Belize

 

The Not-So-Luxurious Ferry

Belize - March 10, 2006

Earlier today we took the ferry that was going to take us to Puerto Cortes, Honduras. While we were in Caye Caulker we decided to pursue a shortcut to save time by taking a boat across the water. We were told that there was actually a ferry service which takes about 5hrs that left Dangriga, Belize. The idea of being able to relax on a ferry was a bit more appealing than the alternative of an all-day chicken bus ride on dirt roads through two border crossings (Guatemala and Honduras). That morning we could only laugh when we came to realize that the ferry was in fact a boat not much larger than the water taxi that we took to get to Caye Caulker. Needless to say, it was not very conducive to sleep much less work on our laptop.

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Fire Down Below

Belize - March 09, 2006

Word to the wise...Fire ant bites hurt! I was snapping a few pics of children playing soccer and inadvertently stepped in an anthill. Not thinking, I continued to shoot, until I heard about 10 different children yell "ANTS, ANTS, ANTS!" My initial sarcastic response of "Yes children, very good, those are ants," quickly shifted as soon as I glanced down and noticed several hundred fire ants covering my feet and ankles (and yes, I was wearing sandals). I quickly became the center of their enjoyment and laughter as I frantically began running around, stomping, smacking and yelling as the ants fed on my feet. The funniest part was that I didn't want to miss the priceless photos of the children laughing, so I continued to snap photos simultaneously as I ran around. Needless to say, it was a funny and memorable experience, regardless of the few hundred small trophy bites that I now sport.

-Lee

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Cliff the Weed Man

Belize - March 08, 2006

Upon our arrival in Belize City, we headed to one of the bus stations and had a fulfilling Belizean breakfast prior to our 4-hour chicken bus ride down to Dangriga. Dangriga is the largest town south of Belize City with a population of 8,800 (Belize, as a country has a population of only 274,000). At any rate, we found Dangriga to be very rural and friendly. In fact, when we got off of the bus, we were greeted by a beach local, Cliff, who proceeded to take us around and led us to a great hostel which was better and cost less than what we anticipated. It was a very welcoming atmosphere to say the least. The owner, Dana Joseph, felt God calling her to take out a loan and start this multifaceted business (laundry, cafe, hostel and internet). After we settled down in the dorm room, the guy was still lingering around. As we predicted, Cliff asked for money, so we bent to his begging and gave him two Belizean dollars (1US$) for which he was very thankful. Sometime later in conversation, he asked us if we wanted some weed. As friendly as Cliff was, it was sad to see that his true motivation was to make a little money by hooking us up with someone that sold marijuana. In that subsequent conversation with him, we learned that many of the “gringos” that arrive look for marijuana and so he, as a man of connections, is more than happy to make the necessary arrangements for a small fee.

Our encounter with Cliff was just one of the many times over the past months we've been asked if we needed drugs (including everything from marijuana to crack) since we started our travels. In fact, I believe I have been asked if I would like drugs more times since February than all the times combined in my entire life. But as we have found, drugs, alcohol and gratuitous sex are as common with many travelers we have met as the Lonely Planet guides in their daypacks (Just yesterday, in fact, I was speaking to a man in his late 60s who was discussing the prostitute he had hired just the day prior as openly as he was discussing the breakfast we were eating). Sadly, we have come to see these recent encounters as a barometer of the number of Americans and Europeans that come through Central America to seek out drugs and more.

-Lee and Patrick

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Back to the Mainland

Belize - March 07, 2006

Today we took the 7am water taxi from Caye Caulker in Belize back to Belize City. We saw the gorgeous sunrise from the dock as we waited to board the water taxi. The 45min boat ride was no less amazing. Even though we were a few miles off of the mainland the water was shallow allowing it to radiate and shimmer with amazing colors and contrast. Apparently, the bedrock extends several kilometers from the mainland at a near consistent 16.5ft. We were clipping along the calm water at about 30mph passing numerous sand bars, some just large enough for a small hut or bungalow to sit on. One of the larger micro islands had an 8' x 10' patch of grass that seemed completely out of place. Others simply did not have any land and the hut was merely built on stilts with a dock a few feet above the water and just large enough to moor a small motor boat. Once we arrive in Belize City, we'll make our way via bus towards Dangriga in order to take another water taxi to Honduras.

A Side Note...
The last few weeks have posed some unique challenges for both of us. One specific element that we are both finding difficult is trying to leverage how we capture our personal adventures and the non-profit adventures and projects. In a way, we both realize that they should be somewhat seamless. But at the moment we feel like we are both having an identity crisis in what we can talk about online and how much or little we should share when the experiences we are encountering don't relate exactly to the non-profit vision or a specific project. We really desire to be transparent in all that we do, and desire for this website to be no different in its transparency. So we have decided to incorporate our personal stories with our project blogs and experiences, some which you may have noticed in some recent blogs. Hopefully this will allow you all to experience a bit more of the entire experience (both the good and the challenging) with us. If you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions, we'd love to hear them.

-Lee and Patrick

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Dichotomy of an Island

Belize - March 06, 2006

It's been a wonderfully tranquil and peaceful time here in Caye Caulker. Our time here has given us a great opportunity to catch up on some of our writing, edit our recent photographs and to reflect a bit on the past few weeks (as well as plan the next leg of the trip). The internet speed here is also unexpectedly good, which has allowed us to catch up on the backlog of communication we have recently faced. To the average tourist, the cost of the island seems fairly inexpensive, when contrasted with its beauty. The cost of a lower end ocean view room runs around $15.

On the eastern edge of the bedrock of Belize lies the largest barrier reef system in the Western Hemisphere and second largest in the world (behind the Great Barrier Reef). As a result, this island is a popular destination for scuba diving and snorkeling enthusiasts as well as a number of international travelers.

Earlier today we decided to explore some of the island and were shocked at the difference in the front/tourist side and the back/local side (evident in the contast in yesterday's photo with today's). Midway through the island, it was almost as if you could draw a line in the dirt road to segment the living conditions. Homes were no different than what we witnessed in some of the poorer areas of Guatemala, and trash covered much of the land. Many of the locals lived in elevated homes pieced together by particle board and tin and used shallow open water wells for their main source of water. One of the local women we spoke with told us that the majority of the locals on the island worked in a career to support the tourism on the island (Her job was to sell fruit at a roving fruit cart). The island's distance to the shore is undoubtedly a large factor in the discrepancy in the affordability of basic necessities contrasted with the average income of the locals. As a result, many cannot afford enough to live just above poverty standards. Even the local grocery store away from "gringo land" had exorbitant costs for staple items like milk and eggs.

-Lee

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Onward to Caye Caulker

Belize - March 05, 2006

Once we finally arrived in Belize City, we were dropped off just a block away from the Water Taxi terminal. With only 20 minutes to spare for the next boat departure, I dropped my bags with Lee and sprinted around looking for the grocery store I spotted while on the bus. I was in and out in record time with groceries for a few days and we were on our way to the island.

As it turned out, getting groceries was a rather smart move. Groceries on Caye Caulker are rather expensive. We are carrying an MSR camping stove, but in order to cook our food we need a fuel source. As we learned, gasoline is very difficult to come by here, since no gas-powered vehicles are allowed on the island (golf carts are the standard means of transport). A two-hour search for a flammable liquid to use with our stove proved to be challenging. After checking all the local stores, boat docks, the island's diesel power plant and many homes, we found a lady that had a few cups of diesel in a laundry detergent container that she was willing to give to us. The fuel produced a lot of soot but our MSR stove handled it quite well. It took longer to clean up the pots and pans than it did to cook and eat our "luxurious" meal.

With a population of 800, the island is very, very small. (We could walk anywhere we wanted in less than 10 minutes) The island is supported solely by tourism. However there is a huge disparity from the pretty tourist side of the island and the side where the locals live. Its shocking really, to see the wealth and beauty of the tourist area and the poverty of the locals.

-Patrick

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Ripe for a Tourist Trap

Belize - March 04, 2006

In Guatemala, we decided to spend a little extra to take an express bus that was to take a mere four hours (Flores to Belize City) as opposed to the standard chicken bus taking 10 hours. We were told this express/tourist bus was quite large and supposedly very comfortable as well, complete with A/C and a bathroom. Those amenities are rarities we have not seen thus far on a bus.

We were however, ripe to fall in a tourist trap. The representative at the bus agency promised a four-hour bus ride, and even arranged transit through the border with the same (large, comfortable) bus. Not so at all as we soon found out. The bus was average sized, not very comfortable, no A/C, no bathroom and it took almost twice the time (seven hrs)! Our supposed luxury bus was no more than a standard local bus. And there was definitely no arranged border crossing. The border passage was an unorganized, uncoordinated mess. Loud masses of people meandered around like a herd of blind cattle moving from station to station with corrupt officials demanding different amounts of exit fees at whim.

This experience is just another of the many lessons we have learned with bus travel: Avoid anything that is marketed strictly to tourists and stick to the trusty yet crazy local chicken buses.

-Patrick

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New Photos!

Belize - March 04, 2006

New photos have been posted for Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica! Stories are coming right behind...

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