Still in PG!

Sitting on the verandah sipping lime juice and watching the boats go By!!!

I think the best thing at the zoo besides the amusing signs along the way, are the green headed Macaws, they love to talk to you while you sing “Don’t worry, Be Happy” and have their own fill ins.  It was amusing to us but then some nino’s came along and they wouldn’t sing for them.   I think they had been abused by children in the past. 

                After leaving the zoo we went along the highway.  We had been told that there was this great place to stop and see art at a place called the “Art Box”  but when we got there it was unfortunately closed.  Another place we saw was called the “Orange Square” but felt we were running out of time since we had told the owners of the Battle Creek resort we would be there for dinner,  we agreed to continue on with the idea we would stop on the way back.  San Ignacio reminds me of a large town set in a hill.  It was bustling with activity when we pulled in on Sunday.   There is a main market and there is the town itself.  The town section is reminiscent of some of the streets of D.C., they have all kinds of little gift shops in between bars and eatery’s.   There are parts that look shabby and then there are parts that you know have been done up with the idea of being appreciative to the tourist eyes.  The people are friendly though, and courteous.   They let you know if you are driving wrong with a nice little beep, especially when your looking for one of their little side streets.  Large buses beep at every intersection and they are trying to let you k now to get out of their way!  We had originally intended to go around San Ignacio but we had picked up a hombre of garafuna descent and we were giving him a ride into town.  We didn’t stop much in San Ignacio the first night but the next day was an experience.

                That first night in Cohune Palms Resort was a little of a blur, the day had been long and we were tired.  I remember seeing our bungalow, very cute but basically the same as the one we had at Cere’s Beach, only more jazzed up for the tourists.  One of the things I remember Jen telling me is that she didn’t put table cloths down because the flies would gather under them and then you put your feet under and got bit up.  Unfortunately I remembered that too late the first night!  Sometimes making things “pretty” isn’t the most practical.  I immediately notice this place has been established with the idea of visitors, it is way to sophisticated.  It has a concrete rock path lining the way through to the different bungalows and it has some of the more beautiful fauna planted next to the paths.  I did see a huge frog along the path and every place I’ve been there are frogs along the way, I know Mom is probably along enjoying the experience with me!  Anyways, the food served was pineapple chicken which was fairly good.  Charlie said he thought we had been spoiled having a chef prepare for us the last couple of nights but I think the food was ok, good for home cooked.   It was also the type of dish that is typical of the Belizians, with fried plantain on the side.   The bed was hard that night though this cabana did have fans, but no netting and I am liking the use of the netting.  It can be a bit uncomfortable to climb into but then generally your left alone without bugs. 

                Cohune Palms is right along a river that is a gorgeous site.  It has paths down the river bank to places you can dunk yourself in.  Unfortunately I felt that the paths were too steep for me, but Charlie said they were fine.   I am not going to push the ankle too much but have been amazed at what I can do with it so far!  Being this close to water you don’t see the dangerous yellow flies  too much but I do see a mass of small little bugs who’s bites sting.   DON’T FORGET LOTS OF BUG SPRAY!!   It’s expensive to get here and you get something that might be a couple of years old! Charlie says it’s not as bad as on the northern shore but I disagree, the bugs liked me just fine at Cohune palms, perhaps more so!  He was the one that didn’t get bit as much at Cohune while I was the one who didn’t get bit as much at Ceres.  Different blood for different bugs!  LOL.  Anyways the river was gorgeous and it was a very touristy area.  I just didn’t feel comfortable!

                The next morning we got a huge breakfast, we both chose the breakfast tortilla but the neighbor chose the French toast.  She was praising it but I really wasn’t in the mood for anything sweet, the watermelon juice was enough!  I have to say that the breakfast tortilla was enough to feel a family of six!  I am getting used to sugar cane sugar in my coffee though and it was very good.  We  went to the realtor.  Now I am all set for Belizian time but after waiting a half hour for him and he still hadn’t shown up Charlie pulled out the cell and did the big bad no no.  He called from our cell, I can’t wait to see the bill!  Seems the realtor was in the back fields and had forgotten that he had this appointment but his boss answered the phone and said he would meet us at 10 thirty.  Of course we were there late but still waiting another 45 minutes before that guy showed.  We told him about the property we wanted to see and he said he would meet us there on Saturday.  He reminded me of a smoother Kyle Rath, how he was this great guy who knows everyone and has all these properties.  We spent time waiting for him in the market thinking we would do some touristy things after wards.  By the time we left it was 1:20 and since it was a holiday all the tourist shops were closed, we thought about going to another temple but it was hot and I didn’t want to eat at Cohune that night.  We ended up driving around a little, getting locked out of the car, and finally getting a early dinner and going back to the hotel to relax until traveling the next day.

Commonwealth day, trying to catch up on posting!

Cerres (pronounced SER-ous) is a mayan templ e that was also much like a park setting.   The temple was down a rather long path that was lined with these plants that have purple, red green leaves.  It was full of children who were on a field trip from School and very.  Inside the building was the usual information regarding this particular temple and the ball field there  with many stages of the ages as I put it.   All was very interesting but smaller than Xuan Tuan Wiche (I think?) that we visited last year.   When you get up the path to the Park building there is outside of the park a long dock with a hut at the end, it is beautiful spot.   We went along the trail till we came to a point that said “Temple this way” and another sign that said “Mosquito trail”  obviously picking the right trail is important, BOTH WAYS.   As we were going the Temple trail we came upon a setting of the faces that still remained, some of the temple having been excavated incorrectly and seeming like a dreadful loss!  As I looked up from the faces behind me was a large peak with the children looking down on their mothers, continuing down the trail to the other side of the peak was a large set of steps  with several plateau’s that visitors could stop at.  You knew then what the peak was for.  Charlie climbed to the top.  I stopped.  It wasn’t that I thought I couldn’t do it but that the heat was finally catching up to me.  I realized that the whole morning we had walked the market and done things I normally could not have done and that I had not supplied myself with enough water.  So I stayed on the bottom until Charlie came down and then we followed the direction of where the children had gone to see the remaining part of the temple.  As we traveled along we lost sight of the children and suddenly realized we were in the middle of the jungle.  It was slightly frightening but more exhilarating than anything because we were on a path.  As we travelled quite a distance (45 minutes at least) were getting eaten up by the mosquitos.  At the end of the trail when we finally came out there was the sign “Mosquito trail”! Everything is a learning lesson here.  Needless to say I had been thinking I was suffering from some heat exhaustion prior to going but I knew coming out of there I needed help.  I went to the end of the dock and just sat under the hut as Charlie scooped water from below and threw it on me.  We sat there for the next half hour just trying to get me cooled down.  After putting my feet in the water and him pouring water on me I felt so much better but now I knew the signs to look for, one of them being the hair on the back of my head was standing on edge and that I was suddenly feeling chilled and hot at the same time. 

                After that we drove back to Cerros Beach and took a swim.  Now the thing I have learned about the first place we stayed at was the water was heavenly to swim into but the bottom of the water is a mixture of silt, mayan road ruins,(rocks!) and banks of sand.  The water was great to swim in once you got to the good sand but prior to getting there it was a trial.  Still worth it to get out there!  Once back on the ground we spent time with the owners, Lola (their dog) rascal and Izzy ( cats) and their parrot, Marley.  I have to say the entertainment is good but the food was fabulous and we truly felt welcomed.

                The next morning we rose, has this really great breakfast, (I will warn you the bacon here is like none you’ve had anywhere else and really great!) and went to see Dan.  (Remind me to tell some of you about peppered papaya!)  Dan is an older man who is strongly interested in Mayan history.  He seems to come from a family of travelers with many relatives in Mexico, Texas, California, ect.  He has this acreage in Progressive heights that lays along the lagoon.  It seemed like a nice lot totaling about 5 acres.  Great for lime trees and a self sustaining farm.  These towns are only about an hour away from the Mexican boarder and you can see the wealth of information that passes between the expats about the best place to live.  If you live south it’s nicer but your buying into the rat race again, it’s developing too quickly and the politics are too heavy. There is two places that you get your major goods from: Belize or Mexico.   Belize is like Rochester, full of the political bs and the type of people that like to have the mentality of street rats.  Mexico is a larger Mall and a place to run away to when the isolation of life gets to the expats, plus a good place to buy necessary items like nails, clothing, see a movie and get general goods.  Though you pay slightly more in taxes to bring your stuff across the boarder,  it is still much cheaper than you can get in Belize or Belmopan and the quality is better.  Did you know there is a Sams, a Walmart and now rumors are there is a Home Depot coming in?

                After the day before and how hot I had gotten the one set of plans we had made (to visit a Butterfly site) went out the door.  I have found that if you plan on doing anything in Belize you probably should plan to do those things prior to 10 in the morning or after 5 in the evening.  It isn’t a really great day time place to go if you want to do  the temples or out in the hiking trails.  “For True!” So we spent the afternoon swimming, got back and had a skype chat with the girls and then went to the resort for dinner.  Mind you this whole time spent with Jen and Bill they have made us feel so good and welcome, they have treated us like friends and it has spoiled us somewhat.  At the resort they had invited two other friends to come over, expats that are Real Estate “Consultants”.  Beth, Brians Wife, is Ms. Belikan and has her poster over the bar, thinking that was what I was meeting was intimidating but when I met her she was a down home Georgia girl who reminds me so much of Emily in looks.  She and Brian both talked to us about the types of property out there and even though we weren’t interested much in their listings we became good friends that night.  I look forward to spending more time with all of them. 

                The next day we had another great breakfast and then hit the road.  It’s easy to take the wrong road in Belize because not all of the roads are marked and it doesn’t take much to miss a turn.  It sometimes works to your advantage and I think we did hit a good short cut, bad road though!  LOL.  We finally ended up on the Western Highway and we were headed to Battle Creek, just past San Ignacio.  We had made an appointment for a realtor that next morning and it was a pretty long trip over.  We are close the boarder and heard that 165 people had been beheaded on the Mexican boarder into Nicaragua so many people on this side of the boarder are up in arms.  We were stopped along the way to San Ignacio by Armed soldiers who are checking passports along the way.  They were friendly enough and we weren’t what they were looking for.  We picked up a police officer who was hitch hiking along the way and took him to his sister in laws house, then we stopped at the Zoo for the afternoon just to check it out.  It’s 15 US, 30 Bz to get in and I wouldn’t say it was completely worth it.   There was a timing thing there as well because the howler monkeys and the spider monkeys weren’t out.  We saw a jaguar, a puma, some of the native species from Belize and then it was too hot for anything more.

Day 1 and something

I will start my “blog” about our trip to Belize in Atlanta when we boarded the plane to Belize.   The  plane to Belize wasn’t  a really tiny plane, it was a four across seats, with really nice stewardess’ that seemed so much more relaxed than others.  The people on the plane weren’t ordinary either, they seemed to be more friendly towards each other, assisting  each other with stuff and making sure everyone was comfortable.   We sat behind a couple from Tallahassy and next to another couple from Chicago I think.   The couple from Tallahassy were older and the woman was very informative about Belize, I believe they lived here part of the year.

                When exiting the plane it was the old fashioned way of going down the pulled up stairway and the first thing you notice is the blinding sun as you go down the stair, the next thing you notice is the blast of heat that comes with it.  Automatically your sweat pores open up and then the body does it’s internally cooling.  You do not stop with the body cooling you down so it’s important to drink a LOT of water.  Some people don’t enjoy the heat, and usually I am one of those, but to me this heat was a  rather nice heat.  Instantly I didn’t feel the pain I normally feel when walking on my ankle with the gout, I also didn’t feel the nagging pain in my side from the kidney stones.   I smiled and didn’t stop until the next morning!

                After going through customs, a fairly nice group that was pleasant but not personable, we then were on the outside of the airport.  We had arrived earlier and of course had to wait for our car rental to pick us up but while waiting taxi cab drivers would ask us nicely if we had a ride and then  continue to discuss with us Belize while we were waiting.   I didn’t feel the normal push of cab drivers trying to do a pick up but just a friendly group of individuals.   When Rocky arrived with the vehicle and escorted us to his  “office”  (very nicely maintained shack)  he was very curious about who we were, where we were going and in many ways much like other Belizians in that they are very friendly and helpful.  Every where we went we were given information about different areas.  Advise flows freely from these people in the most helpful of manners.

                We took off first to get the gas for the vehicle, at a shell station.  While Charlie was filing the vehicle up I went inside to get some water.  The “Crystal” water sells all over the place, it is the drinking water of Belize and tasted much like regular drinking water.  The bottles cost a belizian dollar a piece and when I handed the cashier a 5 dollar beliezian he gave me a one belizian dollar and one American dollar for change.  It was confusing trying to establish weather I had gotten the correct change and I talked to Charlie and he said of course it was ok, that the American dollar equaled two belizian so in actualllity I had gotten 3 dollars back.  Be aware of the way the belizians do things, and how they can quickly convert your change.  When I came out and asked Charlie how much did the gas cost he told me it was $138 dollars, which in American money is $69.00, a bit more that we pay  but the vehicle  we rented doesn’t seem to burn it up that quickly.

                Be mindful of where you are in Belize,  we wanted to go one way and ended up on the wrong highway that eventually got us where we wanted to be but took  a significantly more amount of time.  The road less traveled isn’t always a good road to go on but what the hell, we were on an adventure.  If you want to practice how to drive in Belize, think of taking a truck or SUV down a country road, I mean a real country road with LOTS of pot holes, no signs on the streets, no highway lights and being ready for any animal to run out at you.   We were  (I should say Charlie) was driving on the road going at  a slow pace and taking his time when this animal that reminded me of a raccoon/large dog ran out in front of us.  I was happy that he failed to hit it but when speaking to an ex pat later on I found out Belizian’s call the animal squash because there are so many squashed on the side of the road.  Very simply life style with a very simple explanation.  

                We stopped at a Road side “stand” , one of many lining the highway in order to get some lunch. We ordered taco’s (3 for a belizian dollar) and got 3 taquito’s instead.  The man there knew enough English to say he didn’t speak it very well and I told him I knew enough Spanish to tell him I didn’t speak Spanish too well.  I have to say they were very good taquitos and very satisfying but was warned later on by an ex pat that I shouldn’t stop at road side stands because they are there one day and gone the next and that it was better to hit up someone more reliable who actually has a restaurant because they have to have good food all the time, since they can’t run away from their business, that the road side stands you don’t really know what your getting!

                We finally arrived at Corozal Beach Sands Resort, the road again is little more than a winding dirt road with LOTS of ruts ( let me drive instead of Charlie, he hasn’t learned how to see the shadows and know there’s a bump major in the road) and met our hotel runners, Jen and Bill.   Bill is a chef of the highest order with an amazing capacity to give really great advice.  Listen closely though because he might say the same thing twice in a different way.   Jen readied our “room” while Bill showed us the swimming area and let us know which area’s required swim apparel while others there was no requirement.  Our room was a Hut with a queen size bed, small table and two chairs, side table, lamp and a net hanging over the bed.  There is a wardrobe, a side room with a walk in shower and the toilet and the sink.  It was simple, not fancy or decorative but well maintained.  You can see through the floor boards though, little cracks of lights come up.   The walls are only waist high and the remaining height is simple wooden shutters with netting on the outside. 

                Jen and Bill not only run the hotel but the bar and restraint here.  Bill is enterprising and always trying new things, he has a tilapia hatchery he is trying that seems to do well.  He also has a garden, and is in to thinking of ways to achieve the most he can.   The restraunt/bar seems to be a mix up of New York meets Tiki Island,  simple wood tables and chairs and a deer head over the bar.  Jen is quiet but once she warms up to you is so sweet.  They were helping us look at property up here since a lot of the ex pats tend  to look in southern belize but the more self sustaining ones tend to live up north.  We made plans over dinner (delicious!   But we were so tired we were ready to drop!) to go to Corozol the next day and see the town hall (really gorgeous painting) the town, the church and the market.  We followed her (this time I drove, we went fast and Charlie held on to the “oh shit” handle.  It was very reminiscent of perhaps a small Mexican town with many friendly people around and many hawkers.  I learned the best place to buy meats (Frank’s Processed Meat) and that Patty’s Place had potatoes almost exactly like the ones I make at home.   I bought some hairclips because I could not take the heat on the back of my neck and I bought real made on the spot pork rinds!  They were delicious.  We decided after the market to return to the hotels to check and see if Dan, the local selling property wanted to meet us today or tomorrow and it was decided that we would return and go to Cerres temple.

                Cerres (pronounced SER-ous) is a mayan templ e that was also much like a park setting.   The temple was down a rather long path that was lined with these plants that have purple, red green leaves.