UNBELIZEABLE VACATION DAY 9 :: SAN PEDRO, AMBERGRIS CAYE, BELIZE :: We were sad to leave our cottage at Chaa Creek, but we knew there would be more exciting adventure and stunning scenery at our next destination, Ambergris Caye. This long island skirts the Belize Barrier Reef, second only in size to Australia's. Ambergris Caye is also famous for being Madonna's "la isla bonita," where she "fell in love with San Pedro," the island's charming and vibrant town.

We took a small plane from Belize City to San Pedro via Tropic Air. We had a choice between Maya Island Air or Tropic Air, and we're glad we went with Tropic. Their planes are some of the nicest prop planes I've ever flown in. Quiet, clean and comfortable, and sporting impressive digital instrument panels. Our flights were only 20 minutes long, during which we looked out over the shallow, turquoise sea, speckled by dozens of tiny islands that are sheltered inside the reef from the open, deeper blue waters of the Caribbean.

In San Pedro, we explored the town's three main streets (named Front, Middle and Back), shopping for souveniers and searching for a good place to eat. Most of the buildings are painted in bright colors and are packed close together. There are about 4000 permanent residents in San Pedro, although that number is increasing rapidly every year. Golf carts are the main mode of transportation, being better suited for the narrow streets and alleys, and for cruising over the sandy roads leading to the resorts up and down the island.

Our resort, the Belize Legacy, was about seven miles north of San Pedro. A golf cart would take at least an hour to cover this distance over sand, so we elected to use the water taxi instead, which would only take about 15 minutes to get to the resort's dock. We stocked up on groceries before heading out, and we were impressed by the selection. In San Ignacio, it was difficult to find Kristie's staples (Cheerios and chocolate chip cookies), but we finally found them in San Pedro.