March 4th, 2007: San Ignacio, Belize

Today is Sunday, March 4th and we are in San Ignacio, Belize, which is the western most city in Belize. We hope to cross into Guatemala on Monday or Tuesday.

The last time we talked, Tommy and I were in Corozal, having just crossed into Belize. Since then, we have seen much of the country (Orange Walk, Belize City, Ambergris Caye, Dangriga, Belmopan, and now San Ignacio. Belize is a very small country, but only has three good roads; the rest are either dirt (graded or not), or very broken pavement with enormous potholes. If you stay on the good roads, getting around is easy. We had the misfortune to take one of the bad roads by mistake; it took us 5.5 hours to go 40 miles. And it was hot!

Belize is beautiful! The landscape varies alot from the north to south, and east to west. Generally, the further south and west we went, we found things more "upscale" and less ramshackle. And the ramshackle is really ramshackle as only the Caribbean can do. Most people are riding bicycles, and those driving cars are honking their horns to say hello to their friends (most disconcerting until you get used to it).

While is Corozal, we took a drive out to Consejo, and bumped into a North American-looking subdivision (urbanization). Wow! This was really out in the middle of nowhere and we wondered WHY? Since then, we have come across several other subdivisions and various states of completion, but they are all very far away from any town or indigenous activities.

We took a boat tour to Laminai, one of the Mayan sites. During the tour, we travelled past a Mennonite community, saw the sugar cane factory, and birds, birds, birds! We were fascinated by the snail kite (this guy eats only snails and his beak is curved so that he can get into the snail shells); the keel billed toucan; egrets and kingfishers. Another day we drove to Altun Ha, another Mayan site; this was the day we took 5.5 hours to go 40 miles on the most miserable road ever. But along the way, we met Hector, who was cutting sugar cane and gave us one to suck on. Hector, as well as many other Belizeans we have met spent some time in the USA.

After camping two nights at Corozal, two nights at Orange Walk, and one night at Altun Ha, we were camping fatigued and spent two nights in a very basic motel near Belize City. Our friend Gill Graham would not have agreed to the parking lot of this motel, let alone staying there! It was, however, clean, air conditioned, and the toilet and shower worked fine. And our hosts were fascinated with TwoBaby, and told us where we could buy more kitty litter.

We went over to Ambergris Caye via water taxi. While there we met up with Sarah's cousin, Coleen, and two Redding, California transplants, Denise and Jim (thanks to Wilson). Life is easy on Ambergris Caye! The big draw there is the barrier reef, and the diving, snorkling and fishing. It is beautiful! Coleen has an active coffee bar right in the middle of town. We asked her to tell us the most difficult thing about having a business in Belize. She said that getting reliable, steady supplies was the hardest thing. It turns out that the Mennonites produce 70% of what the country eats, and as a result, they also control what will be imported or won't be. For example, a while back, they decided that they would produce the cheese so none could be imported, leaving the country without parmesan and other such cheeses. This situation lasted until the tourist industry put pressure on the government. Interesting, isn't it? Denise and Jim now have a property management business, having sold their original Belize business, The Sausage Factory. We really enjoyed chatting with these folks!

We did a walking tour in Belize City. It is so small and well laid out, that it is easy to get around and find things. There is a lot of street life around the swing bridge and the entry port for cruise ship people. It is also quite scuzzy and dirty. But you can get anything: three people asked Tommy if he wanted to buy some dope or crack. Our DVD vendor asked both of us if we wanted to party with him. We were chicken! We found an Ace Hardware, and true to its slogan, Ace was the place and found a fan for the car to ease the night heat.

In between Belize City and our motel, we found a little bar (now, who is surprised at that?) right on the lagoon, with palm trees and a cooling breeze. It was a little slice of heaven! Again, here our host had spent 18 years in the USA.

Since TwoBaby had previously been fined for not having the proper visa, we decided to visit the Guatemalan Embassy to see if Two needed a visa for Guatemala. He didn't but it took about an hour to discover that. But what a fantastic reception we had! The people were so nice, and gave us several Guatemalan trinkets, pamphlets, and driving advice.

After Belize City, we drove down to Dangriga, which is a Garifuna town; Garifuna is almost creole-like. We stayed in a great, basic cabana on the beach. We walked into town (10 minutes)to get some dinner. Sad to say, we were very uncomfortable because we were in the color minority and it just didn't feel too safe. We were surprised about that.

The local beer is Belkin, and the guy who owns Belkin is also the distributor for Coke, Fanta, and Guiness. The local lore is that when Pepsi tried to introduce itself to Belize, the Belkin guy bought and destroyed all the Pepsi until Pepsi gave up. The beer, by the way, comes in regular, light, premium and stout and is very good!

We are taking our internet hits where we can find it. Several campgrounds have had a terminal (usually very, very slow); a coffee house on Ambergris Caye had a half dozen terminals as does this coffee house in San Ignacio. But the most interesting internet experience was in the gift shop for a prison. We picked up the prison newsletter, which we will forward onto Wilson.

This is a surprise: there is almost no smoking here, and this doesn't seem to be a goverment-mandated situation but rather that very few locals smoke (regular cigarettes). The food experiences haven't been all that great, although last night (in the restaurant in our campground) we had the most delicious squash soup (green!) and fresh fish.

Hey guess what! The cost of gas (petrol) here is about US$4.50 a gallon! It is a good thing that this is a small country! And also probably why there are so many bike riders.

Oh, one more thing: this is the land of religion. The 7th Day Adventists have really done well here. Everywhere, everywhere we see their churchs. And lots of Baptist churchs, too.

I think we are up to date now. Talk to you soon!