So we left Tikal and a couple of hours and rather bumpy roads later we got to the border. Getting into Belize is always a bit of a pain, more formal than the other borders, officers on a complete power trip, and having to take all your luggage out of the car and through in person make it more annoying. Maybe that's something to do with its British history?! Anyway finally got all that faff done and hit the road again through Belize. Driving through Belize is rather different, the roads and indeed the whole country in comparison to Salva seems empty and as I learnt on the journey Belize is only a little bit bigger than El Salvador yet its population is considerably less at just under a mere 300,00 compared to nearly 7 million here. So it seems like a quiet relaxed place and the speed bumps everywhere keep it that way! We travelled down to the south and on the way passed by orange and banana plantations and a lot of damage from Hurricane Richard that hit the week before, lots of enormous trees down. We had planned on visiting one of the National Parks but was closed due to damage. Anyway we arrived in Sunny Placencia (well just outside) and found Jasper and Caroline, (friends from UK) and promptly hit the hotel bar for Happy Hour or rather Happy Evening, Belikins (the local brew) and local rum all round. Think that evening was a bit blurred for everyone!
We spent the next day relaxing and once sun bathing was interrupted by rain headed into to "town" for some lunch, a stroll and sorting out the dive trips. Day after that we were up early for a boat trip up Monkey River which meets the sea a little further down the coast. Our guide Jason grew up around there and had an amazing knowledge of all the wildlife, local history, plants and medicinal jungle plants. The trip was brilliant. From the boat we saw, iguanas, various birds inc lots of herons, crocodiles and bats. Many of them were very well camouflaged but the guide was always able to spot them and then would take us a while to find them! Then we moored up for a little walk in the jungle and were greeted by a group of howler monkeys... this time we could actually see them above us. Amazing. In the jungle he showed us various plants and trees, I only wish I could remember everything he told us about them all. Then back down the river for a tasty lunch cooked by Miss Alice, and back to Placencia through the mangroves and estuary.
That evening we probably drank some more rum and/or Belikin and ate some fish as was the general pattern of most evenings.
Next day was another early start, this time to head out to Glover's Reef a coral atoll for some diving and snorkelling for me. The ride out was fine until we hit a lot of rain and got a soaking, still didn't matter too much as were going to get wet anyway, but once we got to the reef the sun was shining, crystal clear water was warm and the tropical sealife was out and waiting for us. Just snorkelling I saw loads of amazing brightly coloured fish, again wish I could remember all the names but I do remember the ray and turtle that swam just below us and the barracuda who seemed to be following us .The others had a good dive and saw a lot of similar sealife and a shark
We had lunch on the jetty in the sunshine and at this point Ben and I were also pleased to discover that you can get squash in Belize, yes as in the beverage. I didn't think I'd ever miss the funny taste of sugary fruity water but surprising how good and refreshing that familiar acidic taste is in 30 plus degrees when so used to drinking water the rest of the time. Also found Heinz Baked Beans, fig rolls, Rich Tea and Dairy Milk allegedly from Cadbury Brum in the local supermarket so stocked up. Guess this time was grateful for Belize's British influence!
After two busy days of adventures we spent our last couple of days hanging out with Jasp and Caz, reading, beach games , scrabble, uno and of course with our friends Belikin and Rum. The week went by too quickly and suddenly it was Saturday and we had to leave the lovely Caribbean blue skies and sunshine (which had been hiding the day before) and start our trip back. Again it all went pretty smoothly. We made it to Rio Dulce in Guatemala by night fall, spent the night there and had another early start so we were back home by midday and had some time to chill before Back to Skool. We were greeted by the kittens who were waiting for us at the door. We felt a bit bad about leaving them but they were fine and are thriving and getting bigger by the day... though I still can't believe they'll ever be as big as some of the cats we saw in Belize! So... another great roadtrip.
As I finish typing this Ben is strumming away on his guitar, his latest instrument (which doesn't seem to scare the cats as much as the drums and I don't have to move away either!) This week also saw The Maestros' ("The teachers" or maybe homage to that classic British car?) first gig at the school Guy Fawkes night. They were ace and wowed the crowed with some British classics. There's talk of them playing at some bar soon...watch this space. I still find Bonfire Night dressed in a T-shirt and flipflops kind of strange though I did see one kid in a wooly hat which seemed a bit more familiar!
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