May 13-16 Belize
May 13th
We took off from my Dad’s house in Cadott, WI around 7 AM and headed to Madison. We ran a couple of errands when we arrived and then went to the bus stop. After some issues with an over full bus we finally got on one. Once we arrived at the Chicago airport we called Motel 6 and waited for our shuttle. When one books a room at a Motel 6 there are few expectations, but this gem was a real roach motel. We decided to stick close for dinner since the neighborhood seemed shotty. We walked to a Greek owned restaurant named Corner House Bar & Grill. We ordered a couple of bloody mary’s. I had the nachos with chili and Bart ordered a gyro burrito. After a couple cold summer shandys and some Jersey Shore back in the room we went to bed.
May 14th
Today was the day. We would be in Belize City by 12:30 and on the beach by 3....or so we thought. Our Chicago flight was delayed due to the thunderstorms. Then our 3 hour flight to Miami turned into a 6 hour flight. There was bad weather in Miami as well so they put us in a holding pattern. Then the plane was running low on fuel so we went to Fort Myers to refuel. Of course this means we missed our connecting flight. Although Miami isn’t the worst place for a layover, we were a bit bummed. We had to remind ourselves that we aren’t on a week long vacation, but instead a year long one and we had nowhere else to be. Plus we have traveler’s insurance so we will be reimbursed for the extra expenses. We then took the shuttle to Days Inn. We walked to a local restaurant named Airport Cafe & Liquors. It was a great find. There were locals eating local food with a great indoor bar that felt as though you were outdoors due to the garage doors. Bart ordered a cuban and I ordered the special-shrimp, rice, and plantain burritos fried and smothered with poblano cream sauce. It came with beans, guacamole, and homemade plantain chips. Amazing! We couldn’t resist getting a couple of Coronas with lime. We saw our first mango tree on our walk back. With no luggage and therefore no clothes, we washed our clothes in the sink. The first time of many I’m sure. Early night to bed with the hopes of getting there the next day.
May 15th
We went back to the airport in the morning and hoped that ourselves, along with our luggage would get onto this plane. We had a breakfast of rice and beans at La Carreta in the airport. There was some issue getting our plane there from the hanger so we were delayed once more.
We finally arrived in Belize City around 11 AM. After some ATM issues, we took a 25 minute taxi
ride from the airport to the water taxi that would take us to Caye Caulker. We drank our first couple of local Belikin beers and chatted with a local artist/fútbol(soccer) player from San Ignacio. The water taxi took about an hour and we could not Belize(this is for you Tina Mounts) how many people they crammed onto this boat. Yuma’s Hostel was right next to the dock. We checked in, dropped off our bags and then went for an island tour by foot.
The “go slow” motto is everywhere. Locals and tourists alike move at a snail’s pace. Reggae music plays everywhere around the island. Everyone is either walking, on bike, or on a golf cart. We only saw a few full size vehicles so far. We finally found “the split” to check out our fishing situation for the morning. We saw small hound fish, sergeant major fish, and barracuda swimming in the water. Then we went swimming. Wow, the water is amazingly warm! We are quite happy to be here during the beginning of the off season because it is so quiet everywhere. On our walk, the local “pharmacy” offers us things to smoke, snort, and eat every time we walk past them. Locals are selling jewelry, coconut water, and homemade food. Multiple grills are fired up and cooking an assortment of meat, leaving the best smell in the air. There are quite a few dogs. Dogs seem to be the only domesticated animals on the island. There are even two dogs at our hostel. We wanted to go to Wish Willy’s for dinner, but he wasn’t open for another hour and we were starving. We went to Belizean Flava, which was recommended by a local guy working at our hostel. We each got a whole red snapper. One fried and one grilled. Both were super tasty. Bart learned a very important lesson here. Slow down when eating bone in fish or you may get a bone stuck in your throat. Luckily he’s ok. Our waiter was a real character. After dinner we picked up some local rum and enjoyed it at our hostel. A nice cold shower was had as well. Hot showers may be a real treat on this trip. As the party was just getting started on the island we went to bed. We had a 4 AM wake up call for fishing.
May 16th
It was an early morning today. We are also adjusting to sleeping without air conditioning. Bart bought both of us collapsible fishing poles and fishing tackle for our trip. We watched the sunrise and then set out to catch dinner. No luck for us though.
Then we went swimming and talked to a local named Brandon. He confirmed that we needed to buy some sardines for bait. He also showed us where to swim to see some fish. We took our goggles and GoPro and saw tons of Caribbean fish up close. GoPro footage to come. Bart even saw a manatee! I rushed out to see it, but my doggy paddle style of swimming didn’t fare well with the current. Maybe next time. We checked out of Yuma’s and into Sophia’s Guest Rooms. We found this hostel online where we saw a picture of Bart’s Uncle Peter many months back.
It came highly reccomended, but unfortunately we were unable to get room #5.
We had lunch at Jenny’s To Go Food stand. We both had a bean, cheese, and chicken burrito. They handmade the tortillas right in front of us. Probably the best tortilla I have ever had. Th food was awesome and cheap. We will be probably be back. We are quickly realizing that our love for food is going to make it hard to keep on budget on this island. By the way $1 US dollar=$2 Belizean dollars.
We spent the rest of the day fishing and gathering supplies for grilling out. Since we didn’t catch any fish, we had hotdogs, zucchini, and onion on the grill. We went for a swim in the dark, but it was short lived because I got bit twice by tiny jellyfish and the burning sensation around the bites was worriesome. I found out the next day that you should pee on them to stop the burning sensation.
1 comments
Great to read the update! Pictures are beautiful! Keep having fun and keep sharing!
ReplyDelete- "mojito coco" :)