The following morning we got up relatively early and decided that, before heading to Placencia we might as well visit the “only” thing we came for, the Nim Li Punit archaeological site (the one we found closed last night arriving a little late) We spent a couple of hours there. Not because it is that big but because it has a cute little museum with lots of info about the Mayas’ life, tradition, language, culture and so on with a few display of huge stone carvings, also had a nice long chat with the ranger about the Mayan life and all, but besides all the site itself was so peaceful. I felt it was made up for us for the series of unfortunate events yesterday.

Nim Li Punit archaeological site

Nim Li Punit archaeological site

Nim Li Punit archaeological site

It was still before midday when we left and headed to Placencia. We heard about a few places, towns by the beach that are worth a visit and we decided to check Placencia out. The town is located at the most southern tip of a long and narrow peninsula. Not long ago the only way to get here was by boat from the mainland but there has been a paved road built all the way (with countless speed bumps!) The peninsula is so narrow that as we were driving down in the middle, looking both sides we could see the sea on one side and the laguna on the other. Because of its fortunate location, its coco and banana trees and paradise-like features it is well populated by, mostly, northern Americans almost all the way.

As we drove on to the peninsula there was a sign for a fishing village, Riversdale. We decided to check out the tiny village. It had a very nice atmosphere with local fishermen and a handful of expats, lovely sandy beach with parked fishermen boats, palm trees and local kids playing around. We bumped into a delightful US couple, Steve and Rhoda who are living in an RV on the site where they are building their house. They kindly invited us to park up next to their RV and stay for a few days. We wanted to check out Placencia first but promised we’ll be back in a couple of days.

After driving all along the beach and some extraordinary (sometime ridiculous) houses, hotels, marine clubs etc we arrived to Placencia. Very soon we found out that the only place we allowed to park up for the night is a public car park, in front of the local police and fire brigade station. It was about 50 meters from the beach but there was a footpath and houses between us and the sea. Didn’t mind that too much but minded millions of sand lies that infested Burt inside. (the little buggers come through the mozzie net)

Campsite in Placencia
November 2013

John became friendly with the local firefighter on duty, called Lennon (which created a little giggle when the two introduced themselves to each other) John was fascinated by their right-hand drive Volvo fire engine, and Lennon loved showing John in and out of the vehicle talking about all the err…. water pump things. For Johnny, it was like fun park for children. In the meantime I went for a walk trying to find fresh fruit and veg and some essentials.

Placencia
November 2013

“Fresh” food is expensive and not so fresh (except oranges, bananas and coconut) All supermarkets (and all around Belize) are in the hands of Chinese, and to me, they seem quite dishonest how they price generally everything and handle fresh products, such as milk, yoghurt, eggs etc. but even some dry product. (when you buy sugar, for example, open it outside of your house and don’t get surprised if you find ants and all sorts in the package) Sorry, I had to get that off my chest as I felt cheated every time we bought something and was off already.

It seemed we attracted some attention that afternoon/ evening and we met, Sam the local Swiss baker and three Americans who are in the process of opening the first and only RV park on the peninsula. Burt caught their eyes and stopped for a good chat. The couple, of the threesome, Angela and Scott had travelled through Mexico, Belize and Guatemala before and were so in to overland travelling, other travellers’ blogs and seemed to know a lot about current affairs on who’s travelling where and which websites are the best to read. Along with David, the third party, exchanged some stories and knowledge, showed them around inside our home and, having a bit late by now, we arranged a dinner date with them for the next evening.

We spent a lazy day the next day, spending a couple of hours at Sam The Baker’s shop who was sleepily suggesting us a few places to visit in Belize, then walking around the small town, soak in the sea for a bit (it isn’t even near as nice as the Tulum beach was in Mexico). To be honest we weren’t too blown away by Placencia. A little “too” Westernised (having more westerners live in town than locals – at least felt that way) therefore the locals’ attitude a little worn out and some of the prices are around the same as in the US. Though it has some facilities that comes handy; Some good baked products, wifi, a couple of fun cafes and bars, I’d like to say a couple of restaurants but though the seafood is fresh it is, again, expensive.

After having a pleasant evening with Angela, Scott and David we had another bug-infested night. We decided to leave. We thought we’d pop in to Riversdale to see if the invite, from Steve and Rhoda is still on so could stay for a night or two there. Also we saw a Banana plantation on our way here that advertised tours on the farm as Bunches Of Fun! It did sound just The Thing to me. We mentioned this to our new friends last night so they could book in too for a tour with us. We packed up, filled up with fresh water and headed to the Banana farm. On our way, coincidentally we met Steve and Rhoda, they waved us down and said that their invite is indeed still on, and hoping to see us later. So that was sorted.

As we arrived to the Banana Farm, Angela, Scott and David were already there along with our lovely and super knowledgeable tour guide, Evin. We watched a video about the history of the fruit and its trading -so fascinating. Then she took us out to the farm  where there were guys waiting for us to demonstrate the stages of the handling the plant and its fruit. Did you know that one banana plant brings only one bunch of banana its lifetime? Then it has to go, but by then it has “daughter’ plants growing beside it, amongst which the skilful farmer chooses the best, most promising plant and get rid of the others.

Banana Farm near Riversdale
November 2013

Banana Farm near Riversdale
November 2013

Banana Farm near Riversdale
November 2013

Banana Farm near Riversdale
November 2013

After the farm tour we went to visit the prepare and packaging area where about a hundred men and women were washing, selecting the most attractive bunches then packaged them carefully, and getting the boxes ready for shipping.

Banana Farm near Riversdale
November 2013

Banana Farm near Riversdale
November 2013

Banana Farm near Riversdale
November 2013

After the whole tour (which took about 2 hours) we were treated with delicious fried bananas and had a little more chat with Evin before we said goodbyes and headed to Riversdale for the night.

Next, Riversdale.

From the zoo, the next day, John was keen to travel south to Punta Gorda. Not many overland travellers go to the southern beach town but he wanted to check it out visiting a Mayan archaeological site along the way.

This area is the least visited are in Belize. I don’t think for any other particular reason than it is just out of the way. Punta Gorda or PG, as they call it here, is surrounded by Mayan villages.

As we were travelling, for some reason I flipped out and half way I decided I’m actually not keen to go to the town but rather only to the Mayan site. I don’t know why. We had a disagreement. John thought we came this far so might as well check out the town and its villages.

It was around 3 PM when we got to town only to found there was not much to it. We parked up -which first seemed complicated as people had problem with us parking “near” their properties or businesses… Once we found a place, we walked around town only to found there’s really nothing to it. I was keen to move on. Finally John agreed but by this point we were pressured to find a camp spot for the night as it was getting late in the afternoon.

On our way out, at the edge of town we saw a green area near the water. We asked a couple of people if there was OK to park up. They weren’t sure, suggesting we should go back to town and ask in the town centre! I thought “naah, we’ll find something else”. It was after 4 PM at this point and decided to drive back, a reasonably long way to one of the archaeological sites (there are two) and park up there. In Mexico this was usually a sure bet. We knew it closes at 5 so we had to push on.

We got to the one which was closer at 5.06 PM and the gate was closed. At this point it was getting dark and we both, in our own unique way, were getting agitated. We remembered spotting a no-man’s-land by the side of the road not far back so we turned around and drove back. I jumped out to ask someone at the nearest house if there was OK to park up for the night. The man wasn’t sure, he didn’t want to take “responsibility” for this decision and suggested to wait for his father -who is the leader of the community, to ask him. He was expected to return home hours later so we decided to drop it but we were getting more agitated now.

There was a village few miles back south, I remember seeing a sign, by the side of the road, for a lodge or something. I thought we should ask them for camping in their car park. At this point John and I weren’t communicating, let’s put it this way; in a civilised way but not having any other options, he agreed and drove back to this village (the 3th time that day). It was completely dark by now. We didn’t find the lodge, instead we found a mill or a factory-like building. Also, by chance, the guy John found to ask permission from happened to be the manager of the rice mill. In the dark everything seem spooky, strange or unsure so first he said “no” but after a 10 minutes conversation he warmed up and let us stay only to asked us to leave by around 8 in the morning. His name was Jim and was actually a very nice man.

Finally we parked up, tucking ourselves away by the side of the building next to a little swamp that the heavy rains in the rainy season created, and as always, nature finds its way to grow and expand, it was heaving with wildlife. With this moment John and I, both calmed down. We had just the right amount of chilled beer in the fridge too. Put some mozzie repellent on, climbed up on to our roof top and spent a very quiet evening watching the stars, enjoying the balmy cool air and listening to the gig the frogs and crickets put on for us.

Next, Placencia and the peninsula.

As we were leaving Sarteneja I thought it’ll be an easier ride on that merciless road, because A; there was no rain for 2-3 days while we were in town so the water level must’ve gone down, and B; because we only had to take one third of this super bad road and hoping the rest would be better. I could’ve learnt by now; “do not assume anything”. Surely the few days dryness helped, but the second 2/3 of the road was just as bad as the way here if not worse (minus river ferries) What made it fun though, was that I got to drive Burt. Only if my dad saw me! John had some easy time, no driving and enjoying the view for once, and I got to connect with the mighty machine. It sure was great.

The road was rough but wide with potholes swallowing Burt’s wheels. Sometimes approaching to puddles -or ponds more like it, not knowing how deep they would be but had to drive through them with a dynamic speed making Burt’s shock absorbers work for their worth. The road was hugged from both sides by thick jungle also soaked in deep rain water.

The only community between Sarteneja and Orange Walk Town is a Mennonite village surrounded by fertile lands and corn fields. We saw Mennonite children playing by the side of the road and waving at us as passing by. They are absolute perfect photocopies of each other and their parents, bright blue eyes and golden colour hair cut in the same style, wearing the exact same outfit; dungaree and wellies for boys, long dresses and straw hats for girls and the same for their parents.
After a good couple of hours drive we stopped at Orange Walk Town for a quick shopping. For a reason or another, we changed our plans. We decided not to go to Indian Church -a town where there’s a Mayan archaeological site but to move on to Belize City. We knew about a marina right at the edge of the city where we can park up. There is a reasonable fee they charge (BZ$15 per night) includes electricity. It was pretty much dark when we got there but parked up at the best spot, right by the water, tucked away, having lovely sea breeze. Then popped over to the opposite side of the marina, to the bar/restaurant for a couple of beers only to find out that in about half an hour they were having 70 guests for a 30th birthday party of the mayor’s friend. The DJ was warming up and we freaked out. We rushed back to our spot to see how bad the sound is. We couldn’t be at a worse spot. The water perfectly echoed the blasting music so in the dark we packed up and moved right behind the toilet/shower building, which actually made the trick. John wasn’t happy about this so the next day when he popped over to pay he made his point.

Another quick decision was made during morning coffee which was not to go to Belize City. To be frank, I wasn’t too keen anyway so it was fine by me. Instead, after we packed up, we moved on to our next destination, “The Best Small Zoo In The World”. We weren’t holding our breaths for this title. Since traveled through a big part of the US. In the US the most average things are called “the world’s best”, “The world famous” and so on. Also, neither John nor I are big fans of zoos. But this was different…

This was only a short distance from the marina so we got there reasonably early. The Zoo has an education centre about a mile or so away in the savannah. There are eco cabins with facilities, also a cafe and several trails for short hikes. We parked up and headed to the Zoo. We ended up spending the whole afternoon there till the last minute of closing time.

The zoo is actually a sanctuary for all the animals there. They are all native to Belize and all of them were rescued or were born there and none of them could survive if they were released back into the wild. The zoo is in the jungle providing natural habitat and climate to the animals who seemed pretty content and happy to me in their large enclosures. Some of them got used to human presence so came up to the fence observing or play hide and seek with us, or in a case of a playful Toucan chew on our camera lens with its enormous beak. Along reptiles and marvellous, colourful birds, there were small mammals, tapirs, spider and howler monkeys, pumas and jaguars. The zoo was letting us know their stories on a display at each enclosure and introducing their species in little rhymed poems.

The zoo wasn’t busy at all and towards closing time it was just John and me walking along the manicured jungle paths and spending time watching the animals, reading their -sometimes heart breaking stories. We accidentally caught a keeper, with a plastic bucket full of chicken bits, who offered us to go with him and watch him giving snacks to the jaguars. He told us more about them and more about jaguars in general. This was very special.

Belize. First impression is very good. As we were crossing the border, there was a fun looking little “welcome” palapa hut at immigration where 2 smiley men informed us about the border crossing process (what needs to be done, where and what docs we need etc) then gave us a Belize map and told us about the main activities you can do in the country. How nice is that! We were and still are endlessly getting the “Welcome to Belize!” greetings. Johnny is especially thrilled, as they speak English here.
We knew where we want to head to for our first day/night after the crossing, which didn’t seem far at all even though that the only official road would take us on a long loop and Samantha (our satnav) found a shortcut, which we thought “Oh great, even better. Shouldn’t take long”. Ahm, it took us 5 hours on a really really bad, deep, slimy muddy and super over flooded road (some hairy moments there) taking two river ferries to get to the town. (we found out that one of the ferries was down the day before so we were actually lucky that both were working, otherwise I didn’t think we could’ve made it back)

On our way to Sarteneja
Belize
November 2013

On our way to Sarteneja
Belize
November 2013

Ferry ride. On our way to Sarteneja
Belize
November 2013

It was dark when we arrived to Sarteneja, a tiny fishing village. We knew there’s a backpackers place where we parked up for the first night. It turned out to be a bit pricey for us, also super humid and airless in the juggle so the next day we left and just parked up on the beach at a small, family-run restaurant. It was absolutely lovely with the view and the breeze (sooooo hot and humid) and all for free. We found out there’s much to see in and around the village.

Sarteneja camp on the beach.
Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

Camp spot with sea breeze.
Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

First we visited a manatee and primate sanctuary where we were introduced to the three recovering mammals and a chance to look around and chat with some of the volunteers.

Manatee sanctuary
Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

Duke the male manatee.
Manatee sanctuary
Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

Same evening we just finished our fish dinner at our local, made by Richard the owner, when 15 hungry volunteers from the sanctuary turned up. Suddenly the tiny place was filled up and we were lost in conversations with some of these guys, visiting and volunteering from all around the world. Later a couple of them joined us to sit on our roof top with some beers, chat more and watch the starry night sky. It was excellent and we repeated the “midnight picnic” with Louie the following night too. He was really an brilliant value young man to spend our evenings with.

We met a local guide, Rabey who offered to show us around in the village so we stayed for the next day. The following day Rabey took us to the tortilla factory, introduced us to a fisherman -who we can buy fresh fish from, the next morning.

Visiting the tortilla house with Rabey.
Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

Visited a boat maker which was fascinating. Then as an over and beyond extra he led us (Rabey lent us his kids’ bikes) to the jungle to see a Mayan cave (thousand of bats!) and a Mayan plaza -slightly overgrown by the jungle. Both were really cool! After these we rode back to Rabey’s house where we picked fresh coconuts and drank its water for refreshment then we just caught the sunset from a pier on the water watching crabs and colourful fish through the clear water and pick sea grapes on the way back.

Refreshment. At Rabey’s garden. He’s treating us with fresh coconut milk.

Refreshment at Rabey’s place.
Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

Rabby is such a sweetie. His enthusiasm made us stay and we thoroughly enjoyed his stories and company. The following morning he met us at Burt (at 6.45 – not our time really) and walked us to the fisherman to get fish he just brought back from his net. Then we headed to Rabey’s house again and on his yard, under the coco tree he filleted the fish we got. Rabey used to be a fisherman himself and knows everything about the job from setting up a trap or net, dive, catch, filet the prey and of course, how to cook it with hundreds of receipts. It was a real treat to sit there with him in the morning shade, listening to more stories and watch his skilful hands filleting the fish, making sure we get all the boneless meat. This was my favourite moment.

Early morning prey.
Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

Rabey filets our fish.
Sarteneja, Belize
November 2013

Working on it.

Watch this space!

Coming soon!

Nearly there with this one…

Coming soon!

We kept hearing about Puebla as a “must-visit” city but we weren’t too interested to go there. Although reading (and hearing from other travelers) about Cholula -the sister town of Puebla got our attention. Also it seemed more doable for us because it has an RV place on the edge so easier to get to with our size.

Driving around Puebla (capital of Puebla state) on its ring road gave us an idea of the size of that city. Huge! But we were off to Cholula at one of the exits that lead us straight to the RV park. It was an overpriced place to stay but it was the only option and walking distance to its center. I would say it had wifi too but actually the internet was cut off because they didn’t pay the bill! Annoying.

We found the town pretty nice. Usual loveliness with its colonial setting, churches, buildings though to me it wasn’t as pretty as other towns it still had a good vibe. There was some local 4 days celebration so the town was covered with market stalls, there was a fun fair and was buzzing till late. Cholula also has one of the biggest pyramids in Mexico! Although now, it only looks like a hill. A grass covered hill where the Spanish Catholics banged a church on the top of it way back then. However the inside of the pyramid still has labyrinth-like corridors which is open to the public so we went to see that and the museum.

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

Cholula
September 2013

We stayed here for 3 days and loved get in to town. It had a certain magnetic energy or maybe it was those delicious local patty pastries? Forgot the name of it. It is a size of a burger, it’s baked for a few minutes both sides, crispy on the outside and sweet, fluffy in the inside. Absolutely delicious especially with jam. Yumm.
Our next destination will be Oaxaca city (capital of the southern state, Oaxaca -pronounced Wa-ha-ka) stopping for a night to visit a supposedly beautiful desert on the way -near Tehuacan.
Next Oaxaca city…