I´m here in Esteli and I really like the place, it reminds me of a sort of cheaper version of Antigua, Guatemala. The Nicaraguans are pretty much the same as Hondurans in the speaking Spanish style but as people they are a lot warmer so far.
I forgot to record details of my journey from Caye Caulker down to Placencia ... After having got the water taxi to Belize City I found myself once again in another dodgy bus station. They have guys who try to latch on to you, carry your bag and try to cadge some cash from you at most stations. Anyway, I duly got my own personal latcher called Jerome who I swear was drunk but no threat, quite sweet really. He explained I had a 45 minute wait for my bus (great I thought, I´ve got 45 minutes making small talk with Jerome). He spent the time rapping for me from his own repertoire of songs and keeping the other beggars away from me ... bless him. When the bus arrived he walked me to my bus, put my rucksack in and told me to enjoy the rest of my time in Belize, I gave him a couple of Belize dollars and he hugged me. That day was a national holiday in Belize, celebrating Garifuna Settlement Day, the main celebration takes place in Dangriga which the bus happened to pass through, by the time the bus picked up there everyone as pretty sozzled and in a great mood ! I had a guy sitting next to me who spent the whole time rapping to himself and generally looking big, mean and moody. I knew I had to get off at a place called Independence and from there take a water taxi to Placencia. I wasn´t sure where to get off exactly so I asked him and he just said ¨not yet¨.... everytime it stopped, I glanced at him and he just shook his head. Then at a petrol station he jumped up and said ¨now¨ ... ok then, he got off too, pointed to a taxi and said ¨he´ll take you to the boat¨ .... Mr. Conversation eh ? Strangely though, when I was in the taxi I glanced at him walking off and he gave me he nicest smile and wave ever. The 20 minute boat trip to Placencia was through mangroves and it was beautiful.
I will now record my potted, probably inaccurate version of Belize history ........ A long time ago the Spanish stole Belize from the indigenous people but they tended to ignore the Caribbean coast bit. Then some English and Scottish pirates thought ... that place looks nice, let´s steal that bit from the Spanish, so they did. Then officially the Brits stole the whole of Belize from the Spanish. Then Guatemala got a bit testy and said, ¨hang on, Belize is ours¨ ... we said ¨no, don´t think so¨and hung on to it for a good bit longer and then eventually we said to Belize ... if you want independence no probs .... and to keep Guatemala happy we promised to build a road from Belize City to the Guatemala border ... we never built the road. I´ve travelled on that road, believe me we should have kept our promise. I may have a word with that Scottish guy who runs our country when I get home.
The Belize people love the English, they still have the Queen´s head on the currency. Being from England in Belize is like being royalty !
I swear I´ve heard Musical Youth´s ¨Pass the Duchy¨ song about 17 times blaring out of stereos whilst in Belize .... surreal !!
One night in Placencia I was sitting out on my veranda reading a book and realised that the mozzies were getting a bit over friendly. I´d done some washing earlier in the day so a lot of my clothes were wet .... The resulting ensemble must have made me look like a mad woman .... Pyjama bottoms tucked into socks (I remember being with mum in M and S in Leeds wondering why on earth I was buying pyjamas), a Mayan blue and white weave top (a present from Mayra) and a baseball cap on backwards (borrowed from Cuchi in Guatemala).
Although I´m having a great time there´s stuff I definitely miss .... in no particular order -
Western Food !! I long for Pizza, chips, fish and chips, bread, BACON SANDWICHES, Cadbury´s Dairy Milk !! The food is fine here but if I get a chance and I come across a McDonalds or something bloody hell I grab the chance !!
Being in immediate contact with my loved ones, just being able to text at whim and say hi would be great. I had about a week of phone coverage whilst in Belize and although I didn´t send many texts due to the cost the replies were like gold - I think I read them over and over again !
My bike - goes without saying.
News, sort of, I only learnt that Steve Mclaren had been sacked and we aren´t in the European Championships a couple of days ago. I have no idea how Boro are doing but I have a sneaking suspicion that it´s probably best that I don´t !
I miss my clothes !! I am sooooooo sick of wearing the same thing day in day out. I miss my JW and I miss jeans !!
Obviously I miss my family and friends.
I miss Guatemala and the Project, I miss Dave and the Barber and Caye Caulker.
Many thanks to all who leave me messages on here, it is massively appreciated and welcomed.
The other day I was trying to decide whether mum or me had won the random traveller contest when she put a message on here from bloody RWANDA !! I decided that at the time seeing as I was in Belize she won but I think Nicaragua beats her now !
When I was on that bloody boat from Placencia to Puerto Cortes there were a couple of people who, in hindsight, have really annoyed me ! There was an American woman, the Swiss lass and another American bloke. Before the waves got really bad a conversation was struck up about travelling, the American woman had the big 92 page passport thing and was flashing it around in a manner that ensured everyone could see all of the many immigration stamps. She was explaining to someone else that she´s travelling alone and has basically been everywhere. The conversation carried on about how brave she was travelling alone etc etc. I just sat there thinking, well, I may not have your travelling experience but I´m doing it too. The American guy joined the conversation and they were comparing Vietnamese immigration stamps. The Swiss girl, (who I found out says she´s Swiss but actually has an English mother and sounds like she was educated somewhere that would probably get me ranting on about private schools) also joined in.
It was those 3 that shared a taxi with for the immigration search. It turns out that they all seem to be travelling together but all do the old I´m travelling on my own routine. The South African couple actually stayed in the room next to mine for the night before the boat trip so I vaguely knew them, she was a nervous traveller, very worried about crime and stuff and he tried to put her at ease. They were both checking everything out in Lonely Planet which to me seems sensible. When we were in the restaurant waiting for the immigration official I made a comment to the Swiss girl that I hoped our taxi was still outside as it had all our rucksacks in the boot. She commented something along the lines of ¨whatever, just chill, whe you´ve been travelling as long as me you learn to accept whatver happens¨ - that pissed me off. Later that night whilst looking for food the South African couple mentioned there was a Pizza Hut around the corner ... they also mentioned they had never been to a Pizza Hut before !! Obviously jumped at the chance and went with them, asking whether the others would like to join us the American lass responded with a ... I prefer to eat local .... Whatever. Firstly, if the South Africans had never eaten in a Pizza Hut then they ere going to have a new experience, secondly ... get over yourself !
The next morning I bumped into them again before heading off, they were laughing at how that morning the South Africans were checking with the hotel staff about taxi safety .... as per Lonely Planet and all other travel guides. I should have said something but I didn´t and I´m annoyed at myself. So much for them doing the independent travel thing, the 3 of them stick together and where we they going ... ? Utila on the Bay Islands - gringo central. I´m not being snobby about Utila at all, I was nearly there myself but when you profess to be an inteprid, solo, off the beaten track type of traveller then you should act like it and also respect other people´s concerns and inexperience. That´s what I should have bloody said to them ..... but didn´t and so dear reader you got the rant !!!
And finally .... !! Remember mentioned a slight eye infection when I was in Caye Caulker ? Well eventually I found some eye drop stuff. Took it back to my room and tried to read the miniscule writing in Spanish on the back (ironically probably the smalest writing ever on something that is designed for people who arehaving eye problems). What happened made me feel like Rachel in Friends when she had a phobia of anything in her eye. Could I get that bloody drop to go in my eye ??? In the end I conned myself I had done it but I knew really I´d blinked. Later that evening Dave and the Barber asked me about my eye and I told them about the drops so in the end the scene was those 2 holding my head and screaming at me to stop blinking. was laughing so much all I could think of was that bloody Friends scene. Anyway, after a couple of days the infection cleared up !
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