A Slower Pace of Life


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Published: December 19th 2014
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I always say it takes the first two weeks of any vacation to get things turned off and really figure out the new place you find yourself in. As far as this trip goes - we have fully accomplished both. It was a really busy year for our business back home, working steady right up until the day we left. But after a couple of weeks in Belize, I have never seen Ian more rested and relaxed, he's almost finished reading his fourth book.

As for figuring things here out, we really know our way around now, see many of the same people every day. We've tried all the restaurants, like anywhere, some are very good while others aren't great but overall the food here is really good and we can drink the water right from the tap - nice.

I've also learned a lot about Belizian sandflies as their favorite food is fresh white traveller, lucky me, they like fair skinned people best since our skin is thinnest and easiest to bite. Off or regular bug repllents doesn't work on these pesky little buggers. They are tiny little black flies that fly, unlike sand fleas that can only jump. These little guys can get in through the screens. They're worse after it rains, around the lagoon (yes that's where we stay,) and especially first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon. After somewhere around 50 bites on my arms and legs, I bought myself some specialty oil at the pharmacy and that has really helped both with prevention and healing of these itchy circular bites. I can't help but notice that most travellers here are covered. Ian is lucky, they don't seem to like him that much. Other than sandflies, we haven't really noticed many bugs. Although we suspect there is a dead tarantula in one of our light fixtures, yuck. We've decided not to use that light, way too stinky, we will just leave that surprize for the owners of the condo who are coming here next.

Cars are a luxury here most locals can't afford, gas is $6 US per gallon. Most people, including travellers, get around the village by walking, riding bicycles or golf carts. We mostly take our bikes to get groceries each day although carrying eggs in the basket of your bike on our unpaved road is a bad idea. Out of a dozen, only 4 made the trip successfully. There's also public bus service to Dangriga (the largest city between here and Belize City) or ferry service to Independence. We still need to check that out one of these days even though we hear there's not much over there, still something to do.

All in all, there are two paces of life here in Placencia, very slow and dead stop. What a nice and relaxing change of pace from our usual very busy and hectic reality.

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20th December 2014

Sense of Belize
Ms. Graham, Thank you for being so specific in your descriptions of Belize. You really give a sense of the place, both the "good" and the "bad." I think that your rule of not complaining is a good one, though difficult to do when traveling, especially when one is used to certain luxuries like hot showers : ) Best, Monique

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