Our bus picked us up around six to head to the border. Us girls hopped onto a quiet and fairly empty bus, found open seats, and fell back asleep for a majority of the ride.
At the border, the bus stopped, we exchanged our Guatemalan money for Belizian dollars and we got off the bus. I was excited to use Belizian dollars because the exchange rate is easy. Two Belizian dollars is equal to one American dollar. That would make for easy math when trying to figure out prices and fares.
Unlike the other borders, the Belize border was pretty nice. It seemed to be layed out well and there were English speaking staff pointing us where to go and what to do next. We started by filling out our customs and immigration slips, paying our exit fee of five U.S. dollars and getting our exit stamp. From there, we got our entrance stamp into Belize, past customs and out the door. The bus had moved to the other side and waited for its passengers as we went to the bathroom and grabbed some street food for breakfast.
I watched our thing while Georgia and Niki used the bathroom and while I did that, I watched a guy kicking at the ground in front of me. Once I realized what he was doing, I about died! He was kicking around a GIANT beetle with HUGE jaw like pinchers. I remember doing a bug collection in tenth grade for our biology class, well let me rephrase that actually....I remember Katie doing my bug collection FOR me in tenth grade and she had caught a bug similar to that called a toe biter. It looked like a water beetle but with two big pinchers and that is exactly what this bug looked like but BIGGER!
The guy was shoo-ing it around with his sandal and making it grab onto his sole. He'd then kind of kick it off his shoe and look at me and laugh. I told him that if he even kicked that thing the least bit near me, I was going to cause a scene and he laughed. While watching our bags in my peripheral vision, I kept a locked eye on that bug. I was able to zoom in and get a decent photo of it before an oblivious old lady came rolling by in her wheelchair and squished its head. I kinda chuckled, not for the bug, but because of the big bad granny that just came cruising by on her wheelchair and squished it like it was nothing. The bug started twitching and doing circles, as the girls came up to grab their bags and we walked away.
We boarded the bus with our one dollar little burrito things and waited for the bus to start up. That was when Lee and Paul came up to our window to say hi. Their bus was right behind us doing the same thing so they figured they'd say "hi". "You didn't have to pay an exit tax did you?" Lee asked us. That's when it hit us and we remembered. Our book had warned us that they would try to tax us at exit, but that the law doesn't require it. The people collecting tax like that are just doing it to tourists and pocketing it. Again, like other points in this trip where we had been screwed over by locals, I was pissed. What made me feel the most taken advantage of was the fact that it wasn't like it was some dude on the street that did it to us. It was government officials taking our money because they can. We, of course, asked Lee if she and Paul paid it. "Nope," she said proudly, "I knew better and refused. The guy threatened to not stamp our passports and I told him that we would stand here and cause a scene." I laughed at the thought of Lee putting her foot down and was proud of her for doing so. They still got their stamps and got through just fine.
They said goodbye and headed back to their bus as ours started up and continued on to Belize City. Crossing the border into Belize was like crossing into a whole different world. Everything was back to English and the population was mainly of African descent. The book referred to this culture as Creole or like French Caribbean. Out my window, I watched as streams and standing water ditches went by, and I searched for crocodiles in these perfect looking habitats.
As we entered Belize City, I was so amazed to see English signs again. Sounds funny, but after being in a world where I feel like a little kid because I can't read any of the signs, I was excited to feel literate again.
The bus stopped at a big ferry dock and helped unload our things. Instead of a bunch of Spanish speaking men hounding us for taxis, we were surrounded by Jamaican sounding men with awesome dreadlocks asking us if we needed rides. "Ello ladies! Well come to Buh-leez!" they said with their reggae sounding tones, their skin dark and smooth and their teeth glowing.
We thanked them and walked to the ticket booth at the ferry dock and bought our tickets to Caye Caulker, an island in the Caribbean with good vibes, white sand beaches and awesome diving.
As we waited for the next ferry, we hit up the gift shops for a snack and about gagged at the prices. It's like we were at home again with the over priced items. I watched a Caribbean local feed her less than a year old son Flamin' Hot Cheetos while we waited on the benches. I laughed to myself and thought, "This is why they like that spicy creole cooking is because they start them off so young!" Haha.
We finally boarded the small ferry speedboat and set off on our forty five minute boat ride. I couldn't get over the clarity and turquoise color of the water. Reggae music beat hard in the earphones of the kid sitting next to me and I smiled at the warm ocean breeze coming in the boat and blowing past my head. Unlike other ferry rides that shoot across the middle of the ocean, this one skidded across the water and past a bunch of mangroves.
We arrived at a dock on an island with an awesome vibe already. Palm trees, white sand, blue skies and cheery barefooted men greeted us as we unloaded from the boat with our backpacks. Lee and Paul were waiting for us on shore and we continued to repeat, HO-LY Sh*t!, as we looked around at the oasis around us. Instant thoughts went through my head about wanting to finish out our trip there. I was ecstatic to look over at Niki and hear that she was thinking the same thing! I suggested that we look into changing our flight and Niki said it was definitely worth checking into, but it would most likely be difficult and expensive. I just had this good feeling about it.
Us five walked around and searched for a hostel that would be reasonably priced for a couple night stay. During our hunt, an older man with leather skin, bleached dreadlocks, rotting teeth and ripped Crocs came up to us on his bicycle, advertising a good deal at a guest house on the opposite side of the island. He introduced himself as Bobby and was willing to show us the way. Because the guest house was right down by another one we wanted to check out and also because he was so down to Earth, we followed him to scope the place out. We showed up to a place with white and powder blue beach cabins on stilts lined up out back. The owner showed us around our cabin and we decided to book it!
Bobby was happy because he earned some commission, we were pleased and so was the lady that owned it, Mary. Lee and Paul got their own room, and us three girls shared a cabin next door to them. It was a small cabin, enough for a double bed, a twin, a dressing table and some plywood walls going around the shower and toilet. It was perfect for what we needed and felt like a Grandma's home. The sheets were clean, rugs were on the floor and it smelled of potpourri.
We put our stuff in our room, and headed out to check out the beach, grocery store and to get more money from the ATM. Unfortunately, the island didn't really have a good "beach" but everyone gathered at the north end of the island at an outdoor bar and a large open sand area for laying out. The sand was hard and packed and you couldn't just walk into the water because of the break wall that separated us from the boat channel, but it worked for sunning.
After sunset, we headed to the room for showers and to get ready for dinner. Bobby had also told us about "Enjoy Bar" where we could get a three course lobster meal with an appetizer and dessert for only ten to fifteen U.S. dollars. And of course he reminded us to tell them that Uncle Bobby sent us!
As I was pulling my outfit out of the backpack, I was so excited to hear Niki shout from the shower that the water was HOT! More excited than ever, I hopped in at my turn and enjoyed my first hot shower in five weeks! The water was treated an smelled like hotel water as it came out the head with high pressure and steam. I dragged my feet at getting out, but also tried not to be wasteful. I dried off and continued getting ready for dinner, excited for when I had to shower next.
As a group, we walked into the bar and got seated at a brightly painted picnic table. The lighting was ambient thanks to the colored green bulb above our head which accompanied the island reggae music well. We ordered our food and after not too long, our plates came out, looking delicious!
A full sized lobster lay across my plate along with coconut rice, grilled veggies and a shrimp kabob. Setting aside the fact that the lobster was whole and I could still see his eyes, I dug into a delicious meal. We snapped pics of our feast and went from starving to stuffed in a matter of twenty minutes or so. The food was great and cheap too!
We waddle back to our cabins with a full belly and retired for the night. Back in our cabin, Georgia played her little guitar while Niki and I sang along, all while laying in our beds with the fans on us. The soft plucking of her strings and her soft voice put me to sleep like a baby and I loved the fact that my alarm was set for nothing the next day!
Photos:
1) Georgia at the border
2) GIGANTIC beetle
3) Lee in her lounge chair
4) Belize Beach
5) Bar swings at Enjoy Bar
6) Me with my lobster dinner
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