A little slice of Paradise
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
38
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Placencia,
Belize
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Thursday March 1 to Tuesday March 6, 2007
GETTING THERE
Our journey from Caye Caulker to Placencia was to the theme of "Just in Time". We left Caye Caulker via the water taxi ($7.50 US per person) at 8:30 am, then arrived in San Pedro at 9:30 with Just Enough Time to walk to the bus station and catch the 10:00 am bus ($9.50 US per person) as it was heading out. Four hours later, we arrived in Independence/Mango Creek at exactly 2:30, exactly when the ferry was to depart to Placencia. Except we were a good 10 minute walk away from the ferry! A taxi van was waiting for the bus to arrive and was kind enough to call the ferry and ask them to wait for us
Another Starfish
. About 10 of us squeezed into the tiny taxi van ($1.50 US per person) for the 2 minute ride. We boarded the ferry JUST IN TIME, zipped through the mangrove swamps and arrived in Placencia 15 minutes later at 2:45! All in all, it was a long day of travel, but could have been much worse. We spoke to several people that missed the bus in San Pedro and ended up having to take several indirect buses before arriving around 7pm! Just in Time!ABOUT PLACENCIA
Placencia´s population, according to Lonely Planet, is currently 500. I imagine those stats are way out of date. Placencia itself is a long peninsula off of the mainland, with mangrove swamps on the west side and the Caribbean Sea on the east side. A road has been under construction through the peninsula for about 20 years, and should be finished any day now.... With the completion of the road, of course, will come more and more people.
The narrow peninsula is divided into three major sections: Maya Beach on the north, Seine Bight in the middle, and Placencia Village at the southern tip. Maya Beach and Seine Bight are several kilometers long of private and secluded resorts and new construction vacation homes for Americans. Placencia Village is about 1.5 km long, with several handfuls of guesthouses and cabanas and where many locals live
Buses in Belize
. But that is set to change! We saw several advertisements for new construction, including one new planned community of around 300 acres that will house over 13,000 residents (vacation and retirement homes). And we saw some advertisements for construction firms boasting about their efficiency and speed in destructing the mangroves, filling them in, and providing sea walls for new construction projects. Someone call Greenpeace!
So if you are thinking about going to Placencia, GO NOW while it is still a little paradise and not another over populated, environmentally-destroyed getaway...
Placencia is very laid back and casual, full of friendly locals and tourists. It also has a small town feel to it - everyone knows everyone and are always dropping by to say hello. Many tourists return year after year, such as Bill and Leola - grandparents from Washington at our guesthouse who have been coming here for 20 years and stay for several months.
A narrow sidewalk (about 3 feet wide) leads from the center of town and ambles past restuarants, guesthouses, palm trees and beaches for about 1.5 km parallel to the beach
Coconuts - Lydia and Frank
. Our guesthouse faced this walkway, so it was fun to lay out in a hammack and chat with everyone strolling by.OUR HOTEL and LYDIA
We stayed for 5 nights at Lydia´s Guesthouse ($20 US per night) in Placencia Village and loved it! Lydia is a local Belizean and is the sweetest person we have met on our travels so far! She is helpful and friendly and will do anything for anyone. A few days later when we were walking on the sidewalk in Placencia, we ran into Bill & Nancy from Vermont (who we met several days earlier in San Ignacio). Bill was looking for a woman named Lydia to give her a thank you present. On a previous trip, he left his camera behind at a different hotel in Placencia. He realized this after he left Placencia and was in another area of Belize. So he called the hotel who said they could not find it. He soon met Leola and told her. She said she would call her friend Lydia in Placencia because if anyone can find it, she´s the one. And of course, she did! Lydia went to the hotel and firmly (but sweetly) asked for the camera back. She then sent the camera on a taxi ride to the Placencia airport and had it flown back to the airport in Belize City! The camera was waiting for Bill in the international terminal. This was last year and now Bill and his camera were on their way to visit Lydia (who Bill had never met) to say Thanks
Coconuts - Lydia showing Frank
! Of course it turned out to be our guesthouse owner Lydia!The guesthouse had a large shared kitchen, including a coffee maker and blender (great for frozen concoctions!). Our room was a private double room with a very clean shared bathroom with hot water. There are only 8 rooms (and 4 big bathrooms) in the guesthouse, so it is very intimate and we were fortunate to get to know some really great people during our stay, including Peter and Sarah from Australia/UK who we would later run into on our travels in Guatemala (and hopefully Honduras!).
Everyone was very sweet and interesting to get to know, except for one crazy Scotsman who I don´t think knew that clothing was required when walking to and from the bathroom, nor that you should close your door when wearing your birthday suit. Even a little square piece of cloth would have been appreciated, Mister! He stayed in his room all day, every day, and would stand in front of the window staring at those in the hammocks and chairs for hours on end. After a couple days, I was tempted to check the Scotland Yard website to see if his mug was on the most wanted list. Luckily he soon left!
The beach is about 50 feet in front of our guesthouse and is (in our opinion) the best section of the beach
Downtown Placencia
. The beach in Placencia Village is a very long half moon bay (more like a 3-quarters bay), with white sand and very warm clear water. Lined with hundreds of palm trees, the beach was quiet on most days. Sometimes we were the only souls in sight! In the afternoons, some folks would kite surf if the wind was strong. There is some sea-grass reefs about 20 feet out that made great snorkeling. We saw dozens of HUGE starfish and a couple large Barracuda, as well as some pretty small fish. ACTIVITIES
Our daily routine at Placencia was pretty simple. A good beach life. Go for a swim/snorkel in the morning then have some coffee and a fresh cinnamon bun from Norman´s. Then read a bit and take a nap. Walk to the market to buy some fruit or veggies. Make a little lunch or a fruit smoothie at home. Go for an afternoon swim in the water. Then read a bit more and nap in the hammock. Take a shower, then make some dinner. Then walk into town for the best gelato in the world. Then stroll home and crawl into bed around 9ish. Tough life!
There are lots of activities to do from Placencia. Jungle tours of Monkey River, snorkelling and diving trips, fishing, etc. But we just laid in our hammock during our stay and watched the world go by
Franks Shoes - Adios
. The weather was absolutely gorgeous during our stay. Sunny and warm and not a cloud in the sky. We had a fantastic breeze on the beach and the guesthouse that kept us comfortable. On the last day, the clouds and rain rolled in and gave us a great excuse to just lay around and read a book again!
We finally left our little Paradise on Tuesday by taking the early morning (6:45 am ferry) to Independence to catch a bus to Punta Gorda to catch another ferry at 10:00 to Livingston, Belize.
We liked Belize, but it definitely wasn´t our favorite place so far.
What we liked:
- The beach in Placencia was beautiful and long
- The snorkelling and reefs nearby were great (especially Hol Chan)
- Some towns (Caye Caulker and Placencia) were very cute
- The people were very friendly
Franks Shoes - chinese Nike
. - The tap water in Placencia comes from a nearby spring-well thing. Finally we could rinse our toothbrushes under tap water without fear! Oddly, the tap water in Caye Caulker had a strong and terrible sulfur odor. Yuck!
What we didn´t like, though, was
- Expensive! Lodging was on par with Mexico. But food and activities were more like Caribbean island prices. Most activities cost between $35-$200 US per person. And all must be done on a tour. There is little structure in place for independent travellers. All in all, we spent over $800 US for our 8 day trip. By backpacker standards, that´s a lot. We only did 1 activity during our stay and cooked meals at home half of the time.
- People. The Chinese have invaded Central America! Well, maybe not, but they definitely have the foothold in all of the importing and stores. Almost all grocery stores and tiendas are run by Chinese who seem really grumpy and angry. We couldn´t understand - I´d be on cloud nine if I got to work next to a beautiful beach! Also, the younger generation of Belizeans (in particular men between 12-30 years old) can be very harassing when you walk by
Lydias Guest House
. We felt threatened and unsafe several times.- Telephone and Internet. The Internet is very expensive (from $4 to $10 US per hour). Calling Internationally is next to impossible. BTL, the Belize´s telephone carrier, has a monopoly over the market. They have sucessfully BLOCKED SKYPE or other internet telephone tools from being accessed. Hmmmm...looks like, smells like, feels like Censorship! The Justice department has gone against BTL and won, but BTL has still manages to block other tools and websites. All of the telephones are BTL pay phones which require one of their Calling Cards or a Credit Card. Our Calling Cards (MCI) would not work, only the BTL Calling Cards. I attempted to make a call to the US using a Credit Card. Until I found out from the BTL operator that it would be $35 US for the first 5 minutes and $3 US per minute thereafter! Yes, THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS for FIVE minutes. Bah Humbug!
RECOMMENDATIONS
If you ever go to Placencia, here are some of our recommendations:
* Lydia´s Guesthouse. Absolutely fantastic
* Tutti-Frutti
Lydias Guesthouse - both buildings
. The best gelato and sorbets IN THE WORLD. Run by a French and Italian couple* Wendy´s Restaurant . Great food, wonderful Shrimp Creole, and good prices for the area.
* Norman´s Bakery. Inside the kitchen of a small house behind the Everyday Market. Norman makes the BEST cinnamon rolls, and great banana bread, carrot cake, creole rolls, sausage rolls, etc. Get there between 8-10 am, as it is all baked fresh every morning and gone later on!
* Wallen´s Grocery Store. Best prices, best selection, friendliest people, and whole coffee beans. The only one run by Belizeans (instead of the grumpy or angry Chinese running every other market)
Cheers!
Kay
