Into Hot and Sticky Belize

(check back later for photos!)

Butt Bacon

Sunday, February 25th

We started our day in Flores and caught a Touk Touk to the bus station to catch the direct bus to the border. The bus takes off but stops in the center of town to pick up other people. Kay and I are sitting on the bus eating ice cream with the window wide open checking out the people in the square. I reach for our Guatemala guide book to check the border town name and cannot find the book. We look on the floor, on the seat, and in our bags, BUT NO BOOK! What the heck. Next thing we know there is a guy outside the bus telling the guy in the seat next to us that when we were not looking someone reached into the bus and took the book off of my day pack. You have got to be kidding me. Thankfully this person was not bright enough to grab the day pack. The nice man next to us tells us the guy told him what bus the person got on. So the guy and myself walk over and get on the bus asking for the book back. I try to explain in my broken Spanish that the book is in English and will do them no good. Nobody budges. I notice a guy in the back not looking up so I get on the bus and try to put on a tough face and walk to the back of the bus. This does not work at all.  The guy with me spoke in Spanish to the bus, but that did not work either.  Feeling pretty stupid I head back to our bus. Kay then goes to the bus and tries to sweet talk the people into giving the book back. Our own little version of good cop bad cop. This does not work either.  Kay wanders to the back of the bus and sees several machetes on the back seat.  She decides it is just not worth it and they can have the book and turns around immediately.  I felt a little dejected and our bus takes off and we head for the border. Hopefully the person who took it will sell it and feed his family. Besides we are leaving the country and do not need the book anymore.  The man sitting next to us on the bus (who helped me look for the book) was very kind and offered us each a pack of gum.  Later in the ride, he opened his grocery bag and offered us each an orange.  Despite the book being taken, we still leave the country feeling very happy and knowing that the Guatemalans are a very genuine and friendly people.

Sausage on a Stick

The ride to the border is bumpy and dusty but uneventful and crossing the border even more so. Guatemala just stamps your book, charges you 10Q per person and sends you on your way. Once across the bridge we enter a rather large immigration building on the Belize side and talk Spanish for a few minutes before we realize it is an English speaking country. In less time than it takes to go to the bathroom you are through immigration and officially in Belize (no entry fee).  We hop in a taxi and head to the bus station. We get there and its about 90 degrees and we find out the bus does not leave for anther 45 minutes. TAXI! We hop right back into our cab and 15 minutes later we are in San Ignacio. It is a 20 Belize ($10 US) taxi ride from the border to San Ignacio which is a splurge for us.  The first thing that comes to mind is why do people like this place?

We sit down at Cafe Cayo for a beer to figure out our sleeping situation and try to cool off.  While sitting there we chat with Bruce and Nancy from Vermont who are traveling through Belize looking for some retirement property. They offer to take us to their hotel, The Plaza, and introduce us to the owner. It´s not the Plaza like you think but is a very nice hotel. After looking at a few other places we end up staying there. Back at the bar they first added up the bill wrong, easy mistake, and then they added two extra beers onto the tab. They were not very happy when we pointed this out, and had a bit of an attitude.  This is not a very good first impression of Belize. We finally get the tab corrected pay and leave Cafe Cayo vowing to never return. Before we head to the hotel I head to the ATM to find a line of 8 people waiting to use it. The wait is forever because the ATM only lets you take out money in 50 Belize increments and this takes a very long time because people are making 5 and 6 transaction each. This now equates to me being in a line of 40 to 50 people.  I guess their business model has a large profit goal from transaction fees. Not a good second impression but onward we go.

The town is not very big and seems to converge where 5 roads meet in the center of town. At this location there are about 2 dozen taxis sitting there with every driver asking you if you want a taxi. We say no 12 times and are not sure where you would go anyway. We walk up the street and ask about the tours to the caves and the forest only to find out that they cost about $90 US per person for the day. This could be strike three for Belize...but maybe it´s just San Ignacio. We decide that we are going to leave first thing in the morning and get to the coast.

We hit the little market for water and realize that all the little markets are run by Chineses people. This seems a little strange but good for them. We also ate a few tortilla things from a street vender on our way to the bar. We end up at a bar named ¨Faya Wata¨ (Fire Water in Creole)  because our room is about 900 degrees and order a Belikin Stout. The beer is not to bad but when reading the label I realize it is only 9.5 ounces (instead of 12) and I paid $2.00 US for it. Thats the last straw! San Ignacio officially sucks. We head back to the room and catch the very end of the Oscars, yeah Scorsese, and fall into a sticky sleep.

The next morning we caught a bus out of this hot and sticky pothole of a town and headed toward the breezy coast in Caye Caulker.

Cheers,