San Pedro

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Friday morning we all woke up in pretty rough shape after Galen's bbq to kick off the semester the previous night. Gary picked a few of us up at school after class and we headed East towards Belmopan. From Belmopan melodie emily and I hopped on the bus bound for Belize City. Getting into the city was stimulation overload! I practically walked out into oncoming traffic after leaving the bus station, as the immense heat, noise and movement began swirling around me. Driving through the city to the water taxi station I saw about as much of the city as I needed to. Belize city still has the whole colonial legacy to deal with, and it's very apparent with the amount of poverty and drifters walking the streets.

We left Belize city within an hour of getting there (thank god) and hopped on a water taxi bound for San Pedro. The first boat they put us on was enclosed on all sides and extremely uncomfortable. Luckily it broke down halfway to Caye Caulker and we had to board another boat in the middle of the sea. It was incredible to see that as soon as we got off the first boat and into the open air of the second boat that the sun had come out. The rest of the trip was pleasant and we arrived in San Pedro at about 4:30. When we arrived, we found somebody to take us to our hotel on his golf cart, where we immediatly met the other members of our group. The hotel was a dump, but we didn't stay long.

Saturday we woke up to cloudy skies which were followed by torrential downpours. We were supposed to have gone out to the reefs that day but the sea was too rough and we had to postpone until the following morning. By about 4 the rain had subsided and we began walking towards the water tower, where we had heard that it was somebody's job to feed the hungry crocodiles in the lagoon every night. We got there just as the guy was tying a whole chicken to a string and throwing it into the lagoon. Sure enough 2 crocodiles descended on the tiny peninsula and began vying for the chicken. What a sight! Afterwards we struck a deal with Peter at the hotel to get a free night as long as we ran a $60 tab downstairs. We were greeted by a group of British soldiers on leave who had been in the bar all day, they ended up running a $2,000 tab that night.

Sunday morning we woke up at 7:30 and headed down to the docks to catch our boat out to the reefs. It was a bit frustrating to get out to the reef and get hit up by the warden for an extra $20 but being in the reef more than made up for it. Our guide was rediculous. He was picking up jellyfish, grabbing stingrays and bringing eels out of their caves. The second stop on the trip was Shark Ray Alley, where the waters were chummed and people waited with great anticipation for the arrival of stingrays and nurse sharks. The stingrays were a ton of fun, and very docile. The nurse sharks were a bit more timid and you had to swim a bit further away from the group to chill with them. The rest of the day was spent at the beach soaking up the remaining waves. Me and Chandler were a bit late for the last water taxi and barely got them to turn around for us. When we got into Belize City it was more of the same, as we barely caught the 5 o'clock bus. Chandler had to stand next to the door for about an hour before he got a seat, it was a bit of a nerve racking ride.

San Pedro is definitely worth a visit! To see the full archive of pictures check out the link below

The San Pedro Incident

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