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Published: December 31st 2008
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The water taxi to Belize took about an hour. Leaving from a dock in Belize City, it eased through a tight canal with boats of all sorts on both sides, and passed shops that cater to the many cruiseships that arrive in the area, before taking to more open water at a higher speed.
The water was not to rough, and the sun was out, so it was a pleasant trip in the 75 foot, passenger only, motor boat. We arrived in the afternoon sun at a older wooden dock and walked a few feet to the shore. The girls waited for their luggage, which was following on a second boat due to lack of room, and I hurried to Tina's backpackers, right near the dock, to check if there was space. There wasn't, and the three of us followed a tip from one of the other backpackers and went to Miramar, where I got a bare single room for $25 Belize dollars ($12.50 USD) and the others shared a double for $35.
After a few minutes to get settled, we walked around the island a bit, getting the lay of the land. We looked into some arrangements for
snorkling the next day, and generally enjoyed the nice weather! We stopepd for some food, but they wanted to wait for happy hour before eating (2 for 1 drinks!) so we split ways, deciding to meet up for dinner a bit later. I went back to the hostel to chat with some of the folks there. I invited them along for dinner too!
We ended up wandering around a bit, and then sat down for some drinks at a sandy beach bar with about 9 people around a square picnic table. We all had a few drinks and a bit of a bite to eat, but the group slowly split up - some heading off for more drinking, and a few off us interested in a bit more food! We tried a few of the stalls along the waters edge, and ended up at Fran's. It was a beach hut with a BBQ outside, and a simple menu of fish, chicken, lobster or shrimp with garlic bread, potatoes, desert and free drinks. I can't remember the price but it was cheap ($12 I think).
The next day started out poorly, rainy and windy, but by the time I
was up and moving around 8:30, it was nice and sunny again. I had a nice breakfast with Yaniv, who I'd met the night before, and he jumped on the water taxi at 10am. I was able to secure an empty space at Tina's backpackers (I thought I'd prefer a hostel to a hotel for New Years atmosphere). Then I headed off to get ready for snorkling!
I spent the better part of the day on the water, snorkling in Hol Chan marine park. It was gorgeous! There were so many beautiful fish of all sizes and colours! They were very interested in us snorklers, and were not afraid to swim near us.
At the second stop, there were sharks and sting rays circling the boat, and at first we all thought that the guide was joking when he told us to jump in! But one by one we entered the water and swam around with the sharks and sting rays gliding around us. It was a bit scary - memories of Steve Irwin for sure!
The water was not cold, but it wasn't really warm either. With the water lapping my forehead, and the strong wind
blowing in from offshore, I quickly felt pretty cold - my forehead was numb at one point - and drained of energy. I stayed in the boat to warm up, along with a few others, at the third stop.
We were back at the dock late, at about 3:30, which gave me just enough time for a quick shower before catching a water taxi to Belize City.
In general, I'm having a very lazy and relaxing stay in Belize. Last night I was able to catch up with Megan and Andy, who I met in El Remate, Guatemala, and we had dinner together with 4 other Germans at the local Italian place (which was ok, but not amazing). Today Megan and I are hanging out, relaxing and reading. We had breakfast at a little cafe called Amor y Cafe, and I did a bit of laundry this morning too. We both bought bus tickets too - she and Andy are off to Playa del Carmen, and I'm off to Tulum tomorrow.
Tonight, we are hearing rumours of a big island party, which should be interesting! I won't be too crazy though, as I need to head off
on the 8:30 am water taxi tomorrow, to catch the bus to Tulum.
Happy New Year!
Eileen
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Happy New Year
Happy New Year to you!