Public Buses in Belize

 July 6, 2022

Today I woke up around 7 and leisurely read the news and worked on my blog while laying in bed. After checking out of The Guest House Inn we walked to Martha's vegan cafe and enjoyed breakfast on a terrace overlooking the ocean. We shared a spinach and cheese quiche and Martha's famous peanut butter banana nut waffles. I also had a chocolate hazelnut flavored iced tea which was delicious.  

After we walked the long trek to the 2 sites in Belize- the Belize Sign and the Lighthouse. It took us all of 5 minutes.

 For good measure, and because we had time, we walked to the end of the pier where the boats were loading up for the day. After, we headed back to The Guest House Inn to pick up our bags and lament about the fact that we weren't able to eat at 501 Hub before departing. Of course, things always take more time than we anticipate and when we got to the taxi stand our driver said he had no change so we walked to the Radisson, got change at their bar and made our way back to the taxi stand. At this point we were running on borrowed time to make it to the bus station- so much so that our driver was BEEPING at the police vehicles in front of him. We made it to the station but were told that our bus didn't have any seats left. "No worries. You can come with me" said a man's voice from behind us. 

Ummm... this sounds like the start of a horror movie. He told us that he was the bus conductor and that the bus would be picking him up right around the corner. 

Ummm... "riiiiight" because why are you not on said bus right now sir? 

The man behind the gate at the bus depot told us no, but the woman selling tickets told us yes. What were we to do? The next bus wasn't for another 30 minutes so we opted to make this a horror movie instead of a chick flick. 

We followed the bus "conductor" to the side of the road where sure as shit the bus pulled 'round for us. He put our bags under the bus and then ushered us on. The bus was PACKED and there were lots of standing passengers, but at least there was AC (initially we had been told we'd be taking an old school bus with window ventilation only!) The driver started ZOOM ZOOM ZOOMING down the roads, so much so that the locals started yelling out for him to slow down. Kristin and I were being whipped around like rag dolls and more than once I had to apologize to the people sitting in the seats near me. Eventually he slowed to an appropo pace for a bus. Finally enough passengers exited that Kristin and I got seats. There was one stop with a toilet at Belmopan so Kristin and I hopped off, paid for the toilet and by the time we exited the bathroom we caught the bus reversing out of the parking lot. We ran and waved wildly and the conductor just shook his head at us. We hopped on, found seats and just looked at one another. We almost got left on the side of the road in Belize while a bus took off with our bags 🤦‍♀️

But... we didn't.  

Needless to say we didn't exit the bus again until we reached San Ignacio. The town was cute but unfortunately the outdoor market was closing up for the day so we walked to Guava Limb, which was recommended to us by our airbnb hosts, Cheryl and Jeff. It did not disappoint. It was set in the backyard of the jungle with trees and shrubs all around. There was an outdoor pizza oven and prep station for cooking. There were so many unique, amazing looking dishes on their menu but Kristin and I decided to share the Asian noodles with peanut sauce and the eggplant rigatoni, coupled with 2 for 1 red sangria. Everything was outstanding. We were stuffed but the desserts looked too good to pass up so we got a piece of mango cheesecake and a slice of flourless chocolate cake to go. 

The restaurant called us a taxi and he told us he'd take us to Cristo Rey for 20 BZD (10 US) so we agreed. The climbing hills were outrageous and scary at times (I wasn't sure our poor little taxi was going to make it but he thought he could he thought he could he thought he could) and so he did. After gravelly roads and a detour with windows all the way down, we made it to Lucky Dreamer Lodge. Our hosts greeted us warmly and gave us an orientation to the sites, sounds and rules of the jungle in the outdoor kitchen. I appreciated their thoroughness but of course I had to go to the bathroom so I could've done without the lesson on the differences between the multiple types of toucans on the property. The banana bungalow is all ours. It has a wraparound porch with chairs, table and hammock that overlooks avocado, pineapple, and coconut trees. Inside there's a vaulted ceiling with screened windows on all sides, a luxurious bathroom and one huge king bed. While there are bugs aplenty, Kristin and I applied more than our fair share of deet today so hopefully we'll wake up tomorrow without any (more) bites. Cross your fingers for us🤞

Beaching our way to Belize City

 July 5, 2022

After two short days we were checking out of Colinda Cabanas 

and heading to Belize City. The last ferry to the mainland is at 5pm, so we decided to spend one last day on the beach before making our way inland. Caye Caulker, the island we were staying on, was actually split in two by Hurricane Hattie in 1961. There is what's called The Split at the north end of the island. There's a small ferry that brought us,and our bikes, across to the other side for 5 BZD ($2.50 US). You could easily swim across because the divide is so small, but our bikes and bags definitely would not have made it. After getting off on the other side we biked to KoKoKing, a beach resort that multiple locals had recommended to us. We got a shady beach cabana for $12 US and sprawled out for a day of sun and sand. KoKoKing had a huge cocktail menu which included many different tequila drinks to choose from. My favorite was the King Beach Margarita, which was frozen with mango and a tangy red salt. I also tried a tequila cocktail made with grilled pineapple, but the KoKoKing proved the best. 

We relaxed for the entire afternoon here before biking, ferrying and biking again to get our bags at Colinda Cabanas. We were almost back when the skies opened up and the rain poured down on us. We pedaled on but arrived absolutely soaked. We waited out the rest of the storm underneath our cabana (they're built up on stilts) and within 5 minutes were on our way to the water taxi that would be taking us to Belize City. Since we were soaked we decided to sit underneath the boat as opposed to on the top deck. In about an hour we'd reached Belize City. We hopped in a taxi to our airbnb and upon arrival had to laugh at ourselves. We had taken a taxi less than 2 blocks 😂 We were initially planning to fly to Belize City so I mapped the route from the airport, not the water taxi terminal, and found that it was quite far. I'd written in our document that we needed to take a taxi so here we were🤦‍♀️ Our driver, Earl, was really nice about it though and did not overcharge us. After checking in we both showered. Unfortunately the restaurant below our airbnb, 501Hub, was closed, and we were told not to walk around in Belize City after dark, so we went across the street to the patio at the Radisson and ate pizza, salad and french fries- we are American after all. 

We enjoyed another early night and were in bed by 1030. We keep telling ourselves that one of these nights we'll experience the Central American nightlife, but not yet.