area, most are covered in mangroves and aren’t as nice to live on. It is also purely owned by Belizeans and many people use it as a resort destination from the main land!We arrived on this little out of the way island that is growing in popularity every year! The ocean is a clear teal colour and you can see straight to the bottom. The different shades of blues colliding into one another, is as relaxing as it is passionate. Honestly, it is breath taking. Everything you would expect from a tropical paradise. We settled in at Lana’s, a little guest house with four rooms. Thankfully ours had two double beds and our own bathroom. Unfortunately sand tracks in everywhere and you never quite get that clean feeling! I won’t describe the bathroom and shower, only to say that it is our own, if that is any consolation! We miss Canada’s bathrooms!
We had had such a long tiring day on the bus that I insisted we take a dip in the ocean and that I did. Heavenly! At 5pm to still be able to swim and enjoy the cool water really takes care of the heat at least temporarily. The bottom is mostly rocky, but we found a few sandy places and waded in. Our meals were included with accommodation and we were all too happy to eat at 6pm!! Meals ranged from fried breaded fish and rice to chicken and fries, all homemade. A few vegetables here and there, but we wished for more! Breakfasts were interesting, with fried jacks (Belizean pancakes), eggs, meat and fresh pineapple. Our cook was the fill in so we where just happy we got to eat! I believe that fried food is everywhere and we are getting a little bored. One night our rice had ground fresh pieces of coconut cooked in, from our very own coconut trees! Delish!
Our first day was spent snorkelling right off our island, which boasts a very impressive reef! We saw giant sting rays with long tails swishing about. Hundreds of tropical fish in schools and solo; purples, reds, yellows, greens and blues, the fish are incredible. I also saw an ugly lobster looking creature scuttling the bottom, as well as an unusual white fish that swims on its side with one eye up. Fabulous! We stopped for breaks and some hammock time. There is no need to work very hard here! Meal time was a big excitement!
We met a few locals on the island, one couple in particular. He was born in Belize, moved to Washington, DC at 18, lived in Vegas and DC for 30 plus years before deciding he had to return to Belize to retire on this island. He left his marriage and all for the quiet life. He has since remarried a Belizean woman who sells dresses that she hand makes on the island. She gave us an earful on tourists and their bad behaviour. One man almost got chopped up by a passing boat because he was outside the buoy designated to keep swimmers safe. She also recounted a story about a young girl who got overly drunk and didn’t go home with her friends and ended up being raped and killed on her way home from the bar. The man is now in jail for life, but she acted as though the girl shouldn’t have behaved so recklessly. Seemed a bit harsh.
The island has suffered some from hurricanes, although they have done better than others. She told us of a story from her daughter who works at the international airport: Allegedly during one such hurricane, all of Belize was praying to god that they wouldn’t be torn to shreds and many tourists at the airport were trying to come and vacation on the islands. She thought they were crazy! They had no understanding of 160 miles per hour winds. Luckily the hurricane bypassed them and headed towards Honduras (well lucky for Belize).
She also told us about the history of Belize and how Canada has helped them a lot in building bridges, sanitary lines and fresh water to the houses. Go Canada!! Like Canada, they are also a British colony that gained their independence in 1981 (I believe we were 1982 or the other way around).
Although most people here spend a lot of time chilling, their lives don’t seem too strenuous and many seem to have cell phones and nice cars. Definitely anyone in contact with the tourists are doing ok!
We fell in love with the two children of our cook, Grace. Shania, 5, and Chris (aka Spider Monkey), 3. Totally adorable, they were using their looks for the starbursts that Joe was liberally handing out! They would lay with me on the hammocks, climb all over us, follow us around the island and were basically really cute and fun! They are the two youngest of 9 children and their mom is only 42 years old.
The evening was spent drinking Belizean rum with fresh coconut juice directly fro
m the coconut. We are definitely living the island life! That night, one of our hosts took us up a cat walk to see the stars. They were so close, you could almost reach up and pocket one! We saw the Milky Way and what we believed to be a couple of planets as they were bright and shining harder than the rest! Unbelievable, definitely something you can’t see in Vancouver.We spent the rest of the evening fishing (with our favourite North Carolina couple) off our dock. I believe we all went to bed around 9pm as it gets dark at about 7. Not a late nighter kinda place, but the bar is hopping from mid afternoon!! Pina colada anyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment