Today I was determined to watch the sunrise before leaving Placencia even if that meant watching it from my room. Therefore, my day started at 6:00am (which I consider to be early but I knew that the sunrise would make it all worth it). I was right! The sunrise was just as beautiful as I imagined it to be. I honestly believe that the people who get to wake up to this everyday are very lucky. As I watched the sun rise, I couldn’t help but feel very fortunate to be here. It amazes me that this place exists and I knew nothing about it.
After I watched the sunrise, I headed back to the room to get ready for the day. Today our itinerary included: breakfast at the Cozy Corner, traveling to Belize city to take a ferry (water taxi) to San Pedro and exploring San Pedro. At around 7:15 A.M, we headed to have breakfast at Cozy Corner. The restaurant was full and very busy. However, the waiters tried their best to get everyone’s order and food out on time. Unfortunately, not everyone received their food on time and we had to take our breakfast to go. Nonetheless, eating breakfast in the bus didn’t stop me from enjoying the delicious waffles. Although, we were all so sad to leave Placencia, we were excited to arrive at San Pedro. The drive from Placencia to Belize City was about a 3-hour drive, however, the amazing views throughout the ride made the trip go a lot faster. This is the second time I saw all of today’s beautiful scenic road but today I noticed different things that I didn’t notice the first time. We passed through a school and saw children having lunch outside. It is so interesting to see how different schools are here than back home. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone in the U.S have lunch outside except when we went on field trips. I am glad the children here in Belize get to appreciate the nature and the beauty of Gods creations while having lunch.
We then arrived at Belmopan for a quick restroom break. As we were leaving Belmopan and headed to Belize City, I noticed a young man carrying what seemed to be a weed eater while riding a bike. I will continue to say in every blog, that I admire so much the Belizean’s who find nothing impossible. I have no idea how he managed to balance himself on that bike with only one hand but it was nice to witness that it is possible.An interesting thing we learned during the bus ride was that Belize used to have 3-4 stoplights years ago and now only 1 exists, that is located in San Ignacio. I couldn’t believe it. I can only imagine how crazy it would be if the United States had no stoplights.
About 3 hours later, we finally arrived to Belize City where we planned to take a water taxi to San Pedro. As soon as we got off the bus, a lot of tour guides and taxi drivers were trying to convince us to get a tour or a taxi with them. This city is very big on tourism so that explains why so many people are in that business. We were stamped on our arms in order to be able to get on the water taxi. As we entered the water taxi, I noticed a lot of people were traveling with our group. I believe a total of 50 or more were in the water taxi (I know! I didn’t think that would be possible). As the water taxi passed through the sea, I couldn’t help but snap a few photos of the gorgeous bluest water I have seen so far. The breeze coming through the window came perfect with the hot weather. As we continued with the ride, the water got more beautiful and bluer. The water was so perfect that we were able to see what was underwater. Being able to see and experience this is invaluable. The water taxi’s first stop was at Caye Caulker where everything looked beautiful. About half of the people who were in the water taxi got off here. Something interesting we were able to see was how fast two young men were at unloading luggage’s and packages from the water taxi.
After people were dropped off at Caye Caulker, the water taxi headed to San Pedro, which was about a 30-minute ride. Again, the water continued to get more and more beautiful and indescribable.
We finally arrived at San Pedro, which is the biggest tourist area in Belize. Everything about San Pedro is beautiful. Belize City, Placencia and San Pedro really do not disappoint. As soon as we got off the water taxi, we headed to have lunch at Caliente Restaurant. Today’s lunch consisted of enchiladas de mole (chicken). I must say that those enchiladas were delicious. It reminded me of my Grandma’s mole, so I was very pleased with it. After we ate, we headed to our rooms to get ready to explore San Pedro.
A group of 5 of us headed to shop at the gift shops for souvenirs and to see what San Pedro had to offer. Like Placencia, San Pedro is full of little shops perfect for buying our loved ones souvenirs. My favorite part about entering a shop is being able to admire handmade items (wood carvings, bracelets, seashell plates and spoons and etc.). While wandering around San Pedro we noticed a lot of commotion. The streets were filled with people running around, walking fast, people driving their golf carts (I assume it’s the main form of transportation here in San Pedro) full speed and streets being closed down. I immediately began to wonder if something special was occurring or if maybe something wrong had occurred. As we were still walking through the streets confused, I decided to ask 3 boys what was going on. They informed us that there was a bomb threat and that everyone was trying to leave as fast as possible. We quickly decided to follow the route in which the majority of the people were taking to escape this bomb threat. We then arrived on the other side of the street and saw a beautiful spot. A perfect sunset and perfect timing.
We then ended up at a place close to the sea that looked like a Plaza filled with food stands. Everything looked so yummy and reminded me so much of Mexico.
After we finished shopping, we headed back to the hotel where we arrived to a surprise. The hotel was closed due to the bomb threat and the guy at the entrance was not allowing anyone in for safety reasons. For that reason, we were advised to stay away from the hotel and were directed to a local bar close by. We ended up having our dinner at the Bar to ensure that we were safe. The people at the Caliente made all of the dinners we had preordered to go. My dinner for today consisted of Coconut rice and Chicken Jacinto, which was basically chicken with peppers, a slight amount of tequila and chipotle. It was delicious.
-Nancy Juarez
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