super gorgeous.
(20:22):
We also had dinner at theirrestaurant, and so they have a
gorgeous pool, super gorgeous.
We also had dinner at theirrestaurant, and so they have a
really nice restaurant there soeven if you're staying somewhere
else, you can go to thedifferent resorts and go to
their restaurants, like therestaurants at Seba, and the
pools and the beaches all that.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Yeah, and Seba was really neat.
It's very different fromSerenian Bay.
Serenian Bay has a bit of amore me anyway in my mind an
open feel, open feel and sebawas like the tropical trees were
all around you.
So as you're walking from villato villa, you're walking
underneath the trees and thesebeautiful flowers and stuff.
It's an old, very wellestablished resort, whereas
(20:56):
serenian bay is newer and justgot a different vibe to it.
So if you prefer like sleepingin a garden feel, then Seba
might be the place for you.
Serenity Bay Resort's a moremodern, newer resort.
They all have the palm trees onthe beach and everything like
that that you can lounge under,but the Seba just felt like it
was an older.
The gardens were beautiful,established resort kind of a
(21:17):
thing, I would check both ofthem out, but Serenity Bay is
the only all-inclusive in all ofBelize, so it's very cool.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
so another way that we got around from place to
place especially like visitingthese different properties was
the boat rides and that was verycool, and so boat taxis captain
jacks again helped with that,and so we got in these boats
that just take you throughcanals and rivers and whatever,
and that's how we got to likethe gecko properties.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, the different islands where you might stay,
the places.
We had lunch and things likethat, and if you're staying on
those islands, that's also howyou get back and forth to the
mainland.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yeah.
So that's another way that youget around if you're not doing
the golf cart thing or inaddition to the golf cart.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Well, the golf cart thing on an island wouldn't be a
whole lot of help.
So, yeah, you want to call theold water taxi.
Oh, another thing too on thoseprivate islands you can have
your own private chef.
I mean what you want, they canprovide.
It just costs.
So you can have your ownprivate chef who cooks two meals
a day for you.
I think it was, or whatever.
It's all available to you there.
(22:21):
Just think of what you want,let them know, and they will set
the trip up for the way youwant it to be, if it's within
their power.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
They want to have you enjoy your stay and continue to
come back.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
So we'll put links to those.
And Serenian Bay again, iswhere we stayed, so we're going
to be diving into that.
Later on this month You'regoing to hear a lot more about
that, because we thought it waswonderful enough to just keep
talking about and sharing withyou.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
But check out our socials.
For the parade of homes I'mexcited about that, yeah, really
cool tours, and whether or notyou want an all-inclusive,
luxury or private villa, likewell, we had, you might want eco
lodging, which is what I wastalking about, the rainforest
and the mountains Placentia hasall of it.
And if planning overwhelms you,we stayed with and met some
(23:07):
amazing travel agents who canhandle everything for you, and
we're going to put all of theirinfo in the show notes.
So if you need a travel agent,click on the show notes.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yep and Serenium Bay can also help you.
Even if you don't stay withSerenium Bay, they can help give
you some ideas as well sothey're a very welcoming loving
place.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah, they'll hook you up.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
All right.
So it's totally worth it tohave a local expert arrange your
itinerary, your excursions,your transport, especially if
you're short on time.
So, speaking of transport, rory, let's talk about transport.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Well, if you're staying in On Placentia or
within Placentia golf carts arekind of the way they do you can
rent golf carts.
Captain Jack's is the place togo for that.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
And that was right across the street from Serenian
Bay.
As a matter of fact, serenianBay owns Captain Jack's.
Now they bought them out.
So, captain Jack's, if you wantan excursion or a golf cart,
whatever it is, that's the placeto get it, they to get it.
They're super fun andconvenient really nice golf
carts, and that's the way to getaround.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, we'll be talking about Captain Jack's in
our next episode and some of theexcursions that you can
experience, so make sure you'resubscribed so you can check
those out.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, I'm sure you can rent a car and they also
have van shuttles and stuff likethat.
But to like tool around on yourown golf cart?
Speaker 2 (24:13):
You can do a golf cart Now, because Captain Jack's
handled all of our excursionsthat we did.
They include the pickup anddrop off directly from where
you're staying Totally.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
And so that made our days like yes, super easy.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
So that again we ended up not needing golf carts
for our stay because we just didexcursions and Captain Jack
handled all that.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
But we'll be talking more about our excursions on the
next episode.
Yes, so stay tuned for that andagain, tropic Air, as far as
transportation, made it so easyto get in and out of Bailey City
and Placentia.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
So just to kind of recap, you're going to pack
smart.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Pack smart.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
You're going to fly light.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Fly light.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
And bring comfy shoes .
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Like fly lice.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
You're not going to stress over currency or language
.
Placencia is rich in culture,stunning scenery, full of
adventure.
You can do everything from likethe whole snorkeling thing to
the whole jungle thing.
So, they've got something foreveryone.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Next week, we'll take you deeper into those kind of
things the snorkeling spicefarms, chocolate farms, farms
we're really cacao and more, sostay tuned.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
So follow us on Instagram, tiktok and Facebook.
All at the Roamies.
That's T-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S.
And don't forget to subscribeso you don't miss the rest of
this Serenian Bay series.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yep, let's keep roaming together.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
We will see you on the next one.
Bye-bye now.
We hope we've inspired you thisepisode so join us next time.
Please subscribe to rate andshare our podcast with your
friends or you know whomever?
And please like and follow uson Instagram, youtube and
Facebook.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
We are also on X and on all social platforms.
We are at TheRomies.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
That's T-H-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-s, and our
main hub is our website atwwwtheromiescom that's right.
That's t-h-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-scom.
We'll be there until next time,yeah thanks for listening bye.
Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are the
Romies.
We are married To each other.
Right?
We are a touring musical duo.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And our music has taken us to all kinds of places
all around the world and keepsus always on the go.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
running around working to keepall your plates spinning.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
And, we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug.
Hi y'all, we are kicking off anew summer series and we're
taking you with us to Placencia,belize yes, not to be confused
with placenta.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Placencia is aia is a place, not a thing.
Well, I guess it's a thing too.
Did you really say?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
that yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
So all right, so let's go.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
All right.
Well, this started over like 15, 20 years ago, something like
that in Nashville, when ourfriend Nyla told us that she was
from Belize.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yes, and for me it started even sooner earlier,
really Earlier, yeah, when I wasa boy.
Sooner earlier, really Earlier.
Yeah, when I was a boy what?
When I was a younger boy than Iam now.
We used to fly down to Hondurasin the summers to work with the
homeless and street kids andstuff my family did and we would
(01:21):
always land in Belize on theway down.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
What?
Yes, I've always known ofBelize.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So you've technically been to Belize.
Yeah Well, technically yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Braggart, I didn't even know that.
I didn't even know that.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Whatever Okay.
So, speaking of Nyla, she'sjust one of those people that
you meet and you instantly fallin love with them Right.
She's super great I mean notlike her husband Scott did, but
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But just yes, she's smart, beautiful, super nice,
and she made us this incredibleBelizean meal.
It was so fun which.
I still think about it, andever since then we have wanted
to go to Belize.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And finally we made it.
Yes, we visited Plasencia andstayed at the beautiful Cyrenian
Bay Resort and Villas.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
So over the next few weeks we're going to be sharing
our full trip, our favorite tips, local flavors and inspiring
stories.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And we're originally calling it our Serenian.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Bay Series.
He gave me this look like saythis with me, Well, it was kind
of like.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
it's such an original name that we came up with.
It's creative, I should say,and today's episode is all about
getting to placentia yes, sogetting there.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
So we're gonna break down this episode.
This is we're gonna give yousome practical nuts and bolts.
We're gonna first talk aboutwhat to pack yep.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And then flights and getting there yep.
Currency, language and culture.
Yep planning your stay.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yes, and number five.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Visiting.
Oh sorry, Planning yourtransportation.
Very good, very good, all right, I don't know why I do that,
but I can't help it sometimes.
You're just so talented thatyou have to share all the sides
of your vocal talent.
Yeah, yes.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
And accents, and stuff yeah Now.
Which we're going to talk aboutin a pack.
So what?
The pack, rory, plus I willpack you because I like you to
come with me, but besides yourspouse, placentia is casual,
tropical and beachy beachy soyou got to pack accordingly.
So you want lightweight,breathable clothing like cotton
(03:17):
and linen, things like that.
Um think, shorts, tanks,t-shirts, sundresses, cover that
kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, and for me multiple swimsuits, because you
know, one's drying.
You don't want to put on a wetswimsuit.
Some people do.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I'm just saying but you do want to be in the water
like every day, and especiallythe where, like where we were
staying.
There were multiple wateroptions.
And so you like wanted to doall of them and you kind of, but
then you're doing like a mealin between them or you're doing
something, so it's nice to notbe able to take it on, put it
off and not put on wet take iton and put it off.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
You know what I?
Mean right right and if you'relike me, if you're not like me,
I don't like flip-flops andsandals because the sand between
dirt between my toes is just me, you might want to bring your
sandals or flip flops.
Yes, and closed toed shoes forexcursions and hiking.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Because excursions are a really great thing to do
you really want to do that?
And, according to my wife,water shoes are a must if you're
headed to waterfalls, rivers orrocky beaches.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
And if you're paddle boarding at the resort.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
That's what she says, but we're going to talk about
that later.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
All right, bring wide brimmed hats so that you can
keep your skin young andbeautiful.
Sunglasses, reef safe,sunscreen, insect repellents and
they have a local one that theyencourage people to get for
sand fleas and they call themnotsiums.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And they will bite you yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And they call them not-see-ums Mm-hmm, and they
will bite you.
Yeah, but you can also bringyour Avon.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Skin so Soft.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yes, that's supposed to be really good to just rub on
your skin for those little guys.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
And a long-sleeve shirt keeps not only sun
protection but also bugprotection.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Okay, also reusable water bottle.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I like that Waterproof phone pouch, which
was awesome for snorkeling, sobring that and boat rides or
pick one up while you're thereBecause again, you're going to
be in the water.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yep Small first aid kit.
You know, because you will getscratches and bites, and the
resort had one, but you mightwant to bring one along.
Camera scratches and bites, andthe resort had one, but you
might want to bring one alongcamera, which is your phone.
So bring your phone and aportable charger.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I love the little bricks you can travel with to
charge your phone those aregreat.
And a beach bag.
Yes, I had a.
Just uh, I folded up the bag inmy main suitcase, or whatever
that I brought over things aboutthe space of a shirt for like
day trips and stuff is reallyeasy and great so optionals yeah
, right towel clips it's juststuff to bring, but yeah flavor
packets for water.
If you're into that, or youre-boost if you like that a small
(05:55):
dry bag right for your clotheswhen you're going home, and what
you don't need to bring is aloevera if you stay at Serenian
Bay.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
That's right, they got it.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
They have their own gardens and their own grounds
and we just got fresh aloe likefrom their garden.
We just asked their people thatare helping there, and we said
hey, You're holding the aloeleaf in your hand.
Yes, and one day they knew wewere on an excursion and we came
home.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
And one day they knew we were on an excursion and we
came home and in our littlefridge in our room was the aloe
vera.
Every single one of us who wenton the excursion.
They gave fresh leaves of aloevera in the fridge to cool them
off for us to put on our sunburnor the sun that we've got.
Pretty awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
So, depending on where you stay, you would not
it's your name, my resort Rightday.
You would not, right then, youdon't necessarily need to bring
some aloe vera, but you aregoing to be in the sun, so keep
that in mind, all right, sothat's kind of just like what
you should kind of pack whenyou're heading to placentia in
belize.
What else?
So let's talk about roryflights and getting there.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yes, so there are practical things so, for we had
flights and getting there, whichwas also a flight, well, and
then a little short van ride,but everyone flies to BZE Belize
Cities International Airportand from there we took a little
hopper flight, right, yeah, itwas really super fun.
(07:19):
A domestic flight to Plasenciawith Tropic Air.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
On Tropic Air.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And to get let me just back up a quick second To
get to Belize you can fly onSouthwest Southwest flies that.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, you can fly Southwest there.
Yep, love it.
And multiple other airlines,we'll get you there as well.
Yeah, okay, so a little puddlejumper Once we arrived at BZE,
belize Cities, international.
Puddle jumper on Tropic.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Air which seats that was the smallest plane I've ever
been on.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I've been on smaller Whatever Of course you know.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Like I said earlier, I'm way cooler than you are.
Yep, yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I've actually flown across Houston from one airport
to the other-.
Whatever In a little Cessna sowe could get to the airport on
time.
Isn't that cool?
That's because I know coolpeople.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
That's because you're important.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah, I know cool people like Michael who flew us.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
That was really awesome.
Thanks, Michael.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yep.
Thanks, Michael.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Okay, well, tropic Air made me feel important and
special.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It was a super cool flight because you don't get so
high and you can see the groundbeneath you almost the whole
time.
So you're looking as you'reflying across, you're seeing the
country, and the countryside isgorgeous we saw very cool, just
multiple terrain.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So you're looking out the window.
Rory was on one side and I wason the other, and so we got
video from both sides.
But, um, and even our differentsides showed different terrain
at different times, which waslike cool and bizarre, yeah, but
we went from seeing like flatwith these windy rivers to all
of like these hill, hillysections and like mountainous
(08:53):
sections.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, mountains.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And then you'd go into like rainforesty looking
stuff and then it would be flatagain.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
And one side of the plane was towards the ocean and
the other was towards inland, soit was cool.
Depending on which side you sat, you got really different views
, so you'll have to check outthe video of our in-flight time.
It was super fun.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Very fun.
So there are two differentairlines that service you, but,
like I said, we did, or likeRory said, we did, tropic Air.
And what was cool is you can?
We had our time and andSerenium Bay took care of all
the details for us, so that wasreally great we didn't have to
think about it.
Worry about it.
Travel agent can do those samewonderful things for you, yeah
(09:33):
real easy.
They got that all situated sothat was something we did not
have to mess with.
But they knew when we werecoming in into Belize City and
booked our flight for like twohours or so after that so that
there's plenty of time forcustoms and immigration, all
that stuff and you can fill outyour immigration forms in
(09:53):
advance so that you're you knowyou can make it even faster.
You get a little qr code onyour phone and you can show the
people and blah, blah, blah, soyou can do a lot of that in
advance.
But we got like we landed and wedidn't want to stick around for
two hours yeah, and you don'thave to like you can just go to
tropic air and say hey, we havethis flight at four and they're
(10:15):
like it's two o'clock, you canget on, we have one leaving
right now and there's room.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Go on over.
Yeah, which is what happened tous.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
It was awesome, we got out two hours early and so
we think that's kind of like thenorm is that they will
accommodate you, and so you kindof just want to book a flight
with enough time so that you canget your luggage and do all
things settle in.
However, you need to do that.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
But when you're ready .
Speaker 2 (10:40):
it's just yeah, and it's not too big to get from one
place to the other and you canjust hop along and get where you
need to go.
So it's fun and easy one placeto the other and you can just
hop along and get where you needto go.
So if you're tired of fun andeasy if you're tired of flying.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Once you get into the into bze, the airport there in
belize city, syrenian bay.
If you're staying there, theyoffer a round trip ride via
air-conditioned van along thecoastal highway okay, so you can
take that as well.
I think it's about $550 perperson round trip US.
So $550 round trip, not one wayRound trip US for the van ride.
(11:14):
And then you're on the coastalhighway.
You get to see stuff, but itdepends on what you want.
Airplane van, both available.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Most everybody flies into Belize City, but that's not
necessarily.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
We didn't actually visit Belize City, right, but as
any country is, you fly intothe major, the largest city in
the country.
You get to experience a lot ofstuff, but it's cool to get out
and see the rest of the countryand it's been recommended to us
that Belize City, while it maybe a nice place to visit, it's
really cool, really really cool,to get out and see the rest of
(11:44):
the country and spend your timein all of the other surrounding
places so much to see that's notjust city, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
right, okay, rory.
So once we get there, like whatare we gonna do?
Like how are we gonnaexperience language, culture,
money, things like that?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
let's dive into that well, they made it really simple
.
For us currency was basicallytwo belizean dollars to one us
dollar, so two to one exchangerate.
I mean you don't need toexchange cash.
Most places will take american,but they'll generally give you
change in belizean, so just beprepared for that.
(12:21):
Just make sure that when you goyour money's in good condition.
They don't want it a half tornup dollar bill and things are
really hard for.
Are old and worn out hard toread because it's hard for them
to yeah, it's easier for them toget them exchanged right.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
So now one cool thing and you can use your credit
card in most places yeah, now,if you stay at a place like
syrenian bay, which we didthere's all inclusive yeah, so
then you're not like everythingis kind of done.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
We never did exchange money.
Did we Right Like?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
it's just, we went into town one day and got some
ice cream and like that waspretty much, you know if you
want to buy a souvenir orsomething like that.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
And they gave us change Belizean.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
So it's just, it's so super easy.
Now, what is extra easy?
If you are American and you'regoing to Belize, or if you are
American and you're going toBelize, or if you are British
and you're going to Belize.
Belize was a British colony,and so their main language is
English.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
English.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
So it is super easy to get around.
So again, we've talked aboutlike if you want to go overseas,
you can go to England orAustralia, new Zealand, like,
start with the place that speaksyour language and then it's
easier for you to adjust to thedifferent country because you're
not having that extra learningcurve of, like, a foreign
language.
And so that's the case withBelize.
(13:37):
If English is your mainlanguage, then you can go to
Belize and you can hear otherlanguages as well, which we'll
talk about in just a second butEnglish got it going for you.
Another thing with the currencyand the English language is
that their currency has theQueen of England on their bills.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Even though there's now the King of England.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Not the.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Queen Right, and this was like a younger picture of
her too.
But they very highly esteemQueen Elizabeth and we were
asking the locals they wereshowing us their bills and what
they look like and stuff,because we were curious and
they're like, yeah, we reallyadmire the queen.
She did such a great job and soeven in Belize they still have
high regard for their Englishheritage.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, here's something cool being a guy who
likes languages and history andcultures and stuff, or I guess
we both do right, mm-hmm,otherwise we wouldn't travel
like we do.
They have four main culturalgroups.
The country's made up of it'slike a cultural sampler platter,
yeah, kind of yes, yes, Onewhich you run into a lot is
Creole.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
We're really connected with that.
Yeah, well, you know it's basic.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Its root is French.
Like the Creole from Haiti, theculture there is descended from
the African slaves and Europeansettlers and obviously the
French influence from thathelped create the language of
Creole.
It's like a patois of Englishand French and some of the local
languages.
It's really an interestingthing.
(15:05):
So anyway, creole is one ofthem.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Another one was Mestizo, and that is a blend of
Spanish and Mayan heritage, andso the Mestizo peoples brought
in their spices, traditions andtheir cuisine into the culture.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, the Creoles brought rice and beans, stew,
chicken, you know things likethat.
So yeah, each culture bringstheir own stuff with them.
Obviously, Mayan is alsoanother, so they are the
indigenous people of Belize.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I think they're known for corn mostly right.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Well, I've always thought of them as like this
ancient sort of mystical thing,but they are still very present
there in Belize and you'll findruins.
That's so cool.
You can still go to theseancient Mayan ruins there in
Belize, food and livingdescendants who will proudly
share their history with you,yeah, and their language, I mean
you can speak Mayan we evenvisited we asked questions and
(15:57):
they were teaching us a fewthings.
I don't remember any of them.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
We visited Cancun a few years ago.
Our shuttle driver spoke.
Mayan and so it's just it's socool.
All right, this is one I couldnever remember the name of.
It is Garifuna Garifuna,garifuna, garifuna, garifuna.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, so much so she can't remember, I can't, she
can't remember how to pronounceit.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
It just never connected in my brain.
It's not something you reallyhear of, but we heard it like
all the time, like this was abig influence in the Placentia
area where we were, and sothey're known for their drumming
, their dancing and theirtraditions.
They are descendants of WestAfrica, caribs, like Caribbeans
and Arawaks.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Okay, you're going to talk about that one the Arawaks
.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
No.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
But there is a Grufana settlement day on
November 19th, like the wholecountry celebrates this, so we
also heard people talk quite abit about the Mennonite
community.
That was surrounding them inPalencia.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
I think that's really interesting.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
So there's other cultures that are infused into
here but it's quite the culturalmosaic, but the main languages.
After English, you're going tofind Mayan and Garufana and some
Spanish.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
And Creole.
And Creole yeah, yep, yep.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
All right, Rory, let's talk about planning your
stay.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Planning.
Rory, let's talk about planningyour stay, planning your stay.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Where are you going to stay when you go?
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Well, we stayed at Serenian Bay, so that is what I
would definitely recommend Ifyou're going to Plasencia, which
is a peninsula that we stayedon.
It's 16 miles long.
It's pretty narrow.
Sometimes you can drive downthe road and see the ocean on
both sides.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah, that was so cool.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Yeah, super fun.
So if you stay on the peninsula, we recommend Cerulean Bay, but
there are islands everywhereout there you can stay on, also
private islands like you're theonly ones on the island with
really nice digs, so you can dothat.
There are rainforests, beaches,Mayan villages Everything's
right there within reachMountains.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Rainforest stays.
Yeah and everything's rightthere within reach mountains,
it's rainforest stays.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Yeah, that are like cool, very remote in the rain.
Yeah, very remote, veryconnected to the environment.
You stay there, it's all verynatural and green and you hike
through the rainforest and seethe crazy snakes and all the
animals and all this kind ofthing.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Oh, y'all, I was chased by some bird oh, I got
chased, I went on a walk and Iwas trying to like walk the
beach or whatever.
All of a sudden I heard thissquawking, and people do this as
an Instagram story or something.
But it was like chasing me andit was like this little bird and
I've never been chased by abird.
(18:38):
And I had no idea what to do andI started like running a little
faster Because I wasn't sure ifit was just like trying to be
my friend or like mad at me orlike cause I couldn't.
I mean, I really could not tell.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
It must've had eggs nearby.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
That's what?
Yeah, that's what one localfinally told us.
But I would run and then likeit flew to catch up with me and
then I finally just ran, ran,ran, ran, ran and just like I
think it finally gave up onhanging out with me.
But it was really bizarre andso I ended up getting video
because at first he was superinteresting looking bird.
That was like our last day, andso the people that took us to
(19:13):
the airport, I showed them thevideo of the bird and they're
like we have never seen thatbird before.
Like locals that have livedthere forever had never seen
this bird before, so I had somecrazy wild bird anyway yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
So, aside from the bird, not only did we stay at
serenium bay, but they did areally cool thing they took us
to see other properties as wellyeah, so we are going to show
you on our socials.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
This week we're going to give you like a little tour
of homes and like a littleparade of homes we do, we
normally do like a walk with meWednesday, kind of thing.
So you're just going to get alot of tours on Wednesday from
Gecko and they have a lot ofthese just private homes that
you can rent.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yeah, but it's not the same as insurance things.
But Gecko, it's easy toremember because of that, right.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
And we'll put links to that in the show notes.
And then Pranamaya is also avery high end, gorgeous place to
visit and to stay.
You can also stay at the SebaBeach Resort we're going to give
you a tour of that beach resortas well and so that is a very
relaxing beachfront stay.
They have different littlevillas all throughout their
properties and then they have agorgeous pool super gorgeous.
(20:22):
We also had dinner at theirrestaurant, and so they have a
gorgeous pool, super gorgeous.
We also had dinner at theirrestaurant, and so they have a
really nice restaurant there soeven if you're staying somewhere
else, you can go to thedifferent resorts and go to
their restaurants, like therestaurants at Seba, and the
pools and the beaches all that.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Yeah, and Seba was really neat.
It's very different fromSerenian Bay.
Serenian Bay has a bit of amore me anyway in my mind an
open feel, open feel and sebawas like the tropical trees were
all around you.
So as you're walking from villato villa, you're walking
underneath the trees and thesebeautiful flowers and stuff.
It's an old, very wellestablished resort, whereas
(20:56):
serenian bay is newer and justgot a different vibe to it.
So if you prefer like sleepingin a garden feel, then Seba
might be the place for you.
Serenity Bay Resort's a moremodern, newer resort.
They all have the palm trees onthe beach and everything like
that that you can lounge under,but the Seba just felt like it
was an older.
The gardens were beautiful,established resort kind of a
(21:17):
thing, I would check both ofthem out, but Serenity Bay is
the only all-inclusive in all ofBelize, so it's very cool.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
so another way that we got around from place to
place especially like visitingthese different properties was
the boat rides and that was verycool, and so boat taxis captain
jacks again helped with that,and so we got in these boats
that just take you throughcanals and rivers and whatever,
and that's how we got to likethe gecko properties.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, the different islands where you might stay,
the places.
We had lunch and things likethat, and if you're staying on
those islands, that's also howyou get back and forth to the
mainland.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yeah.
So that's another way that youget around if you're not doing
the golf cart thing or inaddition to the golf cart.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Well, the golf cart thing on an island wouldn't be a
whole lot of help.
So, yeah, you want to call theold water taxi.
Oh, another thing too on thoseprivate islands you can have
your own private chef.
I mean what you want, they canprovide.
It just costs.
So you can have your ownprivate chef who cooks two meals
a day for you.
I think it was, or whatever.
It's all available to you there.
(22:21):
Just think of what you want,let them know, and they will set
the trip up for the way youwant it to be, if it's within
their power.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
They want to have you enjoy your stay and continue to
come back.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
So we'll put links to those.
And Serenian Bay again, iswhere we stayed, so we're going
to be diving into that.
Later on this month You'regoing to hear a lot more about
that, because we thought it waswonderful enough to just keep
talking about and sharing withyou.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
But check out our socials.
For the parade of homes I'mexcited about that, yeah, really
cool tours, and whether or notyou want an all-inclusive,
luxury or private villa, likewell, we had, you might want eco
lodging, which is what I wastalking about, the rainforest
and the mountains Placentia hasall of it.
And if planning overwhelms you,we stayed with and met some
(23:07):
amazing travel agents who canhandle everything for you, and
we're going to put all of theirinfo in the show notes.
So if you need a travel agent,click on the show notes.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yep and Serenium Bay can also help you.
Even if you don't stay withSerenium Bay, they can help give
you some ideas as well sothey're a very welcoming loving
place.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah, they'll hook you up.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
All right.
So it's totally worth it tohave a local expert arrange your
itinerary, your excursions,your transport, especially if
you're short on time.
So, speaking of transport, rory, let's talk about transport.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Well, if you're staying in On Placentia or
within Placentia golf carts arekind of the way they do you can
rent golf carts.
Captain Jack's is the place togo for that.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
And that was right across the street from Serenian
Bay.
As a matter of fact, serenianBay owns Captain Jack's.
Now they bought them out.
So, captain Jack's, if you wantan excursion or a golf cart,
whatever it is, that's the placeto get it, they to get it.
They're super fun andconvenient really nice golf
carts, and that's the way to getaround.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, we'll be talking about Captain Jack's in
our next episode and some of theexcursions that you can
experience, so make sure you'resubscribed so you can check
those out.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, I'm sure you can rent a car and they also
have van shuttles and stuff likethat.
But to like tool around on yourown golf cart?
Speaker 2 (24:13):
You can do a golf cart Now, because Captain Jack's
handled all of our excursionsthat we did.
They include the pickup anddrop off directly from where
you're staying Totally.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
And so that made our days like yes, super easy.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
So that again we ended up not needing golf carts
for our stay because we just didexcursions and Captain Jack
handled all that.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
But we'll be talking more about our excursions on the
next episode.
Yes, so stay tuned for that andagain, tropic Air, as far as
transportation, made it so easyto get in and out of Bailey City
and Placentia.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
So just to kind of recap, you're going to pack
smart.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Pack smart.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
You're going to fly light.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Fly light.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
And bring comfy shoes .
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Like fly lice.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
You're not going to stress over currency or language
.
Placencia is rich in culture,stunning scenery, full of
adventure.
You can do everything from likethe whole snorkeling thing to
the whole jungle thing.
So, they've got something foreveryone.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Next week, we'll take you deeper into those kind of
things the snorkeling spicefarms, chocolate farms, farms
we're really cacao and more, sostay tuned.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
So follow us on Instagram, tiktok and Facebook.
All at the Roamies.
That's T-H-E-R-O-A-M-I-E-S.
And don't forget to subscribeso you don't miss the rest of
this Serenian Bay series.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yep, let's keep roaming together.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
We will see you on the next one.
Bye-bye now.
We hope we've inspired you thisepisode so join us next time.
Please subscribe to rate andshare our podcast with your
friends or you know whomever?
And please like and follow uson Instagram, youtube and
Facebook.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
We are also on X and on all social platforms.
We are at TheRomies.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
That's T-H-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-s, and our
main hub is our website atwwwtheromiescom that's right.
That's t-h-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-scom.
We'll be there until next time,yeah thanks for listening bye.
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