Nice relaxing morning
Today I did see a sign to not put Toilet Paper in the toilet here. I was going to mention that I hadn’t in my post today. I like to give our readers a bit of a heads up on what to expect when traveling somewhere new. That issues is something that takes a little getting used to. We didn’t utilize many options so. I’m not sure how common it is here, always try and pay attention though when using facilities in foreign countries to avoid any embarrassment.
Our travel habits and practices (thanks Emily, I was drawing a blank) have been evolving since I have been Traveling with Emily. One of the things that we decided to do was make choices that help the locals more than big corporations, it seems that one of our other practices is helpful in that. We don’t use big travel companies that plan and set everything up for you in advance, while I suspect it’s true across the spectrum those companies take in some cases 40% right off the top for your excursions. The more local you get when scheduling your excursions the more the guide gets. A lot of them subcontract with resorts and smaller local tour companies. Sometimes you can get burned going with the local guy so you should go with your comfort level as you move away from the guy on the street selling you an excursion. You should be fairly safe going through your resort if the one you have chosen is decent. Remember when booking excursions ask what is and isn’t included. Find out what you should and shouldn’t bring with you. Think about having good water shoes and a dry bag if you are going near water.
Cave tubing was fun, the water here is so clear and cool. I will try and do those pictures in the morning. A whole day trip, in a canoe or kayak would be more comfortable than the tubes. I barely got wet while in the tube. Some people like floating in a tube, I don’t. It was interesting to see little round holes in the ceiling from the bats and water. When the water was high and something like a log would pole the ceiling the water would make an indentation that the bats later used to roost in. The bat urine is acidic and deteriorates the limestone and every time they fly out their wings carve a little more out until it’s perfectly round and sized to their wings. They also use their feces to line the hole to stop the water from filtering through. We had lunch at the restaurant the guide Dion was in cahoots with. Food was good and not overly expensive. Dion was an excellent guide, request him if you stay at Cahal Pech for all your excursions.
Rules of the road here are pretty lax, not a lot of speed limit signs. The cops will pass you while doing 70 miles an hour and you can then jump in behind them and keep on going. You do get slowed down though as every now and again they have speed humps that are good sized.
Water taxi was kind of a long ordeal. It definitely made it feel like a travel day. The drive wasn’t bad especially with the stop for our excursion. You have to get tickets, sit and wait, get in line (do so early so you can sit up front and on the side they recommend, today the left), then wait on line for a long time and then ride the boat for what they say is about 45 minutes. It seems longer because every time you see land after you’ve been going for a while they go around it. Golf cart taxis are easy as they wait for you.
We made it to the Caye, the seaweed stinks. A lot. It also doesn’t look good or like we will get a lot of risky do whatever we want snorkeling from shore. We do have stuff set up so that will be good and we can add some probably since it is the low season. I figure we will get used to the smell and all our stuff will smell like it by the time we leave here. Too bad for the people on the plane home! We should be good and immune to it by then.
The place we are staying at has excellent air conditioning! Very nice place, not very centrally located thou. We are a couple blocks from a grocery store so that’s good and we have a kitchen. I’m really looking forward to not having to eat out and wait on slow kitchen staff, I swear the restaurant at Cahal Pech did a lot of one plate at a time cooking. There was a lot of people pre-ordering their food for scheduled times.
Belize City looks like it’s growing and becoming more prosperous. A lot nicer buildings than along the trip from San Ignacio. It will be overly touristy before long. I’m thinking the same about Caye Caulker, from the little I have seen so far there is growth taking place, it will be the next Cancun or something. They both have the seaweed.
Traveling with Emily! 