World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Belize
34° | sunny | km 417
Caribbean feeling!
on 2017-09-17 in Belize
We did not know too much about Belize at first, expect that the Queen of England was still the head of state. This is why we decided to make our own first impressions. We were quickly surprised that Belize appears poorer than we had anticipated. But when we started looking for our first hotel we were stunned by the staggering prices. It was just a little much for what was offered.
The country is quite small and after our long time in Mexico and the huge distance we had just covered we had to be careful not to drive through the country by accident. Basti had looked up a small town in the middle of Belize on the coast that he wanted to see. When we arrived there we realized that except for a couple of huts and small buildings there was not much there. After trying a couple of different hostels and hotels, looking for the best price/value we were only convinced by the last place that we looked up. Not only were we greeted by a small person speaking perfect English but as it later turned out she, Tricia, had traveled the world as well and had found her perfect spot right here in Hopkins. The main room and guest house were chaotically put together, with lots of colors and decorations. Everything gave this place a unique and very interesting charm.
At first we had planned to spend two nights here but after the first night with lots of stories from Tricia and ourselves we soon realized that we might spend a little more time here. Tricia told us about the local culture, including local cuisine and rum. The food tasted amazing even before the rum and overall we had a great first night.
We woke up the next morning on a beautiful day and decided to spend our time under the palm trees at the beach. Elvys, Tricia's husband that was part of a tribe called Griffin had offered us his boat the night before. So we decided to give fishing another shot and soon we were on board of a small paddle boat trying to get clear of the shallow water. Some water entered the boat through many holes but Elvys had thought ahead and given us a small can with which we could get rid of the water in the boat. We used cut up sea snails as bait and after putting our fishing lines into the water we paddled around for about an hour expecting to catch us our evening dinner. Not much happened until one of the bigger waves caught us off guard and caused us to capsize and fall into the water. After getting the boat upright again and clearing out the water we realized that the sun was slowly beginning to set. Determined to catch our dinner we decided to keep going which let to us going for two more swims and having to give up in the end without a catch. With broken spirits we returned but luckily Tricia had planned ahead and still gave us one of her great dinners. During the evening she offered us a special deal for the next day. If we would agree to help thatch one of her guest rooms roof the next day we could stay another night for free. It took little convincing on her side for us to agree.
We agreed to start working at 9 and we were certain that work would never begin on time. When we crawled out of our beds shortly past nine we were surprised by the fact that Elvys and a couple of people had already started setting everything up. We quickly ate our breakfast to be as prepared as possible for the work ahead. The following hours alone could fill three pages... In conclusion - We had no idea what we had to do at first and no one took time to really explain it to us once. The three other workers from town were drunk and Elvys quickly got fed up with the fact that no one else appeared to have a clue on how to thatch that he decided to go back to the hammock to let of steam. Once we got Elvys back on board and he explained to us step by step what we had to do in order to get this thatching done we started slowly to make some progress. It was an incredible experience for us and we can now say that we know how to thatch a roof with palm trees. Who knows, could be useful in the future right? The tremendous heat and working with the sharp leaves of the palm trees took its toll and we were glad to have finished one side of the roof in a day.
On the following day the other side was supposed to be done but we had to decline Tricia's offer this time. It was time for us to continue our journey and head towards Guatemala. We decided that one work day a year is more than enough for us.
The country is quite small and after our long time in Mexico and the huge distance we had just covered we had to be careful not to drive through the country by accident. Basti had looked up a small town in the middle of Belize on the coast that he wanted to see. When we arrived there we realized that except for a couple of huts and small buildings there was not much there. After trying a couple of different hostels and hotels, looking for the best price/value we were only convinced by the last place that we looked up. Not only were we greeted by a small person speaking perfect English but as it later turned out she, Tricia, had traveled the world as well and had found her perfect spot right here in Hopkins. The main room and guest house were chaotically put together, with lots of colors and decorations. Everything gave this place a unique and very interesting charm.
At first we had planned to spend two nights here but after the first night with lots of stories from Tricia and ourselves we soon realized that we might spend a little more time here. Tricia told us about the local culture, including local cuisine and rum. The food tasted amazing even before the rum and overall we had a great first night.
We woke up the next morning on a beautiful day and decided to spend our time under the palm trees at the beach. Elvys, Tricia's husband that was part of a tribe called Griffin had offered us his boat the night before. So we decided to give fishing another shot and soon we were on board of a small paddle boat trying to get clear of the shallow water. Some water entered the boat through many holes but Elvys had thought ahead and given us a small can with which we could get rid of the water in the boat. We used cut up sea snails as bait and after putting our fishing lines into the water we paddled around for about an hour expecting to catch us our evening dinner. Not much happened until one of the bigger waves caught us off guard and caused us to capsize and fall into the water. After getting the boat upright again and clearing out the water we realized that the sun was slowly beginning to set. Determined to catch our dinner we decided to keep going which let to us going for two more swims and having to give up in the end without a catch. With broken spirits we returned but luckily Tricia had planned ahead and still gave us one of her great dinners. During the evening she offered us a special deal for the next day. If we would agree to help thatch one of her guest rooms roof the next day we could stay another night for free. It took little convincing on her side for us to agree.
We agreed to start working at 9 and we were certain that work would never begin on time. When we crawled out of our beds shortly past nine we were surprised by the fact that Elvys and a couple of people had already started setting everything up. We quickly ate our breakfast to be as prepared as possible for the work ahead. The following hours alone could fill three pages... In conclusion - We had no idea what we had to do at first and no one took time to really explain it to us once. The three other workers from town were drunk and Elvys quickly got fed up with the fact that no one else appeared to have a clue on how to thatch that he decided to go back to the hammock to let of steam. Once we got Elvys back on board and he explained to us step by step what we had to do in order to get this thatching done we started slowly to make some progress. It was an incredible experience for us and we can now say that we know how to thatch a roof with palm trees. Who knows, could be useful in the future right? The tremendous heat and working with the sharp leaves of the palm trees took its toll and we were glad to have finished one side of the roof in a day.
On the following day the other side was supposed to be done but we had to decline Tricia's offer this time. It was time for us to continue our journey and head towards Guatemala. We decided that one work day a year is more than enough for us.