Week Nine, Hello Belize

Week 9

Goodbye Mexico, Hello Belize

May 18^th- 24th

Day 57-59, Mon-Wed.: Bacalar, Mexico

On Monday we went into the town of Bacalar and were able to do some internet, specifically to contact the Belizean Agriculture Department. We had forgotten that we needed to apply for a pet application to take Wallace into Belize, so we called them and requested one (hoping that it wouldn’t take too long). She told us that we just had to fill out the application in an email she would send us and wait for it to be returned to us in the next few days (It only took 2 days!). John walked around town and did some light shopping while Kindra did some internet in the central town square where the internet access was free. After asking around town for other camping in the area we realized we had already found the best spot in town! We decided to stay there for the rest of our time in Mexico while waiting for Wallace’s application. The rainy season is starting here in Central America and we had been experiencing torrential downpours in the evenings. We’ve been really blessed to have the camper during these midnight storms, its stayed dry and we only have a couple small, fixable leaks. John found that the best way to stay “dry” and fix last minute leaks while the rain was coming down was in the nude. No wet clothes and a shower all-in-one!

After doing some minor tune ups on my bike, John rode into town the next day to buy groceries and do more internet. Bacalar is a nice little town with a friendly feel. We originally had thought we would stay in Chetumal but really fell in love with the little campground and lagoon. Kindra stayed behind to hand wash some of our laundry. We had the camp to ourselves except for one other couple tent camping next to us. The spot where we were camping was a little piece of property that was owned by a family, and maintained by a couple of sweet older ladies. John had a close call with a falling coconut just about hitting him over the head as he came out of the camper that afternoon. And his first experience cutting open a fresh coco with the “multi-tool shovel” that Dan and he had bought at the gun and knife show in Tucson. We relaxed most of the rest of the day did a little swimming laid in the hammock and repeated. We were mostly waiting for Wallace’s paperwork to cross legitimately into Belize with him.

(picking coconut)

Again John rode his bike into town to check on a few things online and to replenish our water. We have been more careful here on the mainland about drinking filtered hose water, and have been buying the bottled variety instead. The bottles are extremely cheap and it’s just a lot safer than taking the chance even with our filter in the camper. We also haven’t had much luck finding hoses with sufficient water pressure to use the filter anyway. We received word from the office in Belize processing the paper work for Wallace that we would be good to cross the border on Thursday. That afternoon we did some snorkeling in the lagoon, Wallace watched from shore. We made a fresh batch of caramels to take into Belize, as our last batch from the Baja was getting a little stale. We hung the hammock that evening and did some reading and watched the sunset together. We made dinner that night with the remainder of our fresh veggies as we wouldn’t be able to bring across the border.

Day 60, Thur.: Barton Creek, Cayo District, Belize

Thursday was along day. We packed the truck and camper in the morning and headed towards Chetumal to find a larger grocery store for some dry food staples, and things we weren’t sure we would be able to find anywhere except Mexico. We had been joking that just as we are getting used to the food in the country we leave, but we were sure to stock up on the essentials. Lots of cookies, pastries, real butter and hot sauce, because obviously you all know we are the perfect models of health and healthy eating, yeah right. After driving around town we found a Mega Bodega and loaded up. We have been trying to find an air filter for the Dodge for about 2 weeks now and they are seemingly impossible to find. We stopped at a diesel specialty store in Chetumal and after waiting for 15 minutes for service then another 10 for them to look for the filter we ware turned down again. We headed towards the Belizean border and the first stop was the exit out of Mexico. After being approached by 2 different “helpful” young men offering to speed up our exit process (whose services we thankfully turned down) we had our passports stamped, and paid our exit fees. The next stop was the Banjercito where we canceled our vehicle permit for Mexico. It was any easy transition, not a lot of traffic or confusion. So our first journey down though Mexico was a complete success! We would like to take the opportunity to have you all now breath a sigh of relief knowing we are out of the much feared, dangerous and dreaded land of violence and swine flu… alive and healthy!!!

Next stop Belize 100 more meters down the road… our first order of business was vehicle insurance that we bought as soon as we crossed the river into the country. This was something you have to do before anything or you cannot drive n the country. Our first impression of Belize was: informal, unorganized, and multi-cultured as we were flagged down by a man, not in uniform, pointing to us to park and buy insurance. We reluctantly did so, and after entering the office I realized it was a legitimate establishment (the only one in town) and purchased 2 weeks worth of vehicle insurance for the truck. Next we checked ourselves, the truck and Wallace in at the customs office. After a brief inspection of ‘Little Boy’ (Wallace) and the contents our truck and camper, we had the truck fumigated and we were street legal for Belize. The whole processes, including leaving Mexico, only took a few hours. We stopped to get some local produce and had some lunch at a small park on the ocean. Since Belize is so small we decided to head straight for some free camping that we were given directions to just outside of San Ignacio (just near the Guatemalan border in the west). The northern part of Belize is similar to the Baja, dry and more arid than the further south which is more tropical and jungle-ish. They speak a form of English here called Creole or Kreol, and use the standard measurement system so all the road signs were back to a familiar language and demarcation. The sun quickly set and we were in the dark for the last part of the drive. The road into Barton Creek Outpost was awful and long. We had no idea we would be crossing any water (which we had to do) luckily it was more of a shallow broad stream than a river. The first of this type of thing we have encountered it was a little unnerving in the dark of night, but not a big deal. Getting closer to our destination we saw some head lamps come out of the forest towards us. We were a little freaked out to see 2 young girls and a boy all dressed in Mennonite (similar to Amish) clothing staring at us as we drove by… can you say ‘Twilight Zone’ or ‘Children of the Corn’ MUCH? The volunteers at the Barton Creek Outpost warmly welcomed us and we posted up camp for the night.

(Wallace'a purple butt!) (the stream we crossed at night that looked much deeper in the dark!) (gotta love hitchhiking)

Day 61, Fri: San Ignacio, Belize

It was a beautiful sight in the morning; Barton Creek Outpost sits on a beautiful piece of jungle property on a river surrounded by trees and tropical flora and fauna. In our haste to arrive the day before we didn’t have time to re-stock our produce and we were out of much needed propane so we headed out towards the town of San Ignacio. Just before leaving our ‘little boy’ had his first unpleasant experience of the trip. There were two large Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs on the property that did not have a chance to properly meet Wallace the night before. When they “met” the next morning they charged Wallace and gave him a souvenir he will never forget, they literally ripped the little guy a new one! We stayed calm and cleaned the little guy up and headed into town for some vet advice. Little did we know that the medicine spray he gave us would dye his little butt purple! On our way back from Barton Creek we picked up a backpacker also heading out of the back country area who had been camping on the Mennonite land for a few days. We had a nice chat in the truck and he gave us some info on the people who are apparently responsible for a major part of the agriculture here in Belize. There are over 40 families of Mennonites in the area. After groceries, and some medicine for Wallace we filled the propane tank with butane (what they use in Belize) and followed our couch surfing host’s directions to the Parrot Nest. (If you aren’t already signed up on couchsurfing you should, it is a great way to meet people and help out travelers in your area or if you are on the road and need a place to stay!) The Parrots Nest is a hotel for travelers in Belize that is set up like a hostel with a communal dinning area, bathrooms and 4 or 5 cabanas all sitting on a small peninsula of a river that flows out of Guatemala. We were greeted by some of the workers who said Marcus (our contact) would be back later. We put up the camper and later that day met the owners Theo, Marcus and there kids Chloe and Katia and their 3 dogs and 10 puppies. There were also a handful of other guests staying at the “nest” that we were able to mingle with and later do some day trips, have dinner and, watch movies with.

(Katia and Jasmine) (Marcus and Skip) (Papusas...all gone!!!)

Day 62, Sat.: San Ignacio, Belize

On Saturday we went into town to the Saturday market, a ‘Belizean’ Tiangues (the outdoor markets in Mexico). Our new friend Skip was generous enough to take us and two of the girls staying at the Nest all in his vehicle. We ate some local food called papoosa and drank fresh ice cold watermelon juice (Kindra’s favorite). Skip bought some shrimp for dinner that night. After a brief tour of the town we headed back to the Parrots Nest for a swim in the river. The water temperature is amazing here and the current is just right for relaxing and cooling off. Kindra busted out her jewelry making stuff after the swimming and had the girls make some jewelry for themselves. We seemed to have really found a great spot, and some great people. Her research and our new membership to Couch Surfing has really paid off!! We were treated to dinner that night and the seven of us ate all together outside on the large back porch of their house.

(one of the Mennonite women) (John & Marcus in the cave) (Big Rock Waterfall) (Rio Frio Cave)

Day 63, Sun: San Ignacio, Belize

Sunday was awesome… with some amazing sightseeing and adventure! Marcus and Skip took us on a tour of a few of the local natural “gems”. The first place we drove to was Rio On Falls, a series of small waterfalls that flow into separate pools leading down a mountainside that creates a sort of natural water park. Wallace was in heaven and we all got a nice waterfall massage. Next we went to the Rio Frio cave, a massive cave that cuts under a huge mountain with ceilings hundreds of feet above your head, stalactites and stalagmites that hang down, and a crystal clear river that runs through at the base. It was truly amazing and a breath taking place. The last of three spots was Big Rock (falls) where we did some sweet cliff jumping, swimming, and playing around in an awesome waterfall. When the rain started to fall we decided to head out but still got caught in the downpour. Good thing too because the steep climb back to the top was mighty muddy and the more it rained the worse it got. On our way home we stopped at a jungle Cantina where Kindra sampled some of the local distilleries; Caye-luea (Kahlua), coconut rum, Be-lize (Baileys) cream and 100% blue agave mescal from the Tequila region of Mexico. The bar owner and his friends fried up some homemade cheese stuffed spicy peppers, fresh from his garden, and they were delicious! John enjoyed watching the guys polish off ¾ of a bottle of Tequila… and he drove home the rest of the way!! We made curry for anyone who was hungry and we watched the movie “Twilight” with two girls staying here (Alex and Yasmina, super sweet) and Skip (super awesome).

Ciao for now… love John and Kindra

P.S. Our plan for next week is to leave our truck here and get a lift into Belize City where we will take a boat to one of the islands (Caye Caulker). We will be there a few days snorkeling our butts off!