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Published: November 22nd 2011
Bus Station San Ignacio
We got coffee and banana bread for breakfast, bus showed up, and we were off to Placencia.Facts about Belize. There are only 4 highways in the country, totaling 508.5 kilometers of pavement. Other roads are sand/gravel, washboard and tend to wash out. 36.8% of the population are under 15 years old and the average age is 21. There are lots of young unemployed people and 43% live below the poverty line. Babies having babies and then leaving them at orphanage doors is a problem. Tourism, agriculture and marine products are the main industries. Oil was discovered in June of 2005 and in May of 2011, 11 wells produced 4,000 barrels of light oil per day. It is trucked to the southern coastal town of Big Creek, then shipped to Costa Rica, Panama, and Texas. Banking is also important, as the Belize government is proud of their off-shore banking status. Anyone can hold free title to land, and there are many tax incentives for foreigners wanting to relocate to that country.
Tuesday, 7 AM, we were waiting to catch the bus in the sand parking lot. We grabbed coffee and banana bread for breakfast from the vendor there. 7:20 we were off, transferring at Belmopan to take the Hummingbird Highway to Dangriga. This was a very beautiful
Transferring Bus
At Belmopan, we boarded a colorful James Line bus for Dangriga, where we would transfer again. drive through lush valleys and over the mountains of Belize and down to Dangriga. From Dangriga, we took the Southern Highway to Independence, then the water taxi across the narrow channel to Placencia. We were just in time to catch the noon "Hokey Pokey" for the 15 minute ride to Placencia. Placencia is a sleepy seaside village at the tip of a 20 mile long peninsula. One road comes down the center of the peninsula and through the town of 750 people. Small hotels dot the Caribbean shore, seafood restaurants abound and the people are very friendly and accommodating. Friends from Saskatoon had recommended the Sea Spray Lodge. We asked some tourists walking by for directions and they said they were staying there as well. When we arrived, we were told that all they had available was a budget room. Good enough for us.
We settled in, walked out our door onto the sand, marveling at the gentle breeze and soft lapping of the Caribbean sea. We spent the afternoon walking the beach, swimming, reading, snoozing, and more swimming. The beach was clean, the ocean bottom sandy and hard. Late in the afternoon, we wandered the road in the
Banana Fields
Fields of citrus gave way to banana fields, then we climbed over the mountains and descended into the town of Dangriga, on the Caribbean coast. town and found the "Barefoot Bar" where we enjoyed another seafood supper. Lobster and fresh grouper fish, both under $10. How fresh? The owner said come in back and look, I am cleaning him now! We strolled in the moonlight back to our little room, and settled in for a comfortable nights' sleep.
The next day, we upgraded to a larger room with a coffee maker and deck overlooking the beach. That was good news because coffee was $2 a cup and lousy to boot! So while Maurice went grocery shopping for coffee, fruit and cold Bellikin of course, Linda worked on her writing. Easy place to work from; sitting on the deck, overlooking the Caribbean, sipping fresh coffee, enjoying the soft gentle sounds of waves lapping the shore and a light breeze to keep cool. Maurice discovered it only took a half an hour to walk from the tip of the peninsula through the whole town. The peninsula is so narrow that the airstrip, just north of town, stretches all the way across, so when a small plane goes to take off or land, there is a barrier that comes down and blocks traffic. This airport is only
Nice Highway, but the Bridge?
They are in the process of building a new bridge beside this old one. This is on the Southern Highway, where the oil tankers travel. for small aircraft, no jets!
As the sun set, we once again walked the coarse sand beach. The water was sparkling clean and there was no sea grass at all. That night we ate at Omar's Creole Grub, 2 lobster tails $15 and coconut curry grouper $10. The food in Belize is amazing!!! Afterwards, we sauntered down to the Tipsy Tuna, a beachfront restaurant just opening for the season. They had special entertainment, traditional Garifuna drumming and dancing. We spent a pleasant evening sipping $2 rum punch and enjoying the entertainment. It would be hard to find a nicer place than Placencia if you were looking for clean beaches with no undertow and shallow water. It was a quiet, relaxing, small town where you could get to know the locals very quickly.
It was very difficult to stay in bed past 6 AM in Belize. We are not sure why, however, the sun rises at 6 AM, sets just before 6 in the evening. The locals are out and about before 6 and things are quiet by 9 at night. We did not find it difficult to pack, have coffee, pastries and fruit in our room, and be
Independence
This is all of the luggage we have with us on this 3 week trip. We have learned how to travel light. The weather is hot hot hot and humid...about 32 Celsius standing once again on the side of the road for our 7 AM bus ride with the locals. This time we connected in Dangriga with an Express. With the windows open on the buses, the wind blows through and the temperature stays very pleasant, but when the bus is stopped, the heat quickly becomes very oppressive. The driver knew that there were many passengers wanting to connect with the Express. And because we were late for the Dangriga connection, our driver simply pulled over to the wrong side of the road, on the edge of town and came nose to nose with the Express. All passengers wanting to transfer then hustled out the front door, collected their luggage from the back door, and climbed onto the waiting Express. This bus went straight through to Belize City stopping only in Belmopan. It did not pick up any passengers en route. What a surprise to discover that this bus actually had individual seats and of all things, air conditioning!!! We were unable to sit together, however, we didn't mind this because it gave us a chance to visit with locals and learn more about the country. Linda sat with the son of
The streets of Independence
Poverty is an issue in all of Belize, people actually live in these houses. the mayor of Dangriga, a young man in his 20's, who was very well educated. He had a lot of knowledge about the history and local happenings of Belize, and shared his thoughts and experiences with her over the next hour and a half. We arrived in Belize City around 11 AM with plenty of time to take a cab to the water taxi terminal. We shared a cab with a young Canadian couple who were going to Caye Caulker as well.
The harbor terminal in Belize City was in very sharp contrast to everything else we saw in BC. It was new, clean, had little shops or kiosks, and seemed very orderly. We were able to buy our water taxi tickets for our trip to Caye Caulker, then on to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, and also for the final leg of our water experience to Chetumal, Mexico. We climbed aboard the modern, large, passenger ferry for the 45 minute ride to Caye Caulker.
Caye, pronounced "key", Caulker is a limestone island about 5 miles long, a mile wide at it's widest, and has a population of around 1300. About a quarter of the way up from the
Hokey Pokey Water Taxi
We could have transferred bus on the side of the highway to get to Placencia, but we wanted to take a ride on the "Hokey Pokey" taxi. south end, the island narrows, and locals had trenched a narrow passage by hand. In 1961, Hurricane Hattie opened up this tiny trench and today it is over 20 yards across and deep enough to allow large boats to cross. This is called the 'split', and Caye Caulker Village lies on it's southern edge.
We saw a small sign that advertised Colinda's Cabanas, a backpacker's special. So after collecting our rolling backpacks, we set off, following the directions the locals gave us: go left down the street to the dead end, take the path through the graveyard, then follow the edge of the water and you will find it, no problem. And they were right! The owners, formerly from Whistler, BC, had sold their retirement home in Canada, and bought this rundown business. They had built 2 new deluxe cabanas and were rebuilding and modernizing the rest. We had just missed being able to rent the beautiful new upper guest suite by a few hours, and so we settled for another 'budget' cabana! By 2 PM, the salt water ride and the heat of the day had brought on a terrible thirst, so we set off to explore the
Taxis that cross the bay
Placencia is on the tip of a peninsula, so not many buses run there, they run regularly through Independence, then a 15 minute Hokey Pokey ride got us to Placencia. island and find some Belliken beer.
About a 45 minute stroll along the beach, back through the cemetery and down the sand road, we ended up at the Split. A bar is perched right on the edge. This was the only place on the whole island where swimming was comfortable. Everywhere else had a grassy weed that grew profligately and created a soggy unpleasant ocean floor. A few bar tables were in the foot deep water. We enjoyed our Bellikens while soaking in the Caribbean. Nice, hot weather, cold beer, and beautiful scenery. How much better does it get? The only vehicles on the island were golf carts and bicycles, no vehicles, motorcycles, scooters or quads. Everyone says hello, and most importantly, NO ONE rushes, at any time for anything. Once again lobster and barracuda were our choice for dinner. Delicious! The prices were very moderate. The full moon made the moonlit stroll breathtaking! Colin, the cabana manager, mentioned that the scurrying we'd hear during the night was not mice, but crabs out and about.
Friday morning, we returned to the Split where we lounged, swam a bit and read a little. We began to get a little
Beautiful Clear Blue Water
The mangroves grow out of the water. The water was warm and the sea was calm. tired of the sand flies and no see'ums that had been pestering us since arriving on Caye Caulker. We felt isolated at the far end of the village and somewhat disappointed with our humble cabana. So we looked up Cost Maya Beach Cabanas, which had been suggested to us by our neighbors in Saskatoon. Heather, the manager, originally from Vancouver, had a room for us. The beautiful suite above the office was open, so we made arrangements to move the next day. It came with AC, fridge, coffee pot, microwave and other amenities. Back at our first cabana, we met a retired couple from Alberta. They told us that they spent 2 months in the fall and 2 months after New Year backpacking through Central and South America. They had interesting stories to tell of the places they had visited in the last couple of years. Looking for supper later, we came across a sign that said "Wish Willy" and advertised shrimp, lobster, fish, or conch for only $18 BZD including all the rum punch we wanted. That drew us down the side street like a magnet. A couple of old shacks, a few picnic tables and a smoking wood
View of the Caribbean
This was our view from our room's deck. BBQ greeted us as we wandered in. Willy himself sauntered over and asked us what he could cook for us. We said we weren't sure, just something good, so he replied and I quote, "Sit down, I'll cook you a good f@#king good supper." So we sat, his assistant brought us some rum punch, and Willy returned later with a plate of whole lobster and fresh snapper grilled on the BBQ, with "to die for" mashed potatoes and vegetables. Wow, were we ever impressed! We returned to Colinda's Cabanas, enjoyed an evening drink with our Alberta neighbors, and after a brief but heavy rain shower, headed for our hut.
Saturday turned out to be cloudy and windy, the first time the sun wasn't shining brilliantly on our trip. A great day for a move. We packed and headed down the street toting our bags again for the half hour walk to Costa Maya. We spent the day reading and enjoying our fantastic view of the ocean and town. We also made arrangements to go on an Island Hopping Tour the next day if the sun was shining.
Sunday the sun was shining, the wind was down and it
Working Holiday
Have to do a bit of this too, but not too tough under these circumstances. looked to be a great day to be out on the sea. Five of us gathered on the dock at 9AM sharp and off we went with Vito and his assistant, Mig, for the day. After over an hour of bone jarring in the boat, we arrived at Goff's Caye, a tiny island maybe a hundred yards across. Ray, one of the people in our tour, did some fishing while the rest of us snorkeled and swam in the warm quiet waters on the edge of the Barrier Reef. Not 20 minutes later Vito and Ray returned with a barracuda about 3 feet long. First bait got this guy. Mig cleaned it, cut it up and cooked it for us while we went snorkeling. Vito guided us to the very edge of the reef and to the drop off. It was fantastic! The clean aqua blue water made for great views of the many types of corral, sting rays (speckled and manta), colorful fish (some big and lots small, but colorful), sea-fans .... and so much more. The water is so clear that it is hard to tell what the depth of the water was. When we got out of
Children Fishing
School is out at 4 and these young fellows are fishing off the end of the dock, right at the tip of the peninsula. A 5 and a 10 year old. the water lunch was ready for us. Baked potato, chicken, shrimp, beans (of course) and freshly caught barracuda! Bellikin and rum as well.
Back in the boat, we proceeded onto our next stop, a tiny and I mean tiny island again on the reef. This island used to have trees and a couple of houses on it, but the storms in the last few years had destroyed the houses, swept away the trees and all that remained were 2 cement septic tanks and maybe 20 yards of sand about 3 feet above the water level. We snorkeled after a little enhancer. Linda found 4 beautifully colored conch shells and lined them up on the island. They seemed to wave at us as we left for our third island stop.
Our final stop was St. George's Caye. This island used to be the capital of Belize when the English ruled Belize. This small island housed a private aquarium that we went to see. A 10 year old boy was our guide and was extremely knowledgeable regarding all the species and their habitat. Linda was totally charmed with Carlos and asked many questions. Then, it was back in the boat
Fresh Grouper for Supper
As we were looking at the supper menu, the owner said I have fresh fish and lobster today for you, come see. and the final leg back to Caye Caulker.
We had a great time out in the boat, but were glad to be back, out of the sun and off the water. Wish Willy's sign again caught our attention with an "all you can eat seafood buffet" and rum punch. Can you imagine, all the lobster, conch, shrimp, fish, etc and rum you want for 10 bucks. This time, there was a full house, and we learned that Wish Willy's was recommended by Lonely Planet, though Willy hadn't been aware of that. It was perfect, except of course for those pesky sand flies biting. We finally had to resort to repellant to get some relief. We very much enjoyed the quiet relaxed pace, and the delicious and inexpensive food. Too bad the swimming was restricted, and there were those irritating bugs that kept biting all the time!
Monday morning, we were off for the final stop of our Belize adventure, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. This is the largest and best known of the Cayes. It houses several large all-inclusive resorts as well as gated community developments and condo projects. The hustle and bustle was apparent as soon as we
The one street in Placencia
Soccer field on the left, restaurant on the right, as well as homes and shops. got off the water taxi. We refused the many "need a cab" requests and walked to an old, 3 story hotel that Maurice had seen on the internet. We took a small room again, dropped our bags and once again headed off to see what we could find. Prices were double for food here. We did see vehicles here but the regular mode of transportation was still golf carts and bikes. The buildings varied in condition from old dilapidated shacks to 5 star resorts intermixed with businesses, schools and an airport. We wandered and explored the town. When we needed to sit down we went to the waterfront where the wind kept the bugs away and the cold beer was great. The evenings end early here as well and most things are closed by 10PM.
Next morning, up again at 6AM for no apparent reason, packed up and rented a golf cart. We moved to Hotel del Rio and then continued on to see more of the island by golf cart. All along the coastline condominium projects were being built. It appeared that most of San Pedro was for sale. We went as far south as the water treatment
Sea Spray Lodge
View of our hotel from the waters edge. The palm trees were awesome. plant and as far north as the road went, about 10 miles. We drove up and down mostly one lane streets checking out the sights. We returned to our new hotel, turned on the AC and cooled off a bit before going off to forge for supper. We fueled up and returned the golf cart. We decided to eat at a place called Carumba. Once again seafood we enjoyed the seafood, this time with a curry twist. Wow is all I can say about another meal. We walked back to our hotel along the beach and gazed at the upside down moon and the constellations from the end of the pier.
Next morning we had breakfast at our hotel and Linda worked for a while. Then we were off to the airport because we had chartered a plane to fly us over the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is one of the naturally occurring wonders of the world and is also disappearing. We arrived at Maya Air and were ushered to a 4 seater Cessna and strapped in. We first flew over Ambergris Caye, then the reef out over the open ocean, over Turneffe Atoll, and then there it
Linda Swimming
The clean sand, no weeds and a hard sand bottom made swimming a pleasure and you could go out very far. About here is where we saw the dolphins. was, 30 minutes and 80 miles off the coast of Belize. The Blue Hole! We flew around and around the hole starting from an altitude of about 5000 feet. The color of the water was well defined in blue where it was deep and bright green in the shallows. We circled 4 or 5 times going lower and lower each time. We were so close that we could see the sting rays swimming in the ocean. The coral was blue and green through the water. As we flew back we could see dolphins swimming in the ocean below us. It was unbelievable! The Blue Hole was on Linda's bucket list. As we arrived back the pilot circled Ambergris Caye one more time for us. What an experience! After leaving the airport, we toured the town a little more and headed back to the hotel to rest. We had supper at Reef Restaurant, right across the street from the Carcumba which was closed. While we were eating, the front doors of the Carumba opened, and a vehicle backed out, left, then returned a half hour later, and pulled back into the restaurant. Seems like it served as a garage as well,
The Caribbean
From our deck, it was breathtaking. they just moved the tables, opened the doors and parked inside.
Our final morning in Belize once again found us up at with the sun at 6AM. Breakfast in the room, a nice walk to the water taxi and after paying the $30 exit fee we boarded the water taxi and headed for the Bahia de Chetumal. We arrived at Chetumal about 9:30AM. Four uniformed men with machine guns in hand were waiting to greet us on the dock. We disembarked, the dogs checked our luggage, we cleared customs and headed to the airport to see if we could get tickets to DF. We booked a flight for 7PM, so we had the day to explore...with bags in tow. We headed to the main street and had a great breakfast with re-fried beans, we must be in Mexico! We walked to the pier and spent the afternoon in the park reading and watching the locals work and play. After an early supper of salad, something you don't get much of in Belize, we headed for the airport, boarded the plane to DF, and were home by 10:15PM.
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