Charley Wolf had always said it was the friendliness of her people which ultimately convinced him to relocate his family from the heartland of the European Community to the bush jungles of Belize. To this very day, despite the challenges, he remains committed to his love affair with Belize.

Mutually the adult Wolfs agree on at least one thing when it comes to the land by the Carib Sea, and that's that Belize offered to them and theirs yet another new beginning at making life meaningful in a string of pearls of attempts at finding a new beginning.

I guess then that's why Charley Wolf, daydreaming upon all that friendliness, was so miffed as to just why some Rasta guy with platinum highlights they had just left dockside had found reason to cuss a family of total strangers. For literally as the Belize City to Caye Caulker ferry boat pushed her away towards the open channel with him and his family, Charley Wolf became rattled and confused as to just why he and the family had been verbally thrashed so relentlessly until they were completely out of his sight as well as verbal range.

Collectively all the Wolfs could only reason that the young man had possibly been left jilted after they declined his unsolicited offers to help them with their luggage dockside. Charley loved his Belize and so reasoned that surly the people of the western Caribbean country had no malice towards foreigners with a different shade of skin.

With the not so kind farewell at the Belize City pier now disappearing into the wake of the ferry boat, Charley and his family were on their adventure again. Immediately the reality came crashing in as the hull of the wave dancing Thunderbolt slapped the Wolfs sideways. Just as the boat once again landed back down upon the surface of Earth from the crest of another wave, a soaked Charley Wolf could care less about getting all wet.

For Charley was finally starting to walk tall again after the chewing he had received from Mrs. Wolf only twenty four hours prior. That's right, though she would surly never forget, Mrs. Wolf had almost forgiven Charley for dropping their hard earned savings so frivolously two nights earlier in a Belize City hotel & casino.

How it all happened Charley and Mrs. Wolf both admit it should be no mystery to anyone. "For never have gambled is to have never lost", she would say, and Charley Wolf as countless other men have done day in and day out throughout the ages, sadly, Charley played the odds and lost.

To his favour, for decades Charley Wolf had not set one foot into the likes of a casino. Never speaking about a twisted road-trip in his late teens when casinos were new to even New Jersey, Charley openly admitted he didn't like gambling nor the life it brought to the gambler.

And so that's why it was with great apprehension Charley Wolf had sidestepped destiny to walk back into a gambling casino. It would be the first night in twenty-nine years that Charley chanced venturing into a big room at an oceanfront resort, and so to no one's real surprise, something less than primitive that had remained silent all those years in his heart took over and absolutely caught him on fire with the gambling bug. Yes, you could say, the poor man snapped.

For literally within minutes of picking up from the cashier his first round of poker chip tokens, Charley was sitting alone, cards to cards with an East Indian woman dealer who said she was from Punta Gorda. Realizing quickly he was at odds at the five dollar Black Jack table as well as totally absorbed with intrigue by the eyes of the East Indian woman, Charley decided to cut the tension and so asked politely that he be brought a small glass of Vodka. The house of course obliged Charley's request as any casino in the world would readily do for a player.

Later Charley would reflect with the Mrs. upon the magic the ringing of the slot machines and the bright lights and the passing show girls had had upon him. Charley would also admit that slamming short fat glasses of Russian Vodka blended gently with milk and Kailua certainly did little to enhance his card playing focus.

Blinded by the light or the liquors or a combination of all of the above, at first Charley Wolf was up a hundred and fifty and feeling no pain. However, four drinks and an hour later he had a pounding throbbing in his temples and was down somewhere around five hundred and thirty-five dollars and free falling fast.

All said, in the end, the house had her way with Charley and the Wolfs adventure was forever setback somewhere between US$500 and BZ$1100.00. As painfully devastating as the obvious financial loss at the gambling table in Belize City had been to Charley and the Wolfs, once again it was Mrs. Wolf that rallied the family forces from the doldrums.

Stressing there was nothing left than the lesson learned and off they should all be to the task now at hand, which required they gather their belongs and disembark for the shores of Caye Caulker. And can you believe his luck, why the first person that old Charley Wolf laid his good eye to eye upon was yet another platinum Rasta man, this one Caye Caulker side and smiling as the words slipped off his tongue, "Hey ma-an, you need a hotel or a tour or a taxi or what???"