Placencia Hotel

... sketchy locals anyway. <br><br>His buddy made a gesture as if he were smoking a joint and arched his eyebrows at me. I politely declined his offer to smoke a fatty with me. Not even 7:30 and I had seen a peepshow and been offered a joint. Who knew that a red light district was simmering just below the surface here in all this heat. <br><br>The whole episode in the convenience store reminded me of Rule 5 on the Welcome to Caye Caulker safety card I had ...

... World Records for having the world's smallest main street which is 24 inches across in some sections. The bar near our place was called "Tipsy Tuna" which played loud reggae and punta rock music all day and night. We spent the afternoon on the beach and met a few locals, 3 of which were from Toronto and had opened 'Placencia's best restaurant" called The Secret Garden. We talked a little about Canada (Heidi is from Toronto) and they invited us for dinner. We were all ...

... be able to get a ride for the remaining four miles in. So we started walking, and walking and walking...... About a mile and a half into it a guy stopped to pick us up. We described my dad to him and he knew right away where to take us. He dropped us off in front of the house. No one was home (8:30 am) We got breakfast, rented bikes checked back at the house, no boby home (9:45 am) We rode around town talked to some locals most of whom knew who my dad was. We checked back at the ...

... life eh!) we eventually reached the mainland and headed via taxi with Sandy, James and the Yorkshire couple we bumped into again. Going via the backroads my impression of Belize city was still pretty grim and unsafe and on arriving at the bus station I saw the same guy from when we arrived so walked very fast with my head down so he didn't see me! Then onto our 'chicken bus' it was, this ...

... tv, sofa and dining room, even a washing machine which we have already made good use of. Given the climate is good and Honduras had broken down our health and energy, we have decided to stay here as long as necessary...perhaps a week, maybe two. There are plenty of things to do, and the rest is guaranteed with no neighbours or noisy bars to suffer. Although there are plenty of good restaurants we have started using the cabin kitchen...its ...

... coup de croisière sur un voilier pour voir le coucher de soleil en sirotant des cocktails (la vérité est qu'il y avait plein de nuage donc pour le coucher de soleil c'est pas top et que tous les autres sur le bateau formaient un groupe de retraites canadiens, pas de pot..). Tu peux aller voir des manatee, au début, je pensais que c'était des menâtes...mais non ce sont des vaches de mer ...

... pottery. Our guide points out a broken one that someone tried to move from the limestone. All the others, he tells us, are complete only if they are not moved as they are now in the limestone. We see a sacrificial burial area complete with a skull. This cave was used ceremoniously by the Mayan people for things including human sacrifice. The water falls from the stalactites and hits us. Clifford tells us it is a blessing to be dripped ...

... they stop like every 10 minutes or so to pick up and drop of people, everthing is crammed everywhere and people find any place to sit stand or lean. We don´t hate them because they are essential, but, we would perfer the 1st or 2nd class direct service buses. So we took a Chicken Bus to PG because it was the only one available. At PG we went through customs and then took a 20-person boat to Puerto Barrios (Guatemala). As we were sitting ...

... and the woman who got pulled off flew home the next day) left 2 hours late in tiny run-about, with all passengers throwing up everywhere, and the driver of the boat still drunk. Once out there (over the horizon in a dinky little boat with one engine and no oars - our boat was about 25 feet and had 2 huge outboards), they were all horribly sick, and had to take shelter on a sandfly infested Caye (where one girl got at least 100 bites on her back). On the way back ...

... We stayed at Lana's resort. Lana was such a sweetheart. She was a great hostess. She and one other lady did all the cooking and the meals were great. Three meals a day came with the room rate and it's a good thing because there wasn't a restaurant on the island. They run generators pretty much all day because there is no electricity here. There is one place that rents snorkel gear and they also have a snack shack where you can get your typical snack foods. There are two ...