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THIS SECTION CONTAINS OUR VISIT TO BELIZE (November 25-28)AS WELL AS A SHORT VISIT TO GUATEMALA TO SEE THE RIO DULCE (November 28-29, 1999). CAYE CAULKER TO PUNTA GORDA, BELIZE November 28, 1999 The country of Belize is unbelizeably expensive; however, one must still make the trip, if only to visit the beautiful Cayes (pronounced Keys) on the Caribbean Sea...which are extremely beautiful with wonderful beaches and clean, clear waters which contain the second largest coral reef in the world. However, even the beautiful cayes have their downfalls at this time of year and that is the voracious sand flies and mosquitoes. I am not trying to be negative...I am only trying to give you the facts as I see them. We arrived into Belize City on the morning of November 25th, which happens to be Thanksgiving. We took a boat immediately over to Caye Caulker. The Caye was beautiful, and we were very excited! The atmosphere was very different than the other places we have traveled. The official language is English. The mood is very Rastafarian, as are the people. We found a great modern and clean hotel right on the beach named Tom's. We spent Thanksgiving walking along the beaches, swimming and eating a dinner which consisted of a burrito and conch fish. This was the first time in my life (except when I was one month old) that I did not eat turkey on Thanksgiving. I did not sleep too well that night because the sand flies were hungry and I was their late night snack. Our second day on Caye Caulker was great. We woke up and had a great breakfast at Glenda's. We then walked over to the beach and jumped into the boat for our 6 hour snorkeling trip. The snorkeling was wonderful. The waters were so clear and warm. When we arrived to our first snorkeling spot we were greeted by a school of Manta Rays. We jumped into the water and they literally swam all around us. A little while later, our guide, Carlos, pointed out a nurse shark. Carlos swam with the shark and even hugged the shark for a while. I was able to touch the shark, and it was neither smooth nor slimy as I expected, but rough to the touch. It was a great experience. There were so many beautiful fish in the water of all different colors, shapes and sizes. We stopped and had lunch at San Pedro and then went on a few more dives before we headed back to Caye Caulker.
I have always wanted to have my hair braided like Bo Derek. All throughout the beach there were signs for hair braiding. I talked Rich into giving us a break on the budget, and he agreed. So I went to "Antoinette's" to get my hair braided. I had fun sitting there playing with her children as she braided my hair. After she was done, I realized that I looked really stupid. My braids did not look Bo Derek's braids, but instead they were attached to my head. I looked like a man. I tried to like them, since I paid enough for them...but it did not work.. Every time we walked by people, I felt like they were staring at me. We had dinner at a restaurant that ended up costing a fortune for lobster that was precooked probably hours before. That night I went to sleep wondering how I was going to get the silly braids out of my hair and also if I was going to win the war against the sand flies that night.
Sitting on Antoinette's porch getting my braids. The next morning, I realized that the sand flies won the war. I had bites all over my body, once again. However, all was not lost. I went back to Antoinette's to take out the braids in the back, but just keep them in the very front. She very kindly obliged for a small fee. After this important task, we jumped on the boat for Belize City. From there we took a long 8 hour bus ride down to the most southern city in Belize, Punta Gorda, where we met some very nice people from Sweden and Germany. We got off the bus together and looked for a place to sleep. We found an o.k. hotel that was very expensive for us, but we took it since it was the only place in the city with a vacancy. This morning we finally left Belize broke and tired, But we are now out of Belize...You better Belize it! We are now back in Guatemala for just a few days to see Rio Dulce. CHIQUIMULA, GUATEMALA November 29, 1999 We traveled a long way down to the southern end of Belize to reach the famous Rio Dulce (Sweet River) which is said to have hot baths, manatees and a castle as well as beautiful views of trees and canyons and Polynesian-like homes. We woke up early the morning of November 28th (yesterday), to head for Rio Dulce. Rich and I decided to tag along with our new friends from the bus: Aron, Wiebke (Bee Bee), Suzie and "Juan". Our border crossing into Guatemala was by sea via the Gulfo de Honduras. Our boat ride was wet and very windy, but all part of the experience. We took another boat to the small town of Livingston, Guatemala where we would catch another boat along the Rio Dulce to the town of Rio Dulce. When we arrived into Livingston, we realized that it may be better to wait until the next morning, as they were offering tours down the river, which would include a stop at Aguas Calientes (the warm baths), the manatee marine park and the castle. So, Rich, Aron, Bee Bee, Suzie, Juan and I found a great place to stay, ate a delicious lunch and had a few cocktails in Livingston. Although this small town is kind of dirty and offers no sight seeing for the visitor, it was very lively and friendly. We had a great time, despite the heavy rain and electricity blackout. We woke up this morning very excited to see the Rio Dulce (Spanish for Sweet River). We met at the "Bahia de Azul" which is where our tour was organized. We ate a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast and black beans. Soon it was time to jump onto the boat to see the river. We boarded the tiny vessel with many others. The boat was so full, that I was a little concerned that we could sink. I could definitely put my hand in the water from where I sat....in fact I could almost dip my entire arm in. However, I was, nonetheless, excited. When I did put my hand into the river, I tasted the water, and it actually was sweet. This river actually contains sugar water! I am just kidding. So anyways, we started our journey down the river, and it was as beautiful as they say. There were lush palm trees, banana trees, and other vegetation, as well as tall, sheer walls of stone. We made a short stop at Aguas Calientes. Although I had worn my bathing suit in anticipation of the warm baths, I only walked in them as the area was pretty small, and no one else was going to swim. Although this water is part of the river, it was very hot in this particular area. It was at this point that things got interesting. The motor had been puttering off and on for a while, but after the aguas, the motor was barely holding on. We made a stop at some house where the captain (if we want to call him that) got a spark plug. This did not do the trick, as the motor kept stopping. I did not mind, because I figured that our boat ride would only be longer this way. However, I was wrong, as before I knew it, we were docking the boat at Rio Dulce. I demanded to know where our promised trips to the manatee park and the castle were, but the captain only said that our only scheduled stop was Aguas Calientes, and that we should exit the boat now. It was frustrating, because there was nothing I could do about it. We had paid for the trip in Livingston, and we were not going to go all of the way back just to get our money back.. We would be wasting too much time. So, I will take this moment to blast the Bahia de Azul restaurant where the tour was organized and purchased for a hefty sum (for our budget) I might add. The woman there is a big, fat liar. After our exciting boat tour, we said goodbye to our European friends and hopped onto a local bus towards the Guatemalan/Honduras border. Our plan is to see the Mayan Ruins of Copán tomorrow. The ruins are just beyond the border. We only made it as far as Chiquimula before it got late. There is not much in the way of decent hotels, but we managed to find four green walls to sleep in until we catch our bus at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Although we have had some disappointing experiences during our visit to Belize and Rio Dulce, it has been awesome. We saw amazing fish and coral while snorkeling in Caye Caulker, we had a great time hanging out with our new friends, and we saw the beautiful Rio Dulce. All in all, I would call the last few days a success.
Our next Central American country is Honduras!
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