Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The holidays are upon us and we are feeling very blessed this year. Our adventure in Belize continues and the positives of living here absolutely outweigh the negatives. It’s been a couple of months since we’ve updated the blog and so much has happened, but at the same time things have remained simple.

My birthday was a success. Rick and I went for a scenic drive to Altun Ha Mayan Ruins, saw a 5-6’ Maribu Stork off the side of the road, hiked the ruins (until the mosquitoes won), had a picnic lunch, another scenic drive home and then dinner and games with our friends/neighbors. I’m getting older, but also better !

I’ve been baking up a storm (pies, cookies, pizza, bread, pretzels) and have been working on perfecting the variations that the flour, sugar, heat and humidity cause in the product. Still having some issues, but the pizza and bread are definitely perfected. Best pizza you’ll find in Belize is right here in Progresso Shores! Rick has been doing some cooking of his own. He’s been smoking beef, pork and poultry, has experimented with homemade ceviche and grilled lobster. As you can see we have no issue with finding enough good food to eat here.

We also started our own outdoor adventure…we built a chicken coop and bought six laying chicken babies to raise and hopefully get eggs from. We got the chicks about 3 ½ weeks ago and man do they grow fast. We should be getting eggs in a couple of months, but in the meantime they’re pretty cute to have around!

We’ve been lucky enough to be invited to some parties in the last couple of months. Scott’s birthday was in early November and he threw a huge party on the beach of Orchid Bay Inn (unfinished) in Copper Bank. There was a band, kegs, beer pong, horseshoes, lots of good food and we met a lot of very nice people. Last weekend Dove and Phil got married at ? resort, also on the beach in Copper Bank. The weather for the festivities was absolutely perfect, the bride radiant, the beverages flowing, the food yummy and the guest list was full of Gringo’s…more than we have seen in one place since our arrival in Belize 10 months ago (yesterday).

The garden is finally taking shape. We have planted peas, beans, zucchini, cilantro, basil, green onion, lettuce, tomato and carrots. So far the only thing we’ve been able to harvest has been basil…boy was it incredible. The rest of the seedlings are coming along…should have fresh veggies in a couple of months if the insects and deer don’t eat them first! Our fruit trees (dragon fruit, pineapple, banana, soursop, tamarind, coconut, sugar apple and avocado) are also looking good. Bananas will probably be the first of those to produce.

The weather through the rainy season was interesting. We were threatened by five hurricanes, but the only issue we had with any of them was some minor roof leaks, a couple of downed trees on the property and some flooding. A storm last month topped them all when it rained for 3+ days straight. The roof leaks were a little more pronounced, a tree actually fell right on the house (no damage) and the flooding was much more advanced...we even had a sink hole! To pass some time during the storm, we worked on a giraffe puzzle that I have had for years but never opened. It was quite challenging, but after 10 days it was complete. Now we are working on preserving it by gluing together and making a piece of artwork out of it. Following that storm the roof was resealed so the leaks are now under control and the sink hole was excavated and filled in. Since the beginning of November the mornings have been cool, sometimes into the 50’s, but for the most part the daytime highs remain in the 75-85 degree range. Perfect! Most days we have a nice breeze, so last week I picked up a kite at a local store and tested it out on Monday. It worked great, so on Tuesday we went back into town for supplies and picked up a couple more!

We have started bird watching and had the opportunity to see a heron up-close when he/she wandered underneath the RV coach after having been injured. Later he wandered over to the neighbor’s house and Ed, in an attempt to pick him/her up, got a beak right above his eye. Needless to say, he left the bird to fend for him/herself. A few weeks later we spied a greater blue heron standing on our beach. It was about 3-4 feet tall and pretty spectacular. Speaking of sightings, we also had a 4 foot iguana sunning on our dock…no camera handy for that, but check out the other photos!

We’re both perfecting our darts, cards, dominoes, poker and pegs and jokers. We’re enjoying each others company and falling deeper in love everyday. I miss the kids (they will be coming for a visit in late February/early March) and the holidays won’t be quite the same without family, but it can only be what we make it, so we will make it the best we can.


We hope and pray that your holidays carry only happy memories and that your stockings are filled with joy and laughter! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fall has arrived!

Fall has arrived in Belize and with it came a tropical storm (Matthew), hundreds of dragonflies, cooler weather, a friends’ illness and recovery and a visitor to the lagoon. It’s been an eventful month…

We were supposed to have hosted 60+ people at our housewarming party on 9/26, but Mother Nature had something else in mind. TS Matthew started heading our way on the 22nd and was predicted to be in our backyard on the 26th. We cancelled the party and started preparing for the storm instead. It ended up being much less intense than we had expected, but it’s a good thing we cancelled the party because it would have been a muddy mess if people did come. We’ll be rescheduling after hurricane season and will let you all know when to make your travel plans…lol! We did have a loose battery in the bathroom water heater from all the rain and humidity and had a couple of days without hot showers. Shortly thereafter our well water pump gave out (no water!) and had to be replaced…luckily our builder took care of that for us!

Dee and I had a girls-day-out a couple of weeks ago. We went to Corozal and had our hair done (I had a cut and style for $10 BZE…$5 USD!!!) Afterwards we headed to the free-zone casino for some blackjack and slots. I won $100+ USD!!! The day ended on a low note though. When we returned home we found that Mousey, Ed and Dee’s Chihuahua, was very sick. Turns out she was in renal failure and fought through the weekend only to die late Sunday night. She will be greatly missed.

That same weekend Ed started feeling poorly. By Sunday night he and Mousey were suffering together. Ed and Dee headed to the ER in Orange Walk on Monday morning and Ed was diagnosed with appendicitis. He had surgery later that same day (appendectomy and exploratory which discovered a perforated diverticuli) and insisted on being released from the hospital on Thursday after 4 days of questionable nursing care in the hospital. He and his doctor agreed that he would recuperate better at home as long as he had a nurse to give him antibiotic shots, remove his drain and monitor his incisions (guess who?) Dee took great care of him and Rick and I helped with what we could. He had his surgical follow-up appointment yesterday and all is healing well. The total cost for ER, tests, surgery, all meds, 3 nights in the hospital and follow-up care = $6000 BZE/$3000 USD. Try that in the States!!!

Almost as if on queue, the weather cooled off and the humidity dropped on October 1st. Since then the early morning temperatures are in the 60’s and we’re averaging about 90 for daytime highs. The breezes have shifted and seem to be coming from the north and west instead of the south and east. The grasshoppers are dying off and the dragonflies are taking over…they are much preferred because the grasshoppers were munching on all of our new plants! The parrots like the cool mornings and are waking us up with their song/squawk around sunrise. They’re still really vocal and active around 5p too. We love to watch and listen to them and make up stories about what they’re saying/doing. Last night during our happy hour on the beach we had an unexpected visitor to the lagoon. I spotted a crocodile about 30 feet offshore. We had the binoculars with us, so we both got a great look at him/her. Gracie, Goldie and Diablo came over to us for a visit and the puppies jumped into the lagoon for a quick swim. We saw the crocodile turn and start swimming towards them, but they got out of the water before we had to worry. Took a couple of pictures, but they don’t do him/her justice. Needless to say we will be extra careful when we’re cooling off!!!

Last weekend we went into town for the “horse races” (see photos). Not quite what we’re used to, but interesting none the less. We ran into the guy that installed our home a/c units and chatted for a while. His cousin’s horse won the 3rd race…first race he had ever entered! That was exciting!

The RV coach is still for sale. Rick has been busy getting it all ship shape and we’ve had some inquiries. There is a possibility that someone will be coming to take a look this coming week. We’d like to sell so we can get started on the guest house before a possible visit from Rick’s brother and family over the holidays.

It’s my birthday on Monday and we’re trying to decide how to celebrate. If it’s not too hot we may go visit the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins southeast of here. Word is that the ruins there are what inspired the label on the Belikin beer bottles. If it’s too hot we’ll take a trip to one of the few white sand beaches in northern Belize, not far from here.

That wraps things up for month #8. Ready for visitors if anyone is interested! Just give us the word and we’ll make some plans.

Open For Business

Almost autumn! Not sure what that will be like here in Belize, but we’ve heard it will be beautiful. The last few weeks have been fun…we will just share a couple of the highlights.

In late August Linda was entering the lagoon for a relaxing soak and encountered a 4 ft. stingray! It was more afraid of her than she was of it, so it took off to find shelter. One of the few times Linda didn’t have her camera handy, so her memory will be the only record of that encounter, but she will remember it fondly.

We celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary on September 3rd by travelling back to the Placencia peninsula for a few days. The weather, water and company were wonderful. We had a great time (check out the photos)! On our way back home we stopped at a huge nursery and Rick picked out some beautiful flowers to accent our landscape (which is coming along quite nicely). The garden is growing too…we planted some of the developing seedlings and Rick took some rose cuttings and is hoping they will take root. We’re still waiting for the rest of the seedlings in the trays and the rooting avocados to be ready for transplanting. If we can outwit the insects, this should be quite a producing piece of property when we’re through. Rick is also thinking of going into the nursery production business since there are no plant nurseries within 60 miles. The roses should prove a true test as to his abilities.

Our latest efforts have been focused on preparations for our housewarming party on September 26th. We have 60 confirmed guests and are planning a table full of food (roasted pig in the ground accompanied by some authentic Belizean dishes), a couple of kegs of Belikin and lots of fun. We’re praying for the weather to cooperate!

Speaking of weather, Tropical Storm Karl blew through this week with 40 mph winds and buckets of rain. We suffered minor flooding on our lot and a few downed trees, but overall we were really lucky…we were prepared for much worse! Since we had the downed trees already, Rick decided to do some tree work. With the help of 4 of the crew, they cut up the downed trees, cut down the dead ones and cleaned up the property. They ran out of time yesterday, so this morning Rick decided to cut the last of the dead trees (it was threatening to fall on the RV!) He thought the two of us could do it, but three-quarters of the way through the attempt we decided we weren’t strong enough. Ed and
Scott came with their ATV’s and muscles and we finally were successful in bringing it down. Besides the storm, the weather has been much more stable than in mid-summer. It’s still hot and humid, but with wonderful breezes throughout the days and cooler temperatures in the mornings and evenings. We’ve also had some incredible sunrises and sunsets (see pix)!

We have nightstands on order that are being built by the Mennonites across the lagoon in Little Belize. They were supposed to have been ready 10 days ago, but since we’re on “Belize time” we’re just hoping to have them prior to the party. We haven’t found the right bookshelf yet. If the nightstands are completed to our liking, we may design something for the Mennonites to build and then the decorating will be complete.

We have the RV coach up for sale and then we will start thinking about the guest house. We’re still waiting for our first visitors…we’re ready whenever you are!

Life remains pretty much a dream. It’s like living on a cruise ship except for having to do our own cooking. Speaking of cooking, it’s LOBSTER season in Belize, so it has become a part of our weekly menu.

Everything we do is done on our self-made schedule with plenty of time for relaxing, playing in the lagoon and falling deeper in love. You have to live it to really understand what this experience is all about. Any takers?

Until we write again, health and happiness to all…

Home Sweet Home

I have always heard the saying that "time flies when you're having fun", but this is ridiculous. Another 2 months has passed us by without an update here and so much has happened. Our container of belongings arrived at the Belize Port only 3 days later than planned and was ready for pick-up on July 16th, our 5 month anniversary in the country. Rick and a couple of the crew drove into Belize City and spent an incredibly hot/humid day dealing with customs agents, transport agents and brokers. They were forced to unload 80% of the truck for inspection and then reload. If you recall, the truck was filled to capacity in AZ, so unloading and reloading was no easy task. Rick and the guys finally arrived back home around 7:30p with the truck/container following about two hours later (after running out of gas!). A couple more of the crew guys and some friends helped us unload for the next two hours! What a job. There was some minor damage to some of the furniture and appliances (mostly cosmetic and not a big deal here) and some additional charges that we were not expecting, but we decided to put that particular day behind us and look to the future. We spent the next five weeks unpacking, decorating, cleaning and getting used to the sights, smells and sounds of our new home. The Belizean who constructed all of our solid mahogany cabinets for the house built us a beautiful custom mahogany dining room set. It arrived two weekends ago, so the only additional items we need to complete the house are night stands and a bookshelf. We celebrated our 6 month anniversary in Belize last week and are happier than ever. We spend the days in our own activities (Rick has been working all over the 2 acre property grooming, planting and beautifying. He does amazing work even though it is difficult to improve on what God has done here. His tropical fruit tree collection is slowly taking shape…he has planted custard apple, sour sop, star fruit, avocado, tamarind, coconut, banana and mango trees. His garden is dug, mulched and ready for planting. We’re going to start the seeds in planter trays due to the ants and then transplant them when they’re stronger. We’re hoping to be able to supply all of our own veges and fruits. The front landscape and walk-ways are in, so now we will dedicate a day to return to the nursery in Ladyville to purchase some plants and flowers to enhance the look. His next project is to build a sand beach above the seawall at the lagoon. He has realized that he doesn’t get as much done everyday at 55 1/2 than he did at 20, 30 or even 40 years of age …I keep telling him there is no hurry…we have the rest of our lives. I spend the days sunning/soaking at/in the lagoon, reading, internet-ing, listening to music, cleaning, laundry, groceries etc. Dee and I went into town last week and played some slots while we were there. We both won…$50 for me and $180 for her, so we splurged and bought ice cream…$22 BZ/pint! Boy was it good!!!) Our evenings are always spent together, whether alone on the patio watching the lagoon in the moonlight while listening to music (and the crickets, geckos, frogs and birds) or with friends playing dominoes, cards, pegs and jokers or a board game. Our health has been very good, except for Rick's couple of cases of Che Chen poisoning that required trips to the Dr. in Orange Walk for steroid shots. The second bout is healing now and Rick has plans to cut down the Che Chen trees that remain on our property to avoid further contact. The weather has cooled a little bit, but we're still under the threat of "hurricane season". For a few weeks in July it seemed like we would need to build an ark to survive the storms, but that, too, has calmed down. Progresso Shores definitely feels like home now and Ed, Dee and Scott, our neighbors/friends/home builders, have helped to make the transition much smoother. Now that we're settled, we're ready for visitors! Start making your plans for a little Belizean adventure! We’re living in an amazing piece of God’s handiwork…not perfect, but worth the little inconveniences that we encounter in order to appreciate the rest of what we have.

Lots of changes

Wow! I can’t believe another month has flown by. It was a busy one with travel back to AZ to visit and pack up the house there. We left Belize City on 6/9 and flew to Phoenix with a brief stop in Houston. Janessa met us at the airport (it was wonderful to see you, babe!) We saw some other family and friends while in town…sorry if we missed you, it was a whirlwind! We shopped for appliances and other necessities that either are not available in Belize or are not the quality we desire (thanks for letting us borrow your car, mom and dad). After 10 days of shopping and packing up the house, the 20 foot container arrived on 6/21 for loading. With the help of 2 great friends (thanks Bobby and John) we loaded the container solid and it was back on the road. We tried to sell our bedroom and dining room sets and some dishes and lamps on craigslist without success. Janessa will have to have a garage sale when the house sells (unless anyone knows anyone who needs any of these items).
We left AZ on 6/25, flew to Cancun and took a bus to Playa del Carmen. We had a lovely dinner, walked on the beach in the full moonlight and saw a little bit of the town. We slept like logs that night and in the morning headed back to the bus station for our return to Belize. It rained most of the 5 hour bus ride, but the towns we passed through were quite quaint. Scott met us at the border for the final leg of our journey.
We arrived back in Progresso to a wonderful surprise…while we were back in the USA, Ed, Dee and the crew worked feverishly to complete as much of the house as they could. We couldn’t believe the progress they had made (see photos!) The house is almost move-in ready…just awaiting the arrival of the container with our appliances, furniture and some items we purchased to complete our new home (we just found out that the container may not arrive until mid-late July!). Everything is beautiful!
On that first day back in Belize we discovered that the power had gone out in the RV while we were gone, we had a flat tire on the car and that tropical storm Alex was headed straight for us. We opened the refrigerator and freezer to find everything spoiled and very stinky. After emptying both and washing with a series of bleach, orange cleanser and a Mexican-style Lysol, we still have an odor. Have had baking soda in there for a few days without much luck, so today I’m trying coffee grounds. I’m awaiting an e-mail response from the “Queen of Clean” for any other suggestions. The tropical storm was a threat, so we spent the first night back in the guest house instead of the RV. We got some wind, a little rain and some downed trees, but otherwise the threat was bigger than the storm. The tire was easily repaired with “fix-a-flat” and Dee and I went shopping on Monday to replenish our supplies. Yesterday was laundry, lagoon, relaxing and dominoes for me, but Rick is back at it full speed ahead with assisting on the front porch tile and planting some banana and coconut palms and more pineapples.
We’re back into a comfortable routine and looking forward to many happy years here.

planning a visit to the U.S.

another couple of weeks have flown by and, despite some rainy days, the house construction continues running smoothly. we are estimating completion and move in during the first week of july. to prepare for that, rick and i will be returning to the U.S. to pack up some of our "necessities" to ship back down to belize. we will be flying into AZ (via Houston) on june 9th and then returning to belize via cancun on 6/25. hopefully we can see as many of our AZ friends while we're there...check your calendars for those dates and let us know. other than that, nothing major to report, except that i am trying to convince rick to take a trip back down south to see the whale sharks that migrate to that area this time of year. we'll let you know what happens with that!

Wow...the last 4 weeks have flown by so fast! I guess it's true that time flies when you're having fun. It doesn't even seem possible that it is May already and May is half over. We’ve been in Belize for 3 months now and it’s feeling pretty comfortable!
Things here have been moving along nicely with home construction and continuing to get settled into our new routine. We usually travel into town (Orange Walk or Corozal) at least once a week and have been to Belize City a couple of times in the last month, too. We have chosen paint colors, tile samples, light fixtures, fans and bathroom faucets and sinks. The inside walls are up, the slabs are poured and the next step will be the plastering and the ceiling. Hope you have been able to follow the progress with our photos! No work today due to rain off and on for the last 15 hours (the parrots are partying this morning in the cool damp air).
We applied for and have been accepted to the QRP (qualified retired persons) incentive program. This required dealing with red tape here in Belize as well as over the phone/internet to AZ, but finally, with a lot of people's help, things were accomplished. Now we can return to the U.S. to pick up some more of our "stuff" to bring back to our new home duty/tax-free. We will fly to AZ sometime in the next 2 weeks, buy a truck, trailer and appliances and drive back to Belize through Mexico in the middle to end of next month. Scott, the guy who sold us our lot, has agreed to meet us in Brownsville, TX to show us the ropes through Mexico. We've heard some borderline horror stories about gringos in that country, so his experience will be invaluable. I’m sure there will be more adventure to report!
Our house in AZ is currently on the market, but Janessa will continue to live there and care for it for the time being (she will be starting her new job as a cake decorator in Phoenix sometime in the next couple of weeks. Yeah!)
Rick has been working right along with the crew or on odd jobs around the lot. He continues to drop weight (maybe 30 pounds now) and will need new clothes or at least a new belt soon. Linda suffered a rib injury a couple of weeks ago, so exercise has been limited, but things are starting to heal now and her clothes are starting to hang differently, too. We moved from Ed and Dee's guest house to our RV about 10 days ago thereby giving up Dee's excellent Italian cooking for dinner every night. That, in and of itself, will help encourage our weight loss!
There have been a couple of incidents that have kept us on our toes lately. A few days ago while the crew was pouring the patio slab for the house the electricity went off ( a common occurrence). Because the well water pump doesn't function without electricity, Ed decided to connect to the water tank on the RV. They were able to finish the slab with the water from the tank and shortly after completion the electricity came back on. Only then did we realize that the buttons that were pushed to change the water flow also affected our toilet. OMG! What a mess!!! That was definitely an adventure I could have lived without! Then, this morning I was making breakfast (french toast) and opened the kitchen drawer to retrieve the pot holders only to come face to face with a tennis-ball-sized mouse. I actually screamed! Rick is headed into the village now to see if there are any traps available. Ewwwwwwww! Other than those two episodes, the only negatives have been the heat/humidity (unusually high for this time of year) and the mosquitoes (in the early am and late afternoon we have to be vigilant with monitoring our outdoor activities). We purchased a couple of tire inner tubes recently and when we get a chance we're going to use them to float around on the lagoon...the water is perfect temperature for cooling off on all of these hot days.
Dee and I spent a couple of hours last week in the “Entertainment Center” in Orange Walk. This is basically a small establishment with slot machines. I found out I am no more lucky in Belize on slot machines than I am in the United States…lol! It was a fun way to spend some time though. Yesterday Ed and Dee threw another poker game and this time Rick and I both came out ahead. A few of the players were people that we met at the last game and a couple of people were new friends. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Besides poker and slot machines, we also have been spending a lot of time playing cards and/or dominoes. There were a couple of days last week where my luck was incredible and nobody could beat me at anything. I often wonder how that works…nevertheless, my luck has returned to normal now.
Gracie’s puppies are 7 weeks old today and are as cute as ever. Not sure if I already mentioned it, but I named one of the puppies that Ed and Dee are keeping...“Diablo” because she is a little devil. She is the runt of the litter but thinks that she is in charge. The other puppy that they are keeping has been named “Goldie” in remembrance of another dog that they had in the past. The puppies and Gracie will be in charge of security on the property as the lots continue to sell and the boundaries are extended. A guy arrived last night from Hawaii to survey the lots that are available and to report back to friends/family at home for possible future purchase. Our community may be growing! Will keep you posted. Thanks for following our adventures!

settling into a routine

the day to day "adventures in belize" have settled into more of a routine. cooking, cleaning, laundry (drying clothes the natural way...on the clothesline...can you believe it, mom?), walks, swimming in the lagoon and shopping in orange walk town 30 minutes down the gravel/dirt road for everything from milk (in a box) to paint, tile, faucets and lighting for the new house. the weather has been hot and humid and we even had our first thunderstorm the other night!

dee and ed continue to be wonderful hosts. since the guest house has only a gas burner and refrigerator, dee continues to provide us with delicious dinners every night, often followed by cards or dominoes (depending on how tired Ed is after his day of supervising construction). speaking of construction, the power house is almost complete, the guest house slab has been poured and the plumbing connected to the septic tank, and they have started on the block for the house. things are coming together much faster than i anticipated. after hearing some of the horror stories from others building here, we were cautiously optimistic. it appears we made a good decision on the location and builder for our dream, tropical vacation home.

we continue to put together the requirements for the QRP incentive program and will be returning to belize city sometime later this week to submit the paperwork. bank of america screwed up and deleted janessa from our safe deposit box contract, so jason had to fly to phoenix this past weekend to collect copies of certificates that are required (thanks for trying, janessa and thanks for successful completion, jason!)

gracies puppies turned 3 weeks old yesterday, are growing like weeds and are developing their own individual personalities. their eyes opened last week and they are teetering around on tiny legs that can barely hold their chunky bodies :) gracie is a wonderful mother, but enjoys being able to return to her routine also. she patrols the property at night for security, swims in the lagoon and chases the birds who invade her territory. Ed and Dee have convinced us to avoid the lagoon after dark because of crocodiles...according to them, gracie has had several encounters with the crocs and has only been successful in these encounters because she thought it was playtime. she pulled the intruders out of the lagoon by their tails and then ran around them barking and encouraging them to wrestle. gracie is no worse for the wear. yesterday afternoon while we were up at the construction site, we heard shotgun fire from a property well south of us. the work crew told us that there must have been a croc intruder during daylight hours...now maybe dinner?

we continue to document our progress with photos and will be updating those soon. thanks for following our "adventures" and stay tuned!

construction begins!

Thursday and Friday we spent ironing out the details on the house and playing dominos and cards. On Saturday we received some troubling news about the people selling us the land and building the house (Ed and Dee). After hours of investigation and an in-depth discussion, we determined that the news was incorrect and we decided to proceed with the plans.

For Easter Sunday we were invited to a party at the home of the vice prime ministers brother, just down the road. When we arrived we discovered the main party had been on Saturday, but today the "left-over" party continued. We were welcomed with open arms and spent the next two hours talking with the brothers/family and eating (tamales)/drinking (corona). People here are soooo friendly! When we left their house we found out that they would still be at this weekend home tomorrow, so we invited them to come see our new piece of heaven! Afterwards, we spent the evening playing dominos (Mexican Train).

On Monday the first bull-dozer was delivered and then Rick and Ed drove Jim (the owner and operator) back to his home in Copper Bank. He will return tomorrow morning to start construction. When the guys arrived back home, who arrived by boat but the brothers and more family that we had invited over yesterday (with their cooler). They had already been drinking most of the day and were feeling no pain, except for sunburn! They loved our property and spent a couple of hours laughing and sharing with us again. When they left we had dinner and shared our DVD of Jeff Dunham with Ed and Dee. They really liked Walter!

Tuesday construction began and proceeded quickly. The land was cleared for the guest house and main house and the plans were finalized. Ed was so tired he fell asleep right after dinner, so we made an early night of it too.

Wednesday we drove to Belize City to start the process of applying for the QRP (Qualified Retired Persons Incentive Program) and to have the long-awaited car part exchanged in our car. The explanation meeting for the QRP didn’t take as long as we had anticipated and our car would take longer than anticipated, so we walked around downtown for a little while, had a breakfast sandwich in a little café, caught up on the internet and then took a cab to our favorite Belize City restaurant (Riverside Tavern) for lunch. From there we walked back to the Toyota dealership and waited for the service to be completed. From there we did a little grocery shopping before returning home to Progresso Shores. Whew…long day (we left at 0630 and got home around 4p). Will probably be an early evening tonight too!

Thursday was a quiet day for Linda spent around the house. Rick drove back to Belize City to pick up Scott (Ed’s business partner) at the airport. The rest of the day was uneventful.

Friday we drove into Orange Walk to meet with our new Dr, Ricardo Fabro. He did a routine check up and some labs so that he could certify our health for the QRP program. We went to the internet store to see if we could figure out what was wrong with our connection (she said she fixed it), then to get our passports copied for the QRP application, did some window shopping for furniture and appliances and finally some groceries before heading home for lunch. Quiet afternoon and then a game of Mexican train dominoes with Ed, Dee, Scott and his girlfriend, Chrissy before bed.

Saturday was another quiet day in preparation for the big poker game on Sunday. Boy is it hot and humid today! One thing we did determine was that the Smart gal didn’t really fix the internet connection, she simply convinced Linda that she had done so. We’ll have to check with Ed and Scott about what to do…

Sunday the poker game started around noon and we played through the day until about 7:30p. There were ten of us at the peak of the game (Rick and I, Dee and Ed, Scott and Chrissy, Chrissy’s mom, Nancy and Paul, Joe and Janelle (from Corozal). We only lost about $20 between Rick and me…not too bad for my first official poker game! Everyone got along great and immediately made us feel like part of the group. Fun times and good food/drink! What could be better?

Monday morning construction resumed early…they poured the slab for the guest house and started on the well construction! Things sure do move quickly with Ed in charge! We're keeping a day to day photo update of the progress, so check out the pix if you're interested!

decisions, decisions...

Tuesday we spent the day walking around Corozal. It’s a mostly Spanish-speaking town and the roads are very busy with cars, trucks, bicycles and pedestrians. We had breakfast at Al’s Café, pizza for lunch and dinner at “Patty’s Bistro”. None of them particularly fantastic, but all acceptable. We continued our discussions about what we had learned so far about the country (after 5 full weeks) and where we might like to settle down. We also drew up some housing plans for if/when we make any decisions. Overall a pretty quiet day.

Wednesday we packed up, finished up on the internet and visited with Las Palmas owner, Charles, for one last time. We also met a couple from Canada who are doing the same thing that we are (journeying throughout the country to see where the best “fit” is). They have chosen the northern end of the country, but have not yet purchased any property. After leaving the hotel we went to the pastry shop down the street for breakfast of cinnamon rolls (fantastic) and juice. Rick also had to try the Johnny cakes (kind of like a McMuffin, but the dough is corn-based and his had only cheese in the middle). We then headed out of town in search of Santa Rita, another Mayan Ruin supposedly right on the edge of town. Instead we found the Belikin/Coca Cola distributing warehouse and exchanged our empty bottles for full ones. The guys there gave us directions to the ruin, but we still weren’t having any luck. We stopped another gentleman coming out of a business and he offered to show us to the site in person. We followed him for less than a mile and, sure enough, there it was. He told us about the small site (the birthplace of the Mestizo’s) and then left us to explore. From there we left Corozal en route to Copper Bank to the southeast. After a couple of hours on bumpy, dirt roads and a ferry ride, we arrived at Cerros Beach Resort outside of Copper Bank. We met Jenny and Bill, the owners, who fixed us lunch and showed us around. Their cabanas were beautiful and right on the beach, but no access to the internet. After a couple of hours we returned to the dirt roads and ferry rides (x2) and headed for Sarteneja. The journey took us about 2 hours and brought us to the quaint little fishing village on the coast of the turquoise Caribbean Sea (Corozal Bay). We found lodging at Fernando’s Guest House, unpacked (once again!) and settled on the front porch to enjoy the view and breeze. No WiFi in the house, but Fernando’s sister/nephew have an internet café a couple of blocks down the lane. We headed down there about 515p, ordered dinner and caught up on the internet. By 7p our food was still not ready and the bugs were biting, so we asked if the food could be packaged “to go”. Instead they offered to bring it to our room when it was ready. 30-45 minutes later it arrived and was incredible. Rick had lobster and Linda had fish…well worth the wait. We played some cards (Rick won) and then off to bed.

Thursday we headed back to the internet café for internet and breakfast and then back to the room to await the arrival of Fernando Jr. who was going to show us some available property in the village. Several nice lots were available for a great price, but only one close enough to the water to even be considered. We don’t think Sarteneja is the place for us…a bit too far off the beaten path, right in line for damage if a hurricane came to visit and too small of a village to easily fit in as a gringo. We found another restaurant in town, Chez Didi, and split an order of lasagna with salad for lunch. Then we headed off in search of Warrey Bight since we had been told there was a great white sand beach there. After 90 minutes of bumpy, hot dirt road, we found the sea, but no white sand beach. The ride gave Linda severe indigestion, so instead of continuing the search, we headed back to our room. Linda took a nap while Rick sat on the patio smoking a cigar and admiring the view. We then walked to the end of a nearby pier and watched the kids playing in the bay, enjoying the breeze until sunset over the water. From there we headed back to Chez Didi for the steak dinner Rick had prearranged with her while we were there for lunch. Linda’s stomach still wasn’t back to normal, so she just had a sandwich, but Rick enjoyed his steak dinner and arranged to have another steak with eggs for breakfast in the morning. More cards after dinner, then off to bed.

Friday we started out with another round of packing, followed by breakfast at Didi’s and then another road trip. We left Sarteneja and journeyed for a few hours back to Orange Walk for a BBQ’d chicken lunch and fill up of gas. From there, back to Progresso Shores to iron out a decision about the land that Ed and Dee have available for purchase. We visited some of their friends, Phil and Linda, to get an estimate on an apartment rental for if/when we purchased, to live in while a house was being built. Phil was busy building his home on his large piece of land, but took a break to answer some of our questions and show us his rentals (gorgeous!). From there we ended our journey back at Ed and Dee’s and when we arrived we again fell in love with the view, the surroundings and the company. They again welcomed us into their home (air conditioned this time because of the excessive heat, thank God), offered us drinks and we continued our discussions where we left off on Monday. Dinner, drinks and conversation throughout the evening and then we were set up in the guest house for a comfortable nights rest.

Saturday we spent the morning in continued discussion about intentions. Phil and Linda stopped by in their pontoon boat around noon and took us for a ride in the lagoon. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the ride was incredible. The rest of the day was spent visiting between the six of us, defining options for a move and clarifying legalities. Good times!

Sunday we headed over to the Catholic Church early hoping to get lucky again with Mass times, but found out that they don’t have an early Mass, instead celebrating at noon. We joined up with Ed and Dee again and picked up where we left off on Saturday. Mid-afternoon they had visitors, the primary earth mover in the country (and many of his family members) and the country’s minister of security (the head of all the country’s security issues). We all ate, drank and visited all afternoon (the kids playing all day in the lagoon) and managed to end the day with the security ministers business card and well-wishes. Chicken Marsalis for dinner (yummy) during which we announced our final decision…lot #2, a new home (to be built by Ed) and a fully furnished 40 ft. RV (for us to live in while the house is being built and then for use as a guest house until the guest house can be built) now belong to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ludka. We celebrated the announcement with a game of dominoes and then went to bed.

Monday we spent the day ironing out more details, swimming in the lagoon and preparing for a trip into Orange Walk tomorrow for shopping, legalities and lunch. Rick and Ed drove into the village and while there met the village policeman, Omar. He covers the villages within a 50 square mile area and gets around on a bicycle. If you need him quickly in a distant village, you have to go and pick him up! When they got home from the village, Ed found that their dog, Gracie, had started labor and given birth to her first puppy. Labor continued throughout the day and by the time we went to bed she had given birth to six more puppies. Rick fixed a pot roast for dinner and there was a game or two of dominos thrown in throughout the day for good measure.

Tuesday we all drove into Orange Walk in Ed’s truck and from 0830-1530 ran errands…setting up the internet, bank, shopping (groceries, TV, supplies), meeting the Dr. and pharmacist and having lunch. By the time we got home we were all exhausted, but Linda decided to unpack our purchases and set up housekeeping. Dinner was delicious again and then early to bed after some TV.

Wednesday we spent on the internet and phone trying to get a wire transfer for the down-payment of our purchase. The electricity went off so we were dependent on battery for the computer. Per the BofA website, we found out that large transfers are not allowed without a special pass that has to be mailed to the address on the account. We also learned that we can’t make 800 calls from our cell phone in Belize, so we had to crank up the generator to get Ed and Dee’s house phone to work. After about 30 minutes on the phone (at who knows how much/minute), we determined there was no way to make this work without flying home or waiting for the pass to come in the mail. After hours of deliberation and maximum effort on everyone’s part, we were able to solve the issue with family support (thanks Bob and mom). It was a rough day, so we decided a game of dominoes would lighten the mood…ladies won! After that a game of cards (Rick won), dinner, a little TV (very little) and bed.

week #5 adventures in belize

Wednesday morning, St Patrick’s Day, we left San Ignacio (after breakfast and a quick internet check) and headed to Belmopan, the capital, to run some errands. We stopped by immigration and found out that our passport stamps had expired 2 days earlier…we thought they were good for 30 days, but the officer said the date selected was at the check-in officers discretion and he/she had only given us 28 days. She didn’t charge us a late fee and renewed us for another 28 days (good until 4/14). We then went to the bank and picked up our Belize Visa cards…they actually had arrived from Belize City and were waiting for us. From there we went to the Belize Zoo under a light mist of rain and spent a couple of hours learning more about the country’s native species. We finally saw a jaguar up close and personal! Next on the agenda was a trip into Belize City to see if our car part had arrived and to get our brakes checked within our 30-day warranty. We got lucky and found the dealership without much searching only to find out our part had not arrived…it was stuck at the Guatemalan border for some unknown reason. We walked to the Riverside Tavern for lunch (DELICIOUS burgers) while the dealership checked our car brakes and then headed back to the dealership to await its completion. We finished our errands around 4pm and decided we had no reason to stay in Belize City (expensive, noisy, crowded). We drove into Orange Walk and found a room at D’ Princess Hotel. We got settled in, walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner (Rick had some amazing ceviche) and then back home for the night.

Thursday we spent cruising the area in and around Orange Walk. The area is surrounded by sugar cane fields so we thought we would see if the rum factory had tours. No luck but we enjoyed our touring. We also contacted Jungle River Tours to arrange for Friday’s adventure. We found a great restaurant for dinner and talked with our waiter, Fred, about what it’s like living in northern Belize. He advised us that there was a new area being built up northeast of Orange Walk in Progresso that we might want to check out…we’ll have to see what it is all about.

Friday we drove to Come and Dine Restaurant for breakfast and then back to the hotel to prepare for our tour. We walked to the tour company and from there we were driven to the dock on the New River. Humberto, our guide, took us down river for 2 hours spotting crocs, spider monkeys, iguanas, countless birds and insects and beautiful flora of the area. We actually got to hand feed bananas to the wild spider monkeys! We arrived at our destination around 11am, Lamanai Mayan Ruins. We toured the ruins with our guide for another couple of hours…some of the findings are incredible, especially the jaguar temple (see photos). After the ruins hike we returned to the picnic grounds and had the lunch that had been prepared for us…stewed chicken, rice/beans, potato salad and green salad. Excellent picnic! We had a few minutes to visit the gift shops and then back on the boat for our return trip home. Along the way we again enjoyed the jungle sites and sounds. We got back to the dock around 4p and walked home. Linda lay down to rest for a few minutes and then didn’t want to get up…Rick cruised the internet and then went to a street vendor across from the hotel for some BBQ chicken dinners. Early to bed after all that fresh air today and plans for an early morning.

Saturday we packed the car (again) and started off towards Corozal near the Mexican border. On the way we took a detour to visit Progresso, as recommended by Fred on Thursday. After a bumpy, dirt road we entered the village on a huge lagoon connected through a river to the Caribbean Sea. We didn’t see anything terribly interesting, so we turned around and headed back to the main road. On our way back we saw a sign for Progresso Shores Development and thought we might as well check it out since we had come this far. We went down a long dirt drive and came across a gorgeous view of the lagoon amid the partially cleared jungle. We came to an open gate and continued through. At the end of the drive was a beautiful private home with a couple of guest houses. No signs were apparent, so we pulled into the circular drive in front of the home to turn around. Suddenly we were joined there by a man who was looking at us skeptically. We told him we were lost and turning around, but he, Ed, invited us into his home to meet his wife and talk about the area. His wife, Dee, was extremely friendly, gracious and welcoming and their home was absolutely beautiful. We spent the next 2 DAYS with them discussing the area, their land, their friends and their lives and being treated to wonderful food, drink, boat rides and lodging (in the guest house). If ever there was a weekend that was “too good to be true”, this was it! They have 20+ 2-acre lots for sale on the lagoon and we have lots to think and talk about!

Monday we packed our stuff, said good-bye to our new friends and headed up the dirt drive that we had off-handedly entered two days before. Scott, Ed and Dee’s friend/neighbor, escorted us to the turn-off for Corozal as he headed to Copper Bank, another near-by village, before joining us again in Corozal (his girlfriend, Cristy, lives there). We arrived back at the New River, crossed it by hand-cranked ferry, reached Corozal and found our hotel just in time for lunch. We hit a Chinese restaurant for lunch and then spent the afternoon walking around town and catching up on e-mail. We had a drink at the Corozal Bay Inn, right on the waterfront, and then headed to Hailey’s for dinner with Scott. We had a great chat/dinner before saying good-bye/good-night to another new friend and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Extreme Adventures

Sunday night we had dinner at the gathering place in San Agnacio, Hode’s. They had everything from bar to outdoor restaurant to juke box to arcade to playground and the place was hopping. Rick had “enchiladas”…the sauce was a cross between spaghetti sauce and picante sauce and the cheese inside and out was tasty, but unique. Linda had shrimp fajitas…again tasty, but unique in presentation. After several attempts they were able to get the internet up and we were able to update ourselves on the “outside world”.

Monday morning we arose early for our tour of hiking, climbing and swimming in Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) ancient Mayan ceremonial site and cave. This has been described as one of the most unforgettable and adventurous tours you can take in all of Belize and they described it right. The tour started with an hour drive, most of which was on dirt roads, then a 45 min hike through the jungle, crossing through roaring creek three times, getting us ready to be wet all day long. After the hike we rested and ate half of our sack lunch to get our strength up for the adventure to come. At the wide, hourglass shaped entrance to the cave, we donned our helmets, complete with headlamps. We then started with a frosty swim into the cave through a deep pool and then we followed our guide, walking, climbing, twisting and turning our way through the blackness of the cave for over 4 hours (2+ hours in and 2+ hours out). Giant shimmering flow-stone rock formations competed for our attention with thick calcium carbonate stalactites dripping from the ceiling. Phallic stalagmites (see photos) grow up from the cave floor. At one point we were required to replace our shoes with socks to protect our feet from sharp rocks and to prevent damage to the cave surface from oils in our skin. Eventually we ended up in a gigantic underground room strewn with hundreds of pottery vessels and shards, along with human remains. Our final destination required us to climb a 16 ft extension ladder which had been anchored to the cave wall. Once on top we discovered one of the most shocking displays, the calcite-encrusted full skeletal remains of the woman who Actun Tunichil Muknal (cave of the stone sepulcher) is named for. She is one of fourteen human skeletal remains, seven of which were children that have been discovered in the cave. All are believed to have been offerings to the rain god, Chaac, in sacrifice for rain in a time of drought in the second half of the 9th century. The woman had been killed by breaking her back and leaving her in the cave to die. By this time we were quite worn out, but realized we had to do the entire journey again, backwards this time (including the cave, the hike and the drive). When we got back to our room we were past exhausted, but felt blessed that we were able to experience this magical place since there is word that the site will be closed to the public sometime in the near future. After a shower we returned to town for dinner, then back home for fire-flys and bed.

Tuesday morning we got out of bed feeling better than expected with only a few aches, pains and bruises…thank God for fish oil (thanks, Beth!). After a breakfast of French toast we drove to Xunantanich, one of Belize’s most easily accessible and impressive Mayan archeological sites. Along the way we saw many of the locals washing their clothes in the river…scrubbing with brushes on the rocks. Amazingly, the whites stay very white! We then crossed the Mopan river on a hand-pulled wooden ferry (see photos). Linda asked the ferry operator for his permission to photograph him and he agreed only because we were kind enough to ask (native people in this country aren’t very keen to having their pictures taken as it “draws away life energy”). The ruins were beyond incredible (see photos), the tallest being 157 ft tall. We climbed steep, stone steps which were built into the walls of the pyramid-shaped structure. From the top of El Castillo was a spectacular 360 degree view of the Mopan river valley with Guatemala a mile to the west. After leaving the site we returned to the ferry and then drove on to DuPlooy’s Jungle Lodge, home of the Belize Botanical Garden (Rick was in heaven). The park is 45 acres with 2 miles of trails identifying many of the trees and shrubs found in the four different Belizean habitats. It even had a native orchid house and a special exhibit on the products and uses of the native palms of Belize. After two hours of exhaustive study we decided to return to town for lunch (or so we thought). On our way back on the right side of the road we saw the Princess Hotel and Casino! We decided to try their café and our luck. Lunch was tasty and Linda’s luck was pretty good, but Rick made up for that! We finally made it home for a break and maybe happy hour before dinner. We later returned to town for dinner and internet update, but all the restaurants internet was down. We ate at Flayva’s and Rick decided to try Gibnut, the Royal Rat. This rodent was served to Queen Elizabeth II when she was in Belize a few years ago. It was outstandingly delicious….Linda even tried it. Afterwards, we found an “internet café” to check our messages and then home to bed.

A week in time...

Monday night while getting ready to watch “Benjamin Button” on DVD Linda discovered another uninvited guest in our bathroom…a 4 inch tarantula! Rick said it wouldn’t eat much, so we decided to leave him be. After the movie I still wasn’t feeling comfortable about the furry critter in the bathroom, so I asked Rick to accompany me to the bathroom with a flashlight. We searched the place where he was previously only to find him missing. Upon further investigation, we found him lingering next to the toilet. Rick caught him in our frying pan and relocated him to the property next store. OK…I think I can sleep now.

Tuesday morning we decided that our time on the Placencia peninsula was coming to an end, so if we were ever going to search real estate we better do it now. We went into town and after breakfast at the local bakery we met with one of the local real estate “professionals”…he realized we weren’t going to buy immediately and sort of brushed us off by just giving us a couple of properties to check out before he promised to be in touch. We spent the next couple of hours looking at his recommendations and got a better idea of pricing for lots and/or houses in this area. The rest of the day was spent in a leisurely fashion with naps, swimming, chatting and internet.

Wednesday morning we awoke early and after breakfast went kayaking across the bay to False Caye, a jaunt of about 2+ miles each way. We had the snorkeling gear with us, but few patches of coral were visible from our perches, so we just took a brief rest break on the island before returning home. We did see some jelly fish and starfish and lots of little fish right from the kayaks. We turned around and headed back to the peninsula, arriving home pooped out!!! We rested for the afternoon and then prepared for our evening out on the town. We started out at the Pickled Parrot for happy hour. Rick tried a new drink, a Belizean iced tea (strong, unsweetened tea with rum and lime juice). Quite refreshing. Linda finally got her strawberry daiquiri…not made with fresh strawberries, but still delicious. Rick has some ideas on how to grow fresh strawberries here to solve this issue. Next stop was Trevor’s Place, the new business started by the guy we met at lunch on our first day on the peninsula. Rick had rum and lime juice and Linda had rum punch, each only $1 US for happy hour! Linda wasn’t thrilled were her concoction, so she switched back to strawberry daiquiris…mmmmmm. While sipping our second drink, we met Etta, a NY’er to Californian who is in town doing the same thing we are, searching for the right fit. We chatted for a while and then she turned us on to a real estate gal she was working with (she seemed to think we would get along with her very well). We moved on to the Tipsy Tuna, the big gringo hang-out, for a continuation of happy hour and dinner. Rick had a jumbo fish burrito and Linda had a jumbo chicken burrito. Delicious and finally affordable. After our second cocktail we turned around and who did we see, but Etta. We invited her to join us, which she did, and spent another hour or so chatting again. We learned that she has already put a down payment on a piece of property, but hadn’t shared that with us previously due to her superstitions. She turned us on to another real estate agent and then we were entertained by the Garifuna drummer/singing. Several kids were dancing on the beach to the tunes and there were even horseshoe pits available for use with night-lighting for tournaments. When the band took a break we decided to return home to prepare to depart in the morning.

Thursday morning after packing we said good-bye to Chuck and the boys and hopped in the car and headed back into the village. We stopped at the bank, but our debit cards had never arrived from Belize City. The customer service agent called BC and found out that they had never been mailed. He requested that they be sent to our future destination, Belmopan, to catch up with us next week. We then returned to De Tatch, a restaurant on the beach that we had eaten at last June, and had a wonderful inexpensive breakfast. Topped off the gas tank and headed to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, the home of the jaguar preserve, on our way to Hopkins Village. We took a quite strenuous 4+ km hike to the waterfall and then chilled in the crystal clear pond of the falls. We hiked back, no jaguars seen despite our keen eyes, and then completed our drive to Hopkins village. We didn’t have any reservations for lodging, so we spent the next hour up and down the beach trying to find a vacancy. We hit paydirt at Jungle Jeanies by the Sea and got a beautiful immersion cabana in the Jungle on the beach. The 20 x 20 cabana had mahogany floors, a loft and front porch. We were pooped, so we stayed in for dinner and their chef prepared chicken and pork chops, peas, salad and rice. It was scrumptious! During dinner we talked real estate with the owners, Jeanie and John, transplants from Canada. They had some interesting ideas/recommendations. Slept that night like babies…no crawling or buzzing creepy crawling.

Friday morning we had breakfast at Iris’s, a little hole-in-the-wall on the main dirt “drag. Rick had a ham and vege omelet with French toast and tea and Linda had pancakes and “sausage” (more like pastrami) and fresh squeezed OJ for $7.50 US. While there we met another couple from Canada who turned us on to a Hopkins area real estate agent, Reva, who lives on the beach on the north side of town. We headed over to Reva’s house and spent the next couple of hours discussing options. She had a couple of listings just down the beach that we checked out, but Linda isn’t convinced that this is the place for her. We returned to Reva’s termite-invested home/office. Reva pointed out the termite dust on the patio and off-handedly mentioned that she wished there was a construction material/method that would solve the issues that affect EVERYONE in Belize. Rick shared the ThermaSave story and website with her and she said she would do some research and get back with us (we left her our e-mail). We left her office and almost went to another real estate office, but decided against it until Linda was convinced. We returned to our cabana and went swimming. While sitting on the beach Rick spotted a manatee about 100 ft off-shore. Linda missed it, but when Rick described what he had seen to Jeanie she confirmed that it probably was just that. After our dip we walked back to Iris’s for lunch (way too far to walk on a hot, humid day) and had burgers and fries. We took the beach route home and Linda flopped into bed for a nap while Rick worked on his stocks. We had a beer happy hour in our room while searching the computer for available real estate in the area, then dinner with Leo and Laura from Canada in the resort dining room. The chef prepared steak, oven-baked potato wedges, green beans and carrots…again it was delicious. We were offered ice cream for dessert and can you believe it…we both declined in order to savor the flavor of the first steak we had had in almost a month. The beef here is grass fed, so it’s more like eating elk or venison and not as tender as home, but it still tasted great. Back to the room for some sleep before heading onto our next destination in the morning.

Saturday morning we arose early and packed up and said our good-byes to Jeanie and John. We returned to Innes restaurant (same place we had lunch 3 wks ago) for breakfast before heading out of town. We planned to go to the Mayflower Bocawina National Park (minor mayan site with multiple waterfalls), but the dirt road was soooo bad we had to turn around and return the way we had come. Our next stop was going to be Mullins River to check out some real estate that we had learned about, but the road to the river was unmarked and we missed it. Our final planned stop for the day before our trek to Belmopan for the night was Gales Point on the southern lagoon to see more manatees. After 20 miles of dirt roads we made it to the location, but no luck on the manatees. Strike 3 for the day. We drove the remainder of the 20 miles of dirt road back to the western highway and made it into Belmopan for lunch. We ate at Penny’s Pizza again and while there met a couple from near the arctic circle who winter in Belize. Had a wonderful chat with them and discussed places to stay in town. On their recommendation, we decided to cover the last 30 miles or so to San Ignacio today and find a room there instead. We had a couple of places in mind for San Ignacio, but no one had any availability in our price range. One of the locals recommended Parrot Nest in Bullet Tree (the next village over), so we called them and booked it. We arrived around 1430 and moved into our mini cabana. Due to it’s limited size, we unpacked everything we had and repacked, keeping out only what we needed. We then went swimming in the Mopan River next to our cabana and saw a 6 ft green iguana swimming along with us. He was no more happy to see us than we were to see him, so he swam to the opposite shore and climbed a tree. That was enough swimming for Linda. We returned to the room and lounged on our patio (with hammock) for the next couple of hours until dinner. While waiting, the electricity went out. Darkness was rapidly approaching, so we went to the dining area and got a coleman lantern to navigate by. When darkness fell, we sat on the patio and watched the fireflies light up and then the stars. Very romantic! The chef at the Parrot prepared fried chicken, salad, rice and lemon meringue pie! Yum. We shared a table with the owner, Theo (pronounced Tay-o) and her mom and the dinner conversation was quite enjoyable. When we went to bed the electricity had still not come back on, so we kept the lantern and flashlight close by in order to make it to the outdoor, shared bathroom during the night. Such an adventure!

Sunday morning we were awakened by dogs and birds again about 0600. We showered, dressed and prepared for the day. We went to Flayeva’s for breakfast and to use the internet (no connection where we are staying). Afterwards we found Sacred Heart Catholic Church. We arrived around 0925 and found that mass had just started! Our “luck” in this aspect continues! Most of mass was in English, but the homily was in Spanish so we didn’t understand but a few words. After mass we drove around San Ignacio and Santa Elena (the twin villages). We looked at real estate, found a park on the convergence of two rivers (beautiful except for the garbage) and shopped in a couple of grocery stores. Prices are much more affordable here than on the coast, but Linda isn’t sure she wants to live so far from the waves. We stopped for lunch at a roadside BBQ/pastry shop for BBQ chicken. Delicious! We chatted with our 28 year-old waitress about San Ignacio. She moved here from Dangriga 1 yr ago to earn some money to help care for her 3 children back in Dangriga with her mom (ages 11, 9 and 2). Their dad is out of the picture and she is able to make more money here in the “big city”, so she is sacrificing for the sake of her kids. She lives several miles away from the shop, but if it’s not too hot or too dark she walks to/from work…otherwise she takes a taxi. The mother/child relationship is pretty similar no matter the locale. We returned to our cabana and napped in the afternoon heat. Sometime during our nap the electricity went out again, but this time only for a couple of hours. Rick researched some possible tours of the area while Linda updated the blog, then back to town for dinner.

Good-bye Punta Gorda, hello Maya Beach!

We left Punta Gorda Thursday morning about 0930 and stopped only once in a small village for a coke light/bathroom break. The dirt road from the southern highway to the placencia peninsula was scheduled for paving when we were here in June, but it still has not been completed (in some areas it’s even worse than we remember!) We arrived in Maya Beach around 1230 and after a little search found our new temporary home (Maya Playa beach cabanas) and met the owner, Chuck. The cabana is charming and very rustic at the same time. It is/was completely hand built out of local woods and vines. It has a poured concrete floor and an outside shower! Rick really likes showering outdoors. Like everywhere we have been here is no hot water except in the showers. Very simple structures, but utterly comfortable. Chuck is more rustic, than charming!!! He moved here 25 years ago from Florida and wouldn’t trade his life here for anything. Chuck’s Maya Playa Cabanas are the town meeting place. Everyone in town seems to stop by for a visit nearly everyday. We have met over half of the Maya locals just being here. We got partially moved in and decided to postpone the rest of the unpacking until we unloaded our dirty laundry to the laundry man, Dale, and had some lunch. Chuck gave us directions to Dale’s place and, despite his directions, we found the laundry man and made arrangements with him. From there we went to lunch at a roadside stop owned by a Guatemalan family. The food was pretty good, although limited on the serving size, and was fairly affordable. We returned to our cabana, finished unpacking and headed into Placencia village to check things out. We parked at the pier and walked the, “world’s narrowest street”, a sidewalk through the village for a couple of hours. We stopped at a few restaurants to check the menus, but everything was outrageously expensive, so we drove home and had sandwiches for dinner. After that and catching up on the internet, we watched “Doubt” on DVD on the computer (no TV for the next week!) and went to bed. It was a restless night with the sounds/smells of the beach/jungle and the rustic mattress, but we survived.

Friday morning we cooked our oatmeal in the outdoor kitchen and then returned to town to visit the bank, buy some groceries, and check into some tours (especially an excursion to Monkey River) and to continue our exploration of the village. After a search, we located the fisherman’s co-op, but decided to return another day for a purchase so that the fish would be reaaaallllly fresh. After a couple of hours of exploring, we stopped for lunch at the Pickled Parrot restaurant and bar for the special of the day (fish and chips). Food was really good and they actually serve strawberry daiquiris…we will definitely be returning for one of those! On the way home we stopped at a couple of places with “for sale” signs to see what was available. At one of the sites we ran into a man who has lived on the peninsula for 20+ years in a home that he never completed (it has a foundation, but few walls and hardly any roof). We talked with him for quite some time about what it was like to live here and got an insiders view. The more people we meet here, the more convinced we are that the majority either left the US/Canada because they were running from something or were running to somewhere to try to fit in. It was mid/late afternoon when we returned home. Linda rested for an hour while Rick chatted with Chuck and some of the neighbors. For dinner Rick served up chicken burritos in the outdoor kitchen, we chatted some more with Chuck and then Linda did some research for more adventures in the coming days.

Saturday morning we scrambled up some eggs with the waves breaking on the beach. A couple of the neighbors stopped by (Chuck has WiFi) and we found out that not too far away, near the village of Red Bank, the scarlet macaws are wintering. We decided to drive over there to see them. After several hours of searching the dirt roads and asking multiple locals (many of whom did not speak English) where the macaws lived, we were unsuccessful in finding their river home, much less the birds! We gave up and turned around. On the way home we stopped at the same village where we stopped on Thursday, but this time instead of coke light and bathroom, we stayed for lunch. The BBQ chicken was incredible! We got home in time for a swim/snorkel adventure (used our underwater camera underwater for the first time), but then the clouds returned and the winds kicked up, so Linda retreated to the cabana to catch up on computer stuff and reading while Rick visited some more with Chuck and the neighbors until dinner. We prepared burgers out in the kitchen and visited some more with Chuck…he is quite the character! We were also joined by another visitor…Linda picked up her plate to do the dishes and there was a scorpion underneath! Yuck!!! After dinner Linda returned to the cabana, changed her soiled underwear (just kidding) and chatted online with Jason (happy 25th birthday to my favorite son). He was able to reset skype and get it working again and then called us since we couldn’t figure out how to work the dang thing. We talked for almost an hour…it was great! Afterwards, some more reading and off to bed. Any of you who have a computer that has a microphone, we can talk with you too! Just email us with a time and make sure you have a skype account and we’ll see if we can make it work.

Sunday morning we awoke realizing we had forgotten to locate the Catholic Church in the area or find out Mass times. We checked online and found the location, but no Mass times were given, so we just showed up and 0830 and, lucky for us, that’s’ when it started! The presider was a garifuna woman and the church was almost totally filled with garifuna children…the girls dressed in their Sunday best. The music was similar to last week in Punta Gorda, but the accents were much more difficult to understand. After Mass we returned to town to schedule our Monkey River tour for tomorrow, to pick up some conch, a wild sea snail, and veggies for dinner and then went for some breakfast at Omar’s Creole Grub. Delicious breakfast burritos and fresh squeezed oj! We returned home to store our groceries and then took a long, leisurely walk along the beach to hunt for property for sale. Some gorgeous lots available, but at what cost??? Linda spent the afternoon reading (finished “The Dark Half” by Steven King), napping, sunning and blogging, while Rick visited with Chuck and the neighbors. We served up conch, potatoes and green beans for dinner and then more of the above until bedtime. Linda had a touch of Montezuma’s revenge…hope she isn’t getting what Rick is just getting over with antibiotics! Off to bed…we have an early start scheduled for tomorrow…the boat leaves at 0730!

Monday morning up at 0630 for a quick breakfast and then drive to town to meet our tour guide. Alren met us at the tour stand and escorted us to his boat at the dock. We went aboard and started our journey. We had a 30-40 minute boat ride across the bay to the Village of Monkey River (where Alren was born and raised). Everyone in the village was related to each other! We went ashore there to order our lunch for later and then we were off again for the tour of the river. We saw exotic birds, crocodiles, turtles, bottle-nose dolphins, bats, flying fish and a jungle full of spectacular flora. We stopped about half-way through the morning for a jungle hike to see if we could locate the howler monkeys. Sure enough, they were abundant, but high in the canopy of the trees, so we only were able to see one well enough to try to photo (charging the camera battery now, so I don’t know if that photo came out or not). We became lunch for hundreds of thirsty mosquitoes, so we returned to the boat after about 45 minutes and continued on our journey. On the way back to the dock we stopped again in Monkey River Village and had the lunch we had ordered earlier (fish, chicken and guess what else??? Rice and beans!!! It was delicious. We left the river and returned to the sea. We lingered in a bay near horizon caye looking for manatee. We were lucky enough to spot several noses coming up for air and one full body arching out of the water! They move too fast to photo them, but it was great none-the-less. Back in town we stopped at the gelato store for a treat and then returned home. Rick joined the guys in the “kitchen” for more talk, while Linda went swimming/sunning and caught up on computer stuff. Leftovers for dinner tonight. Hope we don’t have any uninvited guests!

Our last few days in punta gorda

We tried for jerk chicken Monday night, but when we arrived the “proprietors” said “soup tonight, jerk tomorrow.” Rick was pretty disappointed, but told them that we would be back. Instead we went to Punta Pizza and met a gal from CA who has been in PG for 5 years. Her business was pretty busy, so we didn’t get a chance to pick her brain, but we did enjoy the pizza…not as good as Belmopan, but better than nothing! Afterwards, home for “House” and “24”.

Tuesday morning we had our usual breakfast and then headed out in search of a long sleeve shirt for Rick to protect his skin from whatever it is that’s bothering him. We stopped at every shop during our 2-mile walk, but no one had what we were looking for. We did pick up a few necessities (toothpaste, matches and clothespins) instead. Rick started to feel bad, so we hurried back home. I went swimming, but Rick didn’t feel up to it. When I got back to our apartment he was complaining of his throat swelling up…possible allergic reaction to the new antibiotics? Gave him some Benadryl and the symptoms gradually improved…whew! For lunch we again returned to the roadside cabana for jerk chicken. This time it was waiting for us and delicious (thanks, Joyce!). Our first BBQ in Belize! We both really miss it since we’re used to having something on the grill or smoker several times every week! Just the usual for the rest of the day. Rick repeated his antibiotics, as scheduled, without any problems. Will have to wait and see what happens.

Wednesday morning started with omelets and a surprise from Rick, sweet rolls….mmmmmm! Rick returned to the “jerk” place to visit with Anthony, Joyce’s husband (he was gone when we were there yesterday). Linda spent the morning watching “Marley and Me” and crying her eyes out! Cloudy and cool today and no more places we want to visit, so we just lay low at/around home. Rick returned to Anthony’s later in the afternoon to visit his greenhouse and discuss more opportunities. I read some more and got ready for an evening out on the town. For our last dinner in PG we visited Marian’s Bayview Restaurant for Indian cuisine. We met a couple there from Canada, Tara and Clive, and shared a table with them. Great food, view and conversation! Returned home in time for the last few girls on American Idol and Linda was off to bed…Rick was up most of the night with his stomach or skin issues, dogs barking or roosters crowing. We’re both ready to head to our next stop, Maya Beach, right after breakfast!

second weekend in punta gorda

saturday cont: after our swim, we found out from the owner of the sea front inn that we may be able to buy beer cheaper than in the grocery store if we went directly to the distributor. we decided it was worth checking out, so we headed over there, but they were closed for the usual 12-2p lunch/siesta break. drove around trying to locate a store with men's shirts (rick's skin is still suffering with some ??? problem, maybe a reaction from the sun, so we thought a long sleeve shirt would offer some relief). nothing found in his size that would work, so we went back home. linda napped and rick later returned to the distributor for a 1/2 case of lighthouse and 1/2 case of belikin stout. a little internet, tv and then happy hour and dinner (chicken legs, rice/beans and pineapple). after dinner more of the same and cards...tonight rick takes the championship!

sunday morning we arose early for 0730 mass at st peter clavier. we were ready early enough to walk, hopefully we won't get rained on when we walk home. luckily the rain held off and we made it home still dry...in fact the clouds have pretty much disappeared. breakfast of oatmeal and then a quiet morning waiting for our plans with jenna. we headed over to her property after we watched a show on the mayan indians. found her place easily and met her dogs, sam and tinkerbell. she showed us around her property and home and then we visited for a couple of hours. afterwards we headed back taking a new road (jenna thought we might be able to encounter some wildlife) and found a farm with pigs (huge), goats, chickens and cows...rick is in heaven! stopped at a "cool spot" for a coke and then back into town. passed a restaurant that advertised jerk chicken, so we stopped for dinner, but no service today. we'll have to make plans to return tomorrow. decided to come home, enjoy our own happy hour and make the stew that we had previously planned...it turned out very good! spent the evening doing more research on cocoa trees and other possibilities for farming down here. also watched undercover boss...interesting concept! full moon rose over the bay and i tried to get some photos, but none came out...sorry, it was pretty spectacular!

monday am rick's skin issues were still giving him problems, as well as the off and on Montezuma's revenge that he has been fighting for a week. yesterday jenna had recommended that we visit the health center by her house, so we headed over there only to find it closed for the "first monday of the month". rick didn't want to wait any longer, so we returned to town and headed over to the health center there. interesting experience, almost like an ER visit, except no request for payment prior to service. weight down 10+ pounds and bp is perfect!!! yeah! we got in to see the "Dr" about 2 hours later. she asked a few questions (which we barely understood), wrote a couple of prescriptions and referred us to the pharmacy across the hall. a few minutes later we were given a couple of antibiotics, some oral rehydration salt mix and a couple of topical creams with specific instructions and advised that we were free to leave. the entire visit and all of the prescriptions were free, although we could give a donation if we wanted to! incredible! we offered a donation and they acted like they weren't exactly sure what to do with it. we were thanked and left the clinic. we had lunch at the snack shack, tried again for a long-sleeved shirt for rick (no luck) and headed home. we thought we might take a swim, but the wind had picked up and the bay had some waves so we decided against it for the time being. internet, tv and nap instead until returning to the restaurant for the jerk chicken that rick has been dreaming about since last night!

our second weekend in punta gorda

sure enough, awoke friday am to sunshine, but very windy, so it felt cool. we got ready for our outing with jenna, but she arrived at 8am with apologies that she needed to reschedule. she had too many errands to attend to today. we chatted for a few minutes and then parted ways with plans to meet at her place on sunday afternoon. we had breakfast at grace's and then walked over to the farmers market hoping to find some good fish. nothing struck a cord with us and rick's belly was giving him trouble, so we headed home. spent the rest of the day reading, napping, internet and chatting with roberto and larry. possible business opportunities abound! spaghetti for dinner and more of the above all evening. pretty quiet day, except for the non-stop wind! tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy with a chance of rain. we'll see!

saturday morning started in the usual fashion with roosters crowing and dogs barking. instead of clouds, there was bright sunshine and the wind had calmed. after breakfast of ham, pepper, onion and cheese omelets, we headed back to the farmers market to see if any of the fish peaked our interest. we bought some jack tuna and then revisited our butcher friend for some stew beef. ran into jenna on our way home and she introduced us to a couple who moved here from florida a couple of years ago. they shared some stories and we visited for a few minutes before returning home to refrigerate our purchases. perfect time for a swim...water is cooler today after yesterday's wind. still feels good. the clouds are starting to move in...it may rain today after all!

the start of our second week in belize

tuesday evening was a quiet one indeed. we watched tv and went to bed. slept good with the new fan.

awoke early wednesday morning and walked into town for breakfast at the snack shack...we wanted to see if we could find roberto (our friend with the boat) to see what the status of our possible fishing/snorkeling trip was. my breakfast was interesting...i ordered pancakes and fresh fruit, but was served waffles instead. no big deal, except when i poured on the syrup i got a little extra protein mixed in with the sugar (there were bugs swimming inside!) i brought this to the waitresses attention and she just smiled, nodded and walked away. i returned the bottle of syrup to the counter and explained again about the bugs. she handed me a new bottle of syrup! i returned the plate to the counter and requested a new order and finally she understood that i preferred my protein in alternate fashion. about 30 minutes later i got my new order and enjoyed it immensely. in the meantime, ricks breakfast burrito arrived at the table and was huge (and, according to him, delicious). roberto stopped by and said no water trips today...check back tomorrow. after we finished eating jenna entered the patio and introduced herself. we asked her to join us and ended up talking with her for over an hour. originally from the UK, she moved to punta gorda from the US 20 years ago after doing missionary work here. she owns 25 acres of farmland in the jungle, but is trying to sell most of it since she is almost 75 years old and no longer able to care for it herself. she is a very brave, interesting and smart lady. we made plans to meet her again on friday when she is in town. while chatting with her, she introduced us to carol, a baker who moved here last year from MN. she, too, is quite a character. after our chat, we returned home and took a swim then back to the apartment for showers, internet, tv and lunch. linda spent a quiet afternoon reading, internet and nap, while rick returned to town for more groceries, a better quality skillet and a knife set. left-overs for dinner and then a quiet evening of internet, reading and tv before bed. wednesday started off very warm, sunny and humid, but in the evening the wind changed and it became cool and cloudy. great sleeping weather, almost cold?

thursday morning started out very cool and cloudy...maybe some rain today? a local was next door mowing the weeds with a machete at 6AM! after a breakfast of oatmeal, we walked to the outdoor market to complete yesterdays shopping. we stopped at several shops along the way and chatted with a couple of very nice locals. we thought we might like to buy a cooler for our travels, but a standard size one cost $100!!! we decided against it for the time being. we did find a grocery store with a better selection of items and picked up some red wine vinegar which we didn't think we would have any luck finding. home after a couple of hours in town, but too cool to swim today. roberto was back at his boat, so rick chatted with him for quite a while and linda caught up on her soap opera! sandwiches for lunch and then started preparing the beans for a new recipe for dinner. played a couple of games of cards (linda won) and then watched the kids walk/ride bikes home from school. used our new skillet to prepare an outstanding chicken dish, served it up with rice/beans and pineapple. delicious! after dinner spent the evening chatting on the computer with family. jason set us up on skype, so if any of you have a computer with a microphone and can set up a free skype account, we can chat! almost time for bed. supposed to be sunny and 80 degrees tomorrow. should be perfect for more adventures!

monday evening to tuesday evening

monday evening we spent time on the internet checking out our next stop, placencia. we were there last summer and enjoyed our stay...it was our top pick for places to live. we have narrowed down our apartment search for there to 3 places. we also were able to get fox tv, so we watched house and 24. sleep was less than good, especially for rick. it was hot and humid with hardly any breeze.

tuesday we awoke about 630 am and took a sunrise swim in the gulf of honduras. it was incredible. the water was silky calm, cool and refreshing. breakfast was eggs, ham, toast and juice at home. i was able to shower, but by the time rick got in there, the water in the apartment had gone off. we decided to go out in search of a fan to improve our sleep tonight while we waited for the water to come back on. we found a fan on our second stop, went to see if the fish market was open (not today) and then went home to check out the water status (still not on yet). we picked up our travel books and met the son-in-law of the owner of the place we were staying (roberto). he owns a fishing boat and we talked about taking a tour with him out to the cayes. more to come on this. we took a drive to check out the rest of punta gorda and finally were able to find the hickatee cottages on the outskirts of town. the cottages are in the midst of the jungle and had paths throughout the grounds with signs labeling the flora. we enjoyed a hike around the grounds, but then the mosquitos started to bite, so we high-tailed it to the car (no malaria precautions have been taken). on the way home we found the punta gorda airport (tiny) and hit a couple of the last streets in town that we hadn't yet seen. back to the apartment for a break, then another swim to cool off. afterward, the water was finally back on, so we both had a chance to hit the soap and then lunch of quesadillias on our homemade tortillas. delicious! after lunch the water was off again, but this time only in the kitchen sink. we'll wait and see what happens. since we got up early and had a busy morning, we decided to try to nap... this was a little more successful than last night...the fan helped. when we got up the kitchen sink was still without running water, so we checked with the front desk and found out there was no reason for this...they will check into it. we decided to take a walk to see if we could find roberto to discuss more details of a boat trip. on the way we met another guy with a boat (bobby) who also offered to take us out in the next couple of days. we weren't able to find roberto, so we'll have to see how it plays out. on the way home we hit the chocolate shop (no purchases this time) and then home. cruised the internet while the plumber fixed the sink and then dinner of a different flavor of burritos. quiet day and will be a quiet evening.

saturday afternoon to monday afternoon

saturday cont: After a rest from our morning adventures, we watched some TV and then prepped for dinner. Chicken, chips and salsa, carrots and pineapple. yummy! when the dishes were done, we walked back to the store to find some more mixers for our after-dinner happy hour. decided on cran-apple juice and rum. back to the apartment for drinks, cards, tv and listening to the waves on the near-by shore. excellent way to spend an evening!

sunday morning we scrambled some eggs with ham and enjoyed it with toast. afterwards we walked Main St from our end of town to the opposite end and then back on Front St (along the water). The walk ended up being a couple of hours, so on the way home we stopped at el cafe again, but for lunch this time. We shared stewed chicken with rice/beans, potato salad and a burger (not sure what the meat was, but it was ok and didn't cause any problems). the chicken and rice/beans were the best we've had here and the potato salad was great. we were the only ones in the place (again), so we were able to chat with the owners, alejandro and iris vernon (garifunas). the belizean people are very friendly and anxious to share their heritage and knowledge. when we got home we napped for a while and upon awakening discovered our walk had led to our first layer of sunburn. today is the warmest/sunniest it has been since we have been here. guess we didn't realize the possible strength of the sun in February! for dinner we threw together ground beef, onion, peppers and okra and served it with tomatoes, salsa and cheese over corn tortilla chips. finished the meal with the rest of the pineapple for dessert. another winner! after dinner we watched a steven king movie and planned our next adventure.

monday morning we awoke early anticipating another adventure. we had a quick breakfast of oatmeal and juice, packed up our travel bag and hit the road. our first stop was the nim li punit mayan ruins discovered in 1976 but dating back to 400 AD. the gentleman who oversees the ruins met us and showed us around, explaining the flora of the area and some of the ruins that had been brought to the office for preservation. we then took a self-guided tour of the area, an extensive archeological excavation over a very large area of land. after leaving the ruins we drove to machaca hill lodge, a lodge high in the jungle with tree house like cabanas that are outfitted with decor fit for a palace. the front desk receptionist showed us around the lobby (surrounded by exquisite tropical flowers), pool (with negative edge) and spa and then showed us one of the rooms. the cabanas are huge with incredible views, mosquito netting over the beds and a screened-in balcony. the showers are the biggest i have ever seen in a hotel room! she told us that howler monkeys and toucans are often seen from the lobby deck and recently a large group of coatimundi was eating the berries off of one of their trees. the restaurant was on the upper level and served 4 course meals to their guests for only $50 pp + drinks and tips. whatever was cooking smelled incredible, but that price was a bit out of our range. drove back into town and stopped at waluco's for lunch. linda had enchiladas and rick had garlic shrimp and fries, both washed down the food with beliken beer. the enchiladas were served on delicious home-made flour tortillas which prior to now we had not been able to find. we requested a dozen to go and the cook prepared a batch for us from scratch. after lunch we stopped at the butcher shop and picked their brains while picking up some cubed pork. we then headed to the pharmacy for some treatment for ricks skin issues and then to the grocery for carrots, onions, peppers, soy sauce, rice, black beans and chocolate chips :) home to store our purchases and then off for a long overdue swim in the gulf of honduras with some of the local children. the temperature and atmosphere were wonderful!!! after a shower i tried to nap, but was not successful. the blog was calling to be updated, so i did so while rick prepared dinner...pork stir fry and rice. yummy!

Belmopan to Punta Gorda

Weds evening ended with delicious pizza at penny’s pizza, a leisurely stroll back to the B & B and time for bed.

Thursday morning we had a delicious breakfast at the B & B (pancakes, eggs, fresh-squeezed oj, bananas and a delicious baked delight…like oatmeal raisin bars, but no oatmeal!!!). We then took a walk and checked out the book store and the grocery store. Groceries are more expensive than we had anticipated. Walked back to the B & B, packed up and left Belmopan for Punta Gorda. Drove through the Mayan jungle and after a couple of hours took a detour on a dirt road to Hopkins Village for lunch. We used our Fodor’s book and found a tiny restaurant on someone’s front porch called Innes. I had fried chicken and Rick had fried snapper. Delicious, despite the lack of ambiance. Back on the road again, toured the village and then set off once again for Punta Gorda. A few hours and one “coke light” stop later, we arrived at our destination and found our apartment at the Sea Front Inn. Checked in, went for a walk, bought ice and came home for happy hour on our balcony looking out on the Bay of Honduras. Consulted the Fodor’s again to find a good spot for dinner. Emery’s is just down the road, but Hickatee Inn sounds better. We went in search of Hickatee on the southern end of town, but never found it in the dark (directions and street signs leave a lot to be desired). Returned to Emery’s to find it closed, so we joined everyone else in town at Grace’s. We waited for 2 hours for a burrito (Rick) and a shrimp quesadilla (Linda) while drinking Belikin beer and chatting with a large group of Canadians who were in town for a tour of “agricultural belize”. We ended up taking our food to go after 9pm, went back to our apartment under a light sprinkle of rain and ate, then off to bed.

Friday am we awoke to roosters crowing, dogs barking and, ugghh, more clouds. We tried the Sea Front Inn Restaurant for breakfast, but they no longer serve food without advance notice…not enough business. We drove around and found El Café, another family run, tiny eatery in town. We ordered and shortly thereafter the electricity and water went off. The owner promised us breakfast and shortly thereafter we were served pancakes and oj (Linda) and brown eggs, ham, Mayan fry bread and tea (Rick)… they must have gas or a generator. After breakfast we looked for a grocery store, but instead found the farmers market-type gathering and bought fresh veggies (onions, cilantro, okra, ginger, bell peppers), fruits (pineapple) and Warsaw Grouper (polish fish in belize???). Then off to the grocery store for staples, meat and oatmeal. Back to the apartment to store our purchases to find out that the entire country is without electricity or water for an indeterminate time period. We hoped not for too long since we just spent $100 on groceries (and the bags to carry them in!). We checked with the front desk and found out that there is a bakery just behind where we are staying. Walked over there, but they’re not open (even though the door was unlocked and the open sign on the screen). Walked back into town and found a grocery with more supplies and bread that we needed for lunch. The sun has broken through the clouds and our walk back to the apartment was warm and breezy. Lunch at “home” of sandwiches was delightful. I spent the afternoon napping…rick tried but was successful for only a short period of time. When he awoke, he walked to the north of town and checked out a house for sale. He also ran into a Rastafarian, about his age, with hair almost to the ground. His new friend encouraged some local kids up a tree and they picked a coconut and threw it down. Rick brought it home, split it open and we drank fresh coconut juice when I woke up. We crossed the street to the pier and sat there soaking my feet in the warm water for a while, enjoying the sunshine and breeze. We returned to the room to find the internet up, but not for long enough to update everyone. Decided to write an update and post it when the internet becomes available again…it’s definitely hit or miss!!! Happy hour and dinner at home tonight. Fresh grouper with veges, red potatoes and pineapple. Mmmmmmmmmmm! Did a little reading/tv and then off to bed.

Saturday started early with roosters crowing (again). We fixed breakfast (oatmeal) at home after determining the microwave was inoperable. Packed up and set off for another adventure. We traveled 40 km on a dirt road to Rio Blanco National Park. We were joined by a Mayan gentleman who served as our private tour guide. We took a short hike to the waterfall and took a dip in the crystal clear river. After our swim we hiked the area and Linda crossed the home-made 35 ft cable bridge over the river...yikes!!! We then returned to the park base camp, bid adieu to our incredible guide and headed back home. On the way back to town we stopped at the Uxberka Mayan Ruins (beautiful view from the top) and then had lunch with a Mayan family in their new "restaurant" (their front porch...tamales and panades). We made it home safe and sound and took a break for a while to initiate our new blog.