After returning we saw our share of Belizean iguanas!!!! They were actually trained to stay near the area where people exit from the ferry. Conveniently they sold bananas right there too!!!! Of course we purchased bananas to feed the iguanas. They eat the bananas – peel and all! We’ve never seen so many iguanas or iguanas so large. Boy were they beautiful animals.
We signed up for a horse back riding trip on the Chaa Creek grounds. Just Ron, myself and a guide spent 4 hours riding all over the property. The views were phenomenal and the trip itself was very relaxing. In fact, the horseback riding trip was easier to handle than the car ride the day we went looking for the waterfall. The same day I treated myself to 2 spa treatments -- a seaweed body wrap and a massage referred to as the “coma”. Both were incredibly relaxing and well worth the money. After all – isn’t that what vacations are for?
It’s time to leave Chaa Creek. Sounds like we did a lot – and we did – but we also relaxed quite a bit.
There wasn’t much to do at night so we were to bed early and since the sun and the birds were up early in the morning so were we. We did take one of our puzzles with us for this part of the trip and we successfully finished it.
We had a flight to catch later that afternoon. On the way to return the rental car at the airport we stopped at the Belize Zoo. Quite an interesting zoo. It was really hot though and the animals were not that active. The signs around the zoo were almost as interesting as the animals themselves. Some of the animals we saw were animals you wouldn’t find in a US zoo.
Well it’s time to board our next flight for the 2nd half of our vacation. This was a little “puddle jumper” that fit about 15 people. I think I neglected to tell Ron about this part of the trip in advance for fear he’d not want to go on the small plane. It would only be a 15 minute ride to the city of San Pedro and the water looked pretty shallow so I was certain we’d be found quickly if the plane were to go down! We arrived safely. Landed right in the middle of town. We were picked up by a taxi and taken to a dock where we were then taken by boat to our hotel. While in the taxi on the way to the dock we quickly learned the way around the city. There were basically 3 streets – Front Street, Middle Street and Back Street. All were one way streets in the heart of the city. Front and Back Streets traveled North, Middle Street traveled South. Pretty easy to remember for future navigation.
We were greeted on the dock of the Belizean Shores by Cori. She and her husband Mark manage the Belizean Shores. Cori does reservations and guest activities and Mark handles the food. Cori’s exhusband “Primo” works in the bar as well.
The people were incredibly friendly and we were pleasantly surprised by our accommodations. We requested the first floor with an ocean view – that’s exactly what we got. Just walk out the front door and not far away was the ocean. The ocean was remarkable --- many, many shades of blue not to mention the barrier reef that was just off shore. The rooms were great but the pool was phenomenal. This pool has to be one of the best pools we’ve ever seen. Complete with a bar and bar stools in the center of it all. There were multiple levels within the pool, the bar, bridges, places to put your chair in the water, multiple umbrellas in the water and on one end you could simply walk into the pool like you were walking into the ocean – no steps just a slope.
The day we arrived was Ron’s birthday. I had arranged to have dinner at a restaurant “4 docks to the South”. That’s how we found where we were eating! The restaurant was really nice – right on the ocean and really cheap as well. In fact, we found the food the entire trip to be relatively inexpensive. We celebrated with cake and sat in the sand just relaxing.
The way to get around on the island was either by boat or by golf cart. Since we didn’t have a boat we rented a golf cart. It’s actually cheaper to rent cars in the US than it is to rent a golf cart in San Pedro. Nonetheless we wanted one to explore in. We headed to the main part of town (4 miles to the south). It was too far to walk but many people did it. We got so comfortable with the people that whenever we could we would offer to give people rides. To get from our resort to the center of town we needed to take a ferry across some water. Once again we were amazed at the “ferry system”.
The wooden ferry would handle 2 golf carts (no cars) and multiple pedestrians or bikers. You simply drove on and then 2 boys would pull the ferry across the water with ropes. Amazingly primitive yet highly effective. The ferry ran most of the day and was full most of the time. It ended at 8:00 pm however so if you wanted to stay in town longer you had to take the water ferry which ran approximately every hour.
The trip to the main part of town was one of sandy roads and many potholes. A path we would make multiple times during our stay on Ambergris Caye. There was lots of shopping in town – individual stores all selling the same tourist type items. There was also lots of restaurants in town. Many people stayed in town – we actually preferred the northern location we had.
One night we did go to town by water taxi as we wanted to stay a little later. Wednesday night was a big night. It was the night of the “Chicken Drop”. What is a chicken drop you ask? San Pedro’s form of gambling. People purchase a number between 1-100 for $1.00. Once all the numbers are sold they drop a chicken in a fenced in area that has all the numbers between 1 and 100. If the chicken poops (drops) on your number – you win. That simple and believe it or not it draws a crowd. We bet but we didn’t win. Good money if you won – you would win all $100.
This particular night we were actually having dinner with the people we met at Chaa Creek – remember Cindy & Jim and Maryann & David? Jim and David had been out fishing all day and were having the restaurant cook the fish they caught. It was great to run into them in San Pedro and great to have dinner with them. The meal and the company was truly enjoyable.
We attempted to go fishing one day. Notice I said attempted. The weather got so bad (and up until this point it had not rained) that we didn’t know if we were going to make it back in to shore. It was Ron, myself and a boat captain. We started singing the theme from Gilligan’s Island. The rain was so hard we turned the canopy sideways and were hiding behind it to keep the rain off us. The drops were cold and felt like little bullets hitting us because it was coming down so hard. It cleared up for a little and we caught 2 little snapper. We had big plans for dinner but it didn’t materialize as the rain wouldn’t let up. A little while later we actually found a nearby dock and got off the boat simply because it was raining way too hard for us to stay in it. Eventually we just gave up and went back to the Belizean Shores. Unfortunately we were leaving the next day or we would have attempted to go out again. Figures the only day we go fishing is the day it rains!
One of the items that gets exported out of Belize is Mahogany. We like to bring back a little souvenir unique to the place we are visiting so we set out to find a Mahogany picture frame. Doesn’t sound too hard to find huh? Guess again. We looked everywhere and none were to be found. We started asking around and were directed to a particular guy who would supposedly make a frame for us. You wouldn’t believe where we had to go to find this guy and you wouldn’t believe the living conditions the people in his neighborhood were living in. Boy did it initially make me really sad. We ended up finding a man to make a frame (not the one we set out to find but one who was willing to make it). Ron described what we were looking for and he agreed to make it. It was going to cost $40 (Belize) or $20 (US). Sounds unbelievably cheap for a real mahogany frame. We returned the next day to pick up our frame. Much to our surprise – we picked up 2 frames – one of mahogany and one of cedar. Both frames for $60 (Belize)!!!
Two of the guests at the Belizean Shores were getting married while we were there so we attended a wedding. Linda and
Mike were from the North and had decided to get married in Belize. They had not told anyone at home that they were getting married and had coordinated everything with Cori and Mark. Cori did a great job of getting ready for the wedding. There were conch shells with flows that made the “isle” and a beautiful arch made of palm fronds and fresh flowers. The bride and groom were both barefoot and were married right on the shore. It was a moving ceremony and one we were glad we attended.
There was lots of relaxation on this part of the trip as well for us. Plenty of naps and hammock time and we did another one of our puzzles on this leg of our trip. It was fun to be able to start and finish a puzzle in a few days and to have nothing else to worry about.
We found the island and the people so enjoyable we actually talked about purchasing a place on the island. At first I was upset by the poverty and living conditions but after having spent a week there and realized that the people of Belize might be poor but they were happy. Life was much slower and people actually seemed to enjoy it.
Unfortunately the time had come for us to return home. All good things must come to an end. We tried to extend our vacation by volunteering to get “bumped” from the flight but that didn’t work --- they didn’t need a volunteer – they had exactly the right number of seats on the plane! Just our luck!
We’ve promised to return to Belize again someday. I would love for the kids to see how other children in the world live and I think Belize would be a perfect place to start. Both Chaa Creek and the Belizean Shores are highly recommended!
