You betta Belize it!

Alright...I know it's been almost 2 weeks since my last blog but a lot has happened and at the same time not that much has happened.

So...my last blog was about staying in at the hostel El Retiro in Lanquin and seeing bats and going in caves and climbing and descending waterfalls and seeing really beautiful natural limestone pools. While I was there I met this girl named Asha. She is from Australia and I had a lot of fun with her. She was headed to the Bay Islands in Honduras and I decided I was going to change my plans and go there and then head to Belize and then see Tikal in Guatemala instead of the opposite. Now I know some of you are thinking, Why would she go to Honduras after the coup a few months ago. Well....to tell you the truth really the only problems are in the Capital and I met a lot of people that had come from different parts of Honduras and said it is all over rated and everything was fine. Asha had even taken a trip to Copan and she said it was fine...so yeah...all is well and I decided to go.

So we took the back way to Rio Dulce on a shuttle that took most of the day. We stayed in a 24 bed dorm room of which we were the only inhabitants. We had 3 showers and 4 toilets to ourselves. The next day we got on a chicken bus to Puerto Barrios and from there we were going to take a bus to the border....if all worked out we would have been on the Island of Utila before dark. Well....we get to Puerto Barrios and get on a microbus to the border and this girl next to us asked where we were heading. She told us the border was closed and we couldn't get to honduras. No one could give us more information than that. So we got off the microbus, found an internet cafe and began looking for information. We didn't have very much luck figuring out what was going on, but we did find that the border was closed and there was a 4pm cerfew. We had to figure out another plan. It turns out the president snuck back into the country and was hiding out in the Brazilian embassy.

New plan....we have to stay in Puerto Barrios for the night...and this is not the kind of place you want to spend the night. Asha didn't want to go to Belize originally but since she couldn't get to the Bay Islands, she decided to come with me to Belize. We found a place to stay, got some food and then went back to the internet. What else are we going to do in this town. I wrote the last blog and talked to my family and a few friends and then at 7:30 the internet cafe closed and we went back to the hotel and read ourselves to sleep.

Next day we got up super early to get to immigration by 8 am. We paid $10 US to get our exit stamp and then paid $25 US for the 1 hour ferry ride and then got breakfast near the pier while we waited for our 10 o'clock boat. Got to Punta Gorda, Belize and went through Belize immigration, got a stamp and didn't have to pay anything and then caught a bus to Dangriga.

The town of Dangriga is supposed to be the culture capital of the Garifuni culture. We got there and the town was empty. Most stores and restaurants were closed or empty and we got to the hostel and there were only 2 other people staying there...and its the only hostel there..other hotels yes...but not hostels. So we put our bags down and head to take our first dip in the carribean ocean. Water was warm...perfect temperature for a pool, but full of silt because of the rain. Find a place to get shrimp and fish and our first Belizean Beer ...Belikin. We also got to experience Belize's favorite hot sauce...Marie Sharp's...good stuff!!! Went back to the hostel and 2 more people had arrived. We all hung out on the porch in front of the room talking and having drinks. Good times and good conversations. We convinced the 2 new comers they should head to El Retiro and told them how to get there. After there were no more drinks we decided to go for a midnight swim. It was dark at the water front, which was super close to the hostel....straight ahead with nothing in our way but a little grass field. We need a flashlight so I went to get my headlamp. I was really nice, since Asha's bag was way heavier than mine I put my stuff in the top locker...but then I couldn't get anything out of it without having to take the whole thing out. I climbed up to get it as everyone walked in and they immediately saw the opportunity to lock me in. After a few laughs we went for the midnight swim. That was funny....this guy Mikey was screaming like a little girl every time his feet sunk into the ground. After Mickey and I decided to go on a mission to find more to drink...we didn't think we would be successful in this sleepy town, but we met a local who took us to the only spot. In their locals were playing poker for money and slamming down dominoes so loud I jumped. We got some 1 Barrel Rum and walked back with our 2 new local friends to drink. It was definitely an interesting evening. We faked being tired to get them to leave because in the end they were kind of shady.

Then next morning we left town to head for Caye Caulker...pronounced Key Caulker. On the way we were going to stop at a Cenote for a little natural swimming hole swim, but it was pouring down rain the whole time, so we didn't stop. We took a bus to Belize city and from there we had to take a ferry to the island of Caye Caulker. While waiting in for the next ferry I spotted the ultimate fanny pack sighting. It was so rediculous that I had to take a photo of it. The boat ride was super rough....so much so that I was flying off the bench with every bump. Being so soar from the boat ride and tired from the late night before I was out by 8 pm. The Island is not that big...only dirt roads and Golf carts as peoples cars. Next day we had a lazy day....walked around the Island and got eaten by mosquitos, went for a swim at "the split." So the Island has a split in it where the ocean kind of cuts the island into to. This was fun...the current there was strong. As soon as I jumped in it pushed me from one side of the cement walk way to the other in just a few seconds...after you get past the bridge you can stand and then walk back in and do it all over again. We bought some baked good from two little local kids. They were super cute and we couldn't resist. We got Johnny cakes...which are basically a bland cookie and some awesome coconut bread. Since I had someone to travel with we had bought groceries to cook our own breakfast and lunch while on the island. Belize is really expensive compared to most Central American countries, so this was a nice way to save money. At night we went to the recommended spot and we got to pick out our meals. They were caught that day!!! Ate spinny lobster grilled on an open fire bbq...yummy!!!! The weather was hot and hummid, but also really windy and cloudy. We were told the cloudy and windy wasn't going anywhere soon, but the morning after our second night, we woke up to calmer winds and clear skies. We signed up for an all day snorkel trip.

The snorkel trip was AMAZING!!!!! Surprise to us, the boat was a sail boat. I personally think this made the trip. It was so relaxing and really fit into the state of mind of the Caye Caulker. We went to 3 different snorkel spots. The first was a reef off of Caye Caulker and where we might see Manatees. We didn't see any, but we did see a lot of fish, coral, a small sea turtle and I got to touch a Manta Ray!!!! The next spot was Shark Realley. Yeah...thats right...we get there and sharks are everywhere. Don't worry they were nurse sharks and we were told they are harmless.We quickly gear up and jump in. They quickly swam away, but as we were in the water we found more that swam around with us...i touched one..totally on accident...but I did. Saw a conch in its shell and more fish and I can't even remember what else. Then we got back on the sail boat and lunch was ready for us...tuna sandwiches. We went to the last stop which was the Hol Chan reserve, this has been protected for over 20 years. We saw more sharks, a huge sea turtle, rainbow pirate fish and many others..it was amazing!!! We get back on the boat and are served ceviche and rum punch. It was the perfect way to end the day. Oh I forgot to mention this whole time we had raggae music playing from a boom box. It was the perfect day and so much fun!

That night we had dinner with the Captain of the sail boat (Big Steve)...that was interesting.. He told us all his theories on the Chinese. Interestingly....I expected to see dark people and mayans and latins in Belize and I knew it was mostly an English speaking country, but I did not expect to see as many Asians as I did. They seem to own all the grocery stores, shops and stores. There were more Chinese food restaurants than Belizean food restaurants. The one thing I did agree with Big Steve about was they own everything yet you never see them walking around on the streets.

So I got eaten alive by bugs and woke up that night almost in tears from the itchiness and constant feeling that I was being attacked. I couldn't stay there any more....that morning I got up and packed my bags and left Asha on the Island. She was staying to do some diving...she dived the blue whole, a local reef and did a night dive...not in that order. She stayed there for a whole week.

I went off and did my own thing. I went to Orangewalk. I'm sure the town was great, but I got there on a Sunday and it was so sleepy. There were only 2 restaurants open and I only saw one traveler. I was miserable in my hotel room with the itchiness and no one to entertain me. Next morning I took a boat trip to Lamanai to see some Mayan Ruins. That day only 4 people went to see the sites...I was one of them. I learned a bunch of things and saw some cool ruins. I learned about this ancient game the Mayans played. They had a huge really heavy ball they rolled around with their head and feet and elbows and tried to bounce it into a basket. The winners were killed and gloriously went straight to heaven. The losers were killed and went to hell. Not a game I wanted to play. It was to symbolize something about the story about how the tiger got its strips or something like that. We climbed up to the top of the High Temple and yeah. Fun time. We got the boat back, which I think i slept through. I got a free ride with the people on the trip to Belize City and then took a bus to San Ignacio.

The first day I tried to hike up to Cehal Pech...local ruins...and see the view of the town from the top of the hill. Half way through the hike it started to down poor....I was defeated by weather and had to walk back in my tank and shorts...no rain jacket. I changed and sat on the porch to wait out the rain. It cleared up and I met 4 canadians and an australian. They invited me to get in the car they rented with them and try to find some natural pools to swim in. These people were hilarious, it was a 2 our ride with no music. They were singing every Disney song they could think of. One guy recited "One Jump" from Aladin....i think they sang the whole album from the Lion King. Didn't find the pools but did find the 1,000 ft. falls. It wasn't worth the drive, but the entertainment was. There were 4 of us squished in the back...as you can see everyone quickly got comfortable with everyone. Went to dinner with these guys and the fun continued. We met a local named Courage who was celebrating his birthday. He was super shady and very funny! Next day I was supposed to go on a trip to go caving and see remnants of a Mayan sacrifices.

I woke up that morning and just couldn't do it!!! I had to get to skype...by the way it was banned in Belize due to a monopoly on the phone company. Super lame....so I got the hell out and canceled the trip and went back to Guatemala.

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Part of trip: Guatemala and Belize

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