Placencia Day #4

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I woke up with the sun & woke Geoff up to go watch the sunrise. First one we've gotten up for yet. It is warm already & clear blue skies with a few clouds on the eastern horizon. The bay is so completely flat it sorta looks like an ice rink but warm...Walked for some coffee, since we decided we're staying today to rent kayaks & trek around the cove in the calm water. Off tomorrow though, inland, into the jungle & toward Guatemala & all the bugs! woohoo. I LOVE bugs. Got coffee, got offered weed for like the 146th time and played on some teeter totters in a park. They are soo much fun. I think I want one in my yard. We just finished a delicious egg, butt bacon (that's what the package says) & cheese sandwich. God, I love cooking my own food!

Off to apply sunblock & begin our day. I'm so excited! I've finally caught up on my journaling!! I've been typing every free moment for days. I was like 6 days behind & it's hard to remember what I did last night let alone where we even were 6 days ago. I'm not letting that happen again I hope! It's so much more fun to type as we go & remember all the silly and fun details.

I think I'll attempt snorkeling again today. Oh & there's a thrift store here. I somehow only brought one tshirt. I could use another. Time to shop my style. 😉 And do laundry. Our clothes stink from yesterday......
Ok, new rule. No kayaking if the wind is blowing (which means probably best to kayak first thing in the morning since the wind is always blowing in the afternoon) & when you go to rent the kayak the guy tells you that there's a stormfront moving in. We didn't get rained on but we baked in the ridiculously hot sun (why did we think it was a good idea to go at 1130am?) & dealt with the NE wind as novice kayakers. I hope I can lift my backpack tomorrow. It was fun to be out on the water but whoa, kayaking is serious business, especially into the wind. It was a neat kayak though, the bottom was clear plastic so you could see what you were going over as you moved. We saw a sting ray, some jelly fish, a barracuda, a LOT of sea grass, & a big school of fish jumping out of the water, running away from something out in the sea. It was pretty, but we were both beat by the time we were back in the mangroves & not out in the open water. There were mini-white caps. There are almost never white caps. Guess it's good we plan to go tomorrow, everyone seems to think it's going to rain tonight. After our self guided kayak trip we walked around the property of Captain Jak's with a local guy who worked there & gave us the tour of the entire place, where we rented the kayak. The place is super nice & affordable & we think we should have a family reunion here.... http://www.captainjaksbelize.com/.

We bought some chips (the same delicious ones as last night), salsa, & cheese. I'm making nachos! And an orange Fanta. Then maybe a nap. I feel like the sun is still shining off my skin....
While making nachos I talked with a woman from Canada who is staying at Lydia's for 6 months. She & her husband work for 6 months & then come to Placencia for 6 months & stay in a fully stocked cabana that Lydia rents to them for $550 a month. It's been so enlightening talking with all these different people who do such unconventional things with their lives & it has certainly opened my eyes & my thoughts to different options. We talk a lot about the different things we have learned from everyone & how the different perspectives are truly eye opening. Especially when you witness someone truly doing what they want & achieving their goals & dreams & are literally in the process of doing it while you are talking to them. It's nuts. It gives us all kinds of ideas & things to think about for our own lives. The Brits staying here take every January off, the entire month, & travel somewhere new. Love it! Inspiration.

After delicious nachos we chilled for a bit & had Lydia do our laundry before we head out to the next stop. It smells really good, I like the soap she uses. I miss good smelling laundry....We got packed up & made some sandwiches for tomorrow since we are leaving at the crack of dawn & packing in the morning sucks we've learned. I guess that's a new rule we made too: pack the night before you are sure you're leaving. SOOOOO much easier.
The tourist population here is such a different age group than we've experienced up to this point. I sort of expected to be the oldie everywhere we traveled but happily that isn't the case. 😊 All different ages are travellers I've come to learn. But here in Placencia has been the most obvious conglomeration of older travellers. It seems like the median age of the travellers here is about 50. I like it really. Everyone has a good story. And most of these people have been travelling for years compared with many of the newbie travellers who are younger (which the majority are). I was definitely surprised to find people my parent's age staying in the same hostels as us & following a similar travel plan as us. Although the only difference may be that a lot of them had rolling bags instead of backpacks.

We ended up talking with the 3 year Lithuanian (from Chicago currently) bikers about Tikal & they gave us some ideas of places to stay & eat. It's always so helpful to have some ideas before you arrive in a town. Then off to the Tipsy Tuna to meet the Nanaimo's & listen to some Garifuna drumming. Of course while sitting there we had several local people come & chat with us. Kevin, from San Pedro, who's visiting friends in Placencia, came over & talked with us about his job, travelling, our lives. It's so refreshing that people just talk to one another. There isn't really such a thing as that bubble of privacy that we seem to value so much in the US. I can't judge because I'm no different at home, but it is really refreshing & almost always enjoyable to talk with people randomly. My world view expands daily it seems & I feel like every person I talk with teaches me something new, no matter how random the info may be. But the drumming was unbelievable. They played drums & 2 women sang & there were 5 little kids that danced. Each song lasted about 30 minutes. It was beautiful. Erin & I danced with the kids. The kids asked Erin to dance & then she made them grab me. It was fun. They do this little shuffling of the their feet to the beat of the drum & they never stop doing it. So they were teaching us to do it & my calves burned in about 10 minutes & they'd already been at it for an hour. It was cute though, we all held hands in a circle & someone would go in the middle & freestyle dance & then sing a song that we all know, but to the beat of the drum. The song was a version of eeny meeny miny moe but at the end you would pick your very best friend & then had to go in the circle. It was really fun & we laughed a lot & we all tried to copy one another's dance moves. After hugging all the kids goodbye we headed out to the beach in front of Lydia's with some Bob Marley on the ipod dock & enjoyed the rest of the evening.

We headed back home & ended up talking with the biking Lithuanians for some time. They've been riding for 85 days & have covered 3000 miles. Their stories were exceptionally entertaining. They have just been stopping where they need to or want to based on weather, being tired, bike repairs, whatever & they ask to camp in people's yards in some places because they end up in the middle of nowhere. They said Mississippi was their favorite State which we found surprising. Don't know why, I have never been to Mississippi but they said it was beautiful. I can't imagine riding a bike every day. But the things they have seen because they were on a bike & not a bus or car where incredible & their encounters with people were pretty amazing too. Still, probably not going to find me on a bike riding cross country any time soon. It's hard enough to carry my backpack...
So off to bed finally. Another great day. Leaving tomorrow. Kinda sad but we still have 4-5 countries to see & we are not moving fast at all. Too much fun everywhere.

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Photos

Kayaking
Around Placencia

The Beach
At Placencia.

The Beach
At Placencia.

Comments

[One of the Dad's]

Way too much fun and Adventure
Love getting your blogs.. Totally enjoy reading the adventures that you both are having. I have a lot to ask... but my comment so far is... You both are have WAY TOO MUCH FUN... so you either have to come home right now... or ... extent you trip and adventures. Enjoy..!!!!! Love you guys.! -- Mike