On the road again

Picking up in San Pedro, once off the boat I was back to my roots as a backpacker and as a backpacker began seeking budget accommodations. I was directed to a place a couple blocks away that was clean, cheap, had a pool, and thanks to advances in technology, shockingly (pun on the way) had warm water showers.  This was a step forward for budget accommodations since my last trip.  Little water heaters installed just prior to the shower head were cheap enough for these places to install to provide one more comfort for the weary traveller.  However installing the correct circuit breakers to deal with these cheap devices was not in the budget.  The problem being if there is any short in the water heater, which I would give a 50/50 chance on, the dirty human beneath it turns into the next test subject for shock therapy in cell block D of the San Pedro Psych Ward.   I stuck with cold showers.

Things did turn around as I noticed that this hotel seemed to only be inhabited by foreign women who liked to lay around the pool and as Lobster Fest was well under way, the main party for the evening was at our hotel as well.  I did get a job with the hotel that evening of picking up people from their hotels in a golf cart to bring them to the party however I didn't read the fine print in the contract that doesn't allow the "designated driver" to do body shots with the passengers.  I was let go but was still allowed to join the party, try my luck at chicken drop bingo, and have some of the much talked about lobster pizza.

 My brief tenure as chauffeur 

Chicken Drop (Sh@t) Bingo:  Fairly self-explanatory

The next day was my cousin's birthday and she, her husband, and nine month old had just arrived in Placencia, which is in the southern part of the country.  Instead of taking a 90 minute ferry and then a 5 hour bus ride to get there, I spent the extra $80 to take a few puddle jumpers to get down there in less than an hour.

For my pilot friends, Tropic Air uses a Cessna Caravan which is a single engine turbo prop that fits 15 people including pilot and co-pilot.  When we took off from San Pedro I noticed that we used a lot of runway to get the thing off the ground and it climbed like a turkey fattened up for Thanksgiving.  But we  were on our way to Belize City Municipal and the view of the islands was great.  Coming into Muni, I noticed the runway seemed pretty short but at least it was surrounded by shallow water in the event of an emergency;)  After unloading a few people and taking on a few more, we taxied downwind and the pilot turned her around using every inch of ground available.  I think the nose wheel actually got a little wet.  Then he gunned it down the runway and by "gunned it" I mean "we started a slow roll to the other end of the runway."  When we passed the airport terminal, which was close to the end of the runway, I was hoping we would have more speed than we did.  I could see the pilot starting to pull up which immediately signaled the stall horn.  So instead of gaining altitude for take off, basically the runway just ends, the plane stays level, and you are left flying a few feet over the water.  Luckily there is no 50 ft obstacle to clear which left us free to gain speed and altitude and make our way to Dangriga and then Placencia which both have longer runways.  I looked up the specs for the Caravan and the runway at Muni.  The Caravan needs 1,500 ft for take off and the Muni runway is around 1,600 ft.  Just enough.

Looking south down the peninsula of Placencia

After getting safely on the ground in Placencia, I found my cousin and her family which wasn't hard to do since Placencia was just kicking off its Lobster Fest and everyone was at one spot on the beach.  Placencia's Lobster Fest is boasted as the biggest in the country and the best party of the year.  From what I gauged over the weekend of activities was this:

- All the restaurant owners close their comfortable spacious restaurants to cook in a short row of tents which offer no seating for customers, minimum shade, minimum selection, and expensive lobster plates. ~ negative

- All the hawkers who endlessly try to sell you their "handmade" wood carvings of a 5 ft long mutated crocodile that they say will easily fit into my backpack convene under one tent keeping the streets hassle free to stroll through. ~ positive

- The 20 ft x 20 ft stack of half blown speakers that relentlessly pound out local hip hop artist's music which is actually re-re-mixed American hip hop songs with the words slightly changed that can be heard anywhere within a 1 mile radius. ~ negative

- For being boasted as one of the biggest parties of the year, it basically just gave the locals and tourists one single place to gather and drink beer instead of being spread throughout the town ~ positive/negative

Aside from that, Placencia is a very laid back place that claims the world's narrowest main street at 4 ft wide according to the Guinness Book of World Records.  The following week was spent relaxing and hanging with  my family which really meant doing everything according to a 9 month old's time line.

Belizien high chair

• 5 am:  wake up
• 8 am:  take nap
• 11 am:  eat lunch
• 2 pm:  take nap
• 5 pm: eat dinner
• 7 pm: go to bed
• wake up twice during the night
• repeat

We got the occasional walk along the beach or golf cart ride in there as well and it was great to see them.  After they left, I have just been in Placencia for a few days hanging out with the locals and waiting for any boats heading to Guatemala.  There have been a few but either they have enough crew or are heading north.  I have been at least eating well thanks to local cook, Brenda, who has a tent and barbecue pit down by the harbor and she always serves up a heaping of great local food along with a side of sexual innuendoes that usually leaves you feeling slightly uncomfortable.  It's either that or the food.

Brenda's Magic Cookin'

Enticing as that sounds, things are a bit too slow and I am tired of waiting, so I am taking off to catch a few ferries and a bus to get to Livingston, Guatemala where I can start heading up the Rio Dulce.  So the next time you hear from me, I should be somewhere in Guatemala.

Should have all the pictures uploaded for the Belize link by tomorrow.

Cheers,
Jay