Blogs from Belize, Central America Caribbean - page 6

Chapter Five: Paradise Lost? Paradise Found? B4 lost herself in her Swedish massage with the portable massage table set up on our veranda and my iPhone music put on hold in favor of new age, well, massage music. I fled to a shady spot beneath an umbrella and a grove of palm trees to read. My music was the lapping of six inch waves on a constructed sea wall of sorts that surrounds 99% of Cayo Espanto. There are a couple of four to six-foot-long typical beaches but the remainder is short sea wall backfilled with coral sand. It is fine unless you want to walk the beach and then it isn’t fine. Bring sandals or water shoes. Both of us were quite happy with our very different outcomes, her to her massage and me to ... read more

Chapter Three: Settling In Around 4:00, Butler Carlos, his assistant Flavio and Chef Richard arrive at Casa Brisa. Richard announces the menu for this evening which offers, after pumpkin soup, a choice of local lobster, snapper or roasted hen followed by a candied apple dessert available whenever we wanted it served. Beryl opts for the snapper and I request that Richard choose for me. Feeling better now, I ask for dinner around seven preceded by a cheese plate and a bottle of 2014 Baron Phillipe de Rothschild sauvignon blanc as soon as it can be arranged. Our staff trio nod enthusiastically and retire to make it so. Don’t be impressed by the wine choice. It’s Chilean and sells for about twelve bucks a bottle in the U.S. and only a bit more at $21 here, but ... read more

Belize: Land of the manatee, ancient caves and reggae vibes. 03/09 - San Ignacio We took a backpacker bus from Guatemala and realised most people were heading straight to the laid-back Caribbean island of Caye Caulker. But we decided to stop just after the Guate border so that we could visit the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) caves. It meant stopping for a couple of nights in the nearest town, San Ignacio. San Ignacio is a small, relaxed town with a very community feel. It seemed everyone knew everyone. The town had packed its tourism into one small street that is lined with tour operators, apart from this it felt very untouristy. It had a weird vibe about it that I couldn't put my finger on, it felt safe but at the same time a little tense, ... read more

8.5. Es steht wieder eine lange Busfahrt an, allerdings diesmal in zwei Etappen. Erst fahren wir ein Stück zurück Richtung Norden bis Escarcega, wo wir am Busterminal auf den Lokalbus nach Chetumal an der Ostküste warten. Hierhin verirren sich offenbar wohl kaum je Touristen, jedenfalls werden wir bestaunt und freundlich ausgefragt. Der Bus hat dann zwei Stunden Verspätung, die gross angekündigte Air Conditioning ist ein Loch in der Decke, aus dem ein laues Lüftchen weht, aus zwei Lautspechern dröhnen zwei verschiedene Mexiko-Ländler, wie sie immer und überall zu hören sind und uns schon einzeln langsam auf die Nerven gehen. Nach fünf Stunden treffen wir etwas zerzaust in Chetumal ein, wo wir uns bald einmal ins Zimmer verziehen. 9.5. Wir schlafen aus, verbringen den Morgen mit Hausaufgaben und fahren am Nachmittag mit der Fähre nach San Pedro ... read more

Country #2 Belize Hmmmm.. Maybe we stay in Mexico 4-6 weeks. After 9 weeks, we finally called it and left Mahahual on the 28th of January. Next destination, Caye Caulker, Belize. We took the bus to Chetumal, shared a taxi with an icecream vendor and crossed the boarder by foot. We paid 500 Peso (US 25$) to leave Mexico and walked 2 km through the free zone, got the Belize stamp and found ourselves on the other side. No bus is leaving from here? Daaamn… maybe we should plan a little more. We took a taxi to Corozal and found a local bus to Belize City surprisingly fast. Suddenly everyone around us spoke either English or Creole. This was a surprise...even knowing that Belize belongs to the British crown. We could definitely tell that we had ... read more