JANUARY 2020. SAPODILLA, RESERVE MARINA, BELIZE

BELIZE, SAPODILLA, RESERVE MARINA

7 – 26 JANUARY 2020

The winds were picking up in Placencia, causing a swell through the bay and life on board Sisu was becoming more and more rolly! More wind was due over the following couple of days, our weather window would close, so we beat a hasty retreat up the coast to Sapodilla, 16 nautical miles away. Francois and Jean s/v Helios left just ahead of us, also going to Sapodilla.
We hobby horsed into the wind, with our main sail up and engine running. With a knot of current against us and short choppy seas, it wasn’t the most comfortable of journeys and our progress was slow, 5 knots at most, regularly 4 knots. We were glad the sea was warm as waves regularly threw themselves over Sisu, and us. If these were the conditions inside the reef, we were glad not to be on the outside! Sisu’s decks and our new sprayhood got regular drenchings, we found the zip on the front panel leaked, good to find out now, at least we can get the zip arrangement improved on our return to Rio Dulce when we lay up in April. Fighting into 17/20 knots of wind is never the best of fun, when Terry had to go up to the mast to put in a reef, he wore his lifejacket and clipped on and though conditions weren’t dangerous, it’s daft to take chances! What a plod, after three and a half hours, we reached the edges of the mangroves lining the sheltered lagoon and Marina Reserve. The entrance to the lagoon was the shape of two arms curved like a welcoming hug, and it was great to be embraced!
We motored through a narrow cut mangrove channel clearly marked with red and green buoys and into the marina where Frank and Randy the dockmasters waited to take our ropes. We prefer to anchor, but there is no safe hiding place along this coast, with forthcoming poor weather we weren’t going to risk anchoring near reefs! A month here is US$ 266, works out at £6.70 per night, very reasonable, and if we get a few days of good weather we can nip out, explore nearby cays and slip back onto our pontoon safely if another bad weather front arrives. Francois and Jean, s/v Helios, a lovely French couple, arrived at the same time, also glad to be in.

The Marina and surrounding area is a curious place. The land has been cleared, basic roads made, road signs, infrastructure put in, electricity and water for we’re guessing, couple of hundred plots. The marina itself is advertised as having slips for 250 boats, at present there is about 50 berths ready. There’s a bar which doesn’t open, an eating area, a small shop, office, good showers and 3 washing machines plus 3 dryers, all working and dirt cheap, pardon the pun. The gardens are landscaped and kept in immaculate order by one gardner. We have two guards every night who patrol the marina. We are in the middle of nowhere. The red earth roads stretch in straight lines into the distance. About half an hour’s walk away there is a Beach Bar open Thursday to Sunday for the “residents” of this vast village which is waiting to happen. Wild boars, armadillos, agoutis, coatis, boa constrictors, rattle snakes and a wide variety of birdlife live in the jungle on either side of the road, so we are never sure what we will see on a walk! The area was to be developed and housing plots were sold. Enchanted by grand plans and the dream of living by the sea, people bought plots and drew up plans for their homes. However allegedly….the developer sold the plots several times over…… only about 20 houses have actually been built, a community of approx 40 people live here, and the whole development is in the hands of the receiver, there is a court case currently going on and the man behind the scam is in jail. The Marina is being run by the receiver, it feels rather surreal, there is hardly anyone here yet the marina provides perfect shelter. There is hope that the outcome will be good, and building can move forward. People who live here come down to the marina to see if any boats are here and to have fresh conversation! Houses are spread about, all styles of houses, some lovely, some, well……. Most have boat docks built alongside them as most have been built on the edge of mangrove canals, but it’s flat, flat, flat and we wonder, with the potential increase in sea levels, will some people find the water lapping at their door steps in time? We could not imagine living here, it takes about 30 minutes to reach the nearest town of Dangriga to provision etc. That’s not far, but for cruisers stopping at the marina, without any motor transport, apart from dinghies, which don’t run too well on roads, we’re a bit stuffed. Help is at hand, Kathy, one of the residents looks after vehicles of home owners who are away. A predominantly American community means that their vehicle is insured for any driver, rather than the UK way of the person/s driving them being insured. Quids in for residents and transport for cruisers!

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The weather had been lousy, torrential rain and wind, we were going stir crazy. We, together with Francois and Jean hire a car for the day and escape the camp, via the Southern Highway to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, the world’s only designated Jaguar reserve. The reserve established in 1984 covers 128,000 acres. Presently they estimate around 50 Jaguar live here. Sharing the jungle with the mighty Jaguar are other wild cats, Puma, Ocelot, Margay, plus Scarlet Macaws and various types of parakeet. Unfortunately, or is that fortunately, we didn’t see any, we also had to keep our eyes peeled for the deadly Fer De Lance snake, and very fortunately we didn’t see one of those either! Giddy from our escape, we decided to go river tubing. Clutching our big tyres, we set off for a 15 minute walk through muddy jungle paths, down to the river. The water was refreshingly cool and quite shallow, after bumping our bottoms along the rivers edge, we got into the middle and floated along in a gentle current, exotic birdsong whistled, hooted and warbled us along. It was bliss! Enough to be fun, small rapids, mid river boulders to get stuck on and undergrowth to be dragged into by circulating eddys, it was hilarious and we were kids all over again! Being daft is very good for your soul. After a few beers in the evening it was the end to a good day. Tomorrow will be boat jobs!

SAPODILLA,& BELIZE CITY 25 JANUARY 2020

We’re booked into the Reserve Marina till the 6^th February. It’s a good hidey hole from bad weather. We get plenty of bad weather.

Reserve Marina, lovely in the sunshine!

Rain, rain,rain……… Torrential rain. It goes on for days. This tests our relationship. It’s frustrating and makes for frayed tempers. We can’t get out to the reefs. We need full sunlight and low waves to see the coral heads and reefs. It’s not all sunning ourselves on deck, in fact I’ve never done it yet! To stave off cabin fever we decide to do some remedial work on our girl. The hot temperatures have melted the glue holding up a section of the heads (bathroom) ceiling. Terry repairs the ceiling and we catch up on a few other jobs as the rain hammers down. I get to grips with my ukele. In my head I’m rocking, in reality I’m stumbling, tangling fingers and very haltingly strangling chords to “You are my sunshine”. Ok, well, even Carlos Santana had to start somewhere! I optimistically learn The Beatles “Norwegian Wood” one of my favourite songs and only 4 chords. Maybe even busk with my two songs to pay for boat parts! People can pay me to stop.

We do get to escape however, a car journey to Stann Creek! You are only allowed to keep your boat in Belize for 3 months. Every 30 days you have to renew your extension. You are allowed two further extensions, then the boat must be taken out of Belize. We need to go to the Port Authority at Stann Creek to complete payment, B$140 (£52) for our first extension, having paid our Immigration fee B$100 (£37) some days earlier at Dangriga.

During better days at Reserve marina we walk over to the local communities Beach Bar for a swim and a beer. We always see some wildlife. One day, I didn’t bring my camera. As we turned the corner of the dusty, red earth road, we literally almost stepped over a 2 foot rattlesnake! I don’t know who was the most surprised! We stood on shaking legs, as it slowly weaved it way across the road into the undergrowth. We settled our nerves with a beer. On the walk back in the late afternoon, a large Jeep pulls up driven by one of the Reserve Rangers. He smiles and says he’s noticed us walking the roads, it’s like the Isle of Man here in Sapodilla, with people knowing your comings and goings! He gives us friendly advice. There are a couple of Jaguars now resident here and one has attacked a dog, it survived, and one killed a raccoon. He advises against walking home late evening when it’s dark as it’s not safe. With a cheery wave, he wishes us a good time here and drives off leaving a big dust trail in his wake. Oh great. We up our pace on the walk back. All I can think is Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz in the scene where she, Toto, the Lion, Scarerow and Tin Man are walking down a path with evil looking trees and she’s singing “Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh my!” We get back safely. A few days later we hear that the rain brings out the snakes, well, we know that….. not only rattlers, but the small community can occasionally find a Boa Constrictor lying around their porch!

Our friends, Jean & Francoise Cremet, s/v Helios have a scuba tank which requires filling and scuba gear to be checked. They also have a head sail to be repaired. This means a 3 hour drive to Belize City. As we haven’t been to the city yet, we join them. Belize City was the country’s capital until a series of devastating hurricanes in 1961 destroyed many buildings, killing hundreds. The seat of Government was, as a result, moved to a purpose built site in Belmopan.

Belize City is still the commercial and cultural centre of Belize, with museums and places of historic interest. We visited the city centre crossing the swing bridge over Haulover Creek. The creek got it’s name from the cows and other large objects which had to be hauled over the creek by early settlers. The swing bridge is the world’s oldest operational manual swing bridge, assembled in 1923 from parts shipped from Liverpool! It used to be cranked open every morning and evening to allow tall masted ships to sail up river, now it is opened only by request. On one side is the Marine ferry Terminal.

The river is filled with small fishing boats, powered by outboard motors and a single mainsail, their decks piled high with canoes. These fishing boats carry several fishermen aboard. There is just room below decks for a small cooking hob and saloon. The canoes are launched, the fishermen line fish, once enough catch is landed, they pile the canoes back on the deck and head back. It’s certainly sustainable and hard earned fishing!

We’ve heard that it’s not safe to be in Belize City, certainly though people are polite, it doesn’t have the relaxed, friendly air of other places. We found it to be rough and poor. For the first time we see homeless people lying in the streets. It’s sad. Cruise ships arrive here, up to 3 a day, 3,500 people per ship, over 9,000 people. There is a marina here, Cucumber Marina, but now the water level is too low for boats of any depth to stop and the marina is full of catamarans and “booze cruise” type boats. The harbour is exposed to any winds. We get our jobs done, have a nice lunch at the side of the river and get out, Belize City didn’t charm us and we feel no need to ever return!

SAN IGNACIO, BELIZE, 10 JANUARY 2020.

ACTUN TUNICHIL MUCKNAL CAVE

There is no public transport to or from the Reserve Marina, which makes exploring inland Belize a challenge. However, Kathy Bentz, an American who has built a beautiful house on the Reserve Resort has a Jeep we can hire for US$50 a day. Now we can plan our escape!

We plan to stay a few days in San Ignacio, a town on the Macal River, only 15 km from the Guatemalan border, in the Cayo District. To reach San Ignacio we drive along the Western Highways and the Hummingbird Highway. For once I’m confident with my map reading, the route is pretty much these two highways! The Hummingbird Highway is described as one of the best roads in Belize. Well, yes it is…. once we leave the roads with potholes and get onto the highway itself! We start out in torrential rain. Terry used to compete in car rallies, and the sheer volume of rain over the previous days has made the red earth basic roads leading out of the Reserve perfect for sliding on, tempting for Terry to relive his rallying days however with ditches full of water on either side and driving someone else’s car he resisted the temptation! Eventually, we reach the first highway and back onto tarmac roads. The Hummingbird Highway winds it’s way upwards over the hills, which are covered in lush jungle vegetation. On the east side of us rises the Mountain Pine Ridge, a ridge of limestone mountains, deep underneath these mountains are rivers and caves, which can be explored. We plan to do just that. The rain is unrelenting. On a couple of highway sections, roadworks are being carried out on an immense scale. The red earth hills are cut through by an army of heavy excavation vehicles and a big labour force. It’s unnerving to be waved through roadworks on such a scale, with the rain pouring down the left hand steep embankment, already riddled with several water courses eroding the side the rain runs across the unsurfaced earth road and cascades straight down the sheer drop on the right hand side of the highway. Workers wearing bin bags as wet weather gear carry on regardless, giving us smiles as we pass them by. The excavations are huge, a digger is perched high up an embankment, on a slope, somehow, it has managed to get up the slope and even turned around to continue digging out the embankment, it’s jaw dropping! Regimented fields of citrus groves line the highway, and en route we stop for lunch at The Sleeping Giant hotel. Driving down the single track road to the hotel, we see signs requesting drivers to “Go slow, Jaguar crossing” and “Go slow, Tapir crossing”. We keep our eyes peeled, but don’t see any! The up market hotel is out of our budget, with wooden cabanas, and little apartments set in beautiful gardens alongside a river. Lunch was as fabulous as the setting!

Lunch at the Sleeping Giant Hotel.

We’re booked into the Midas Resort Hotel, just 10 minutes walk into San Ignacio. With friendly staff, clean, airy rooms, a very comfy bed, an immaculate swimming pool with a bar, it’s a perfect quiet base for three nights. We’ve booked a couple of tours with Mayawalk Tours. Their office where we depart on the tours are a short walk from our hotel.

The first tour is to Actun Tunichil Muknal (Cave of the Stone Sepulchre) and is one of THE most spectacular caves in the country. The ATM cave is famous for it’s incredibly well preserved skeletons of Maya human sacrifices and pottery containing offers to the Mayan gods. The most dramatic sight is that of The Crystal Maiden, a skeleton of a young woman sacrificed over 1,000 years ago. I am nervous about this tour into the cave. The guides are trained for two years before they are granted a licence to take responsibility to lead a tour into this cave system. There are only 26 guides and only 160 visitors per day are permitted. I’m nervous and slightly claustrophobic. However, when we see Juan Carlos, our guide, Terry and I are both very reassured. JC, as he’s known, is stocky and well built. If he can fit through any gaps within the caves, then we can! We are a group of 13, we tell ourselves that 13 isn’t always an unlucky number. We will be split into two groups upon arrival. The minibus ride takes about an hour through Roaring Creek Valley to the ATM Cave base. JC gives us firm instructions before we set off. We are absolutely forbidden to take cameras or any recording devices into the Cave. There have been two occasions where clumsy tourists have dropped cameras onto the artifacts, causing breakage of these delicate and priceless pieces of Mayan history. We must also listen to him at all times, and follow his instructions completely. We will be in the cave system for about 3 to 4 hours, first we have an easy 45 minute walk through jungle pathways to reach the cave entrance. JC also advices us that we bring nothing except water to drink. We will leave any water bottles at the cave entrance and collect them afterwards, no rubbish must be left at the site. He also advises us that we will be wet through from 10 minutes into the walk! We knew already to wear closed toe footwear and bring a pair of socks. The footwear is to prevent our toes being bashed in the caves and the socks will be worn once we begin to enter the areas of pottery and skeletal remains and help prevent any further erosion of the site. We set off, JC is incredibly knowledgeable and we learn about his background, he’s been taking people into the cave for 20 years, and each time he sees something new. We reach the first river. There’s a rope strung across it. If anyone isn’t a good swimmer, they can wear lifejackets. With the recent rain, the river is flowing swiftly and about neck high. Using the rope, we guide ourselves across the river, it’s deliciously cool and we cross it quite easily. Now we’re soaked, and squelch on through the jungle path and the next two rivers.

Finally we reach the mouth of the ATM cave, it’s huge! We take a good drink from our water bottles and leave them in a pile at one of the covered seating areas in the cave entrance clearing for collection afterwards. JC hands out hard hats and attaches head lamps to each one. This is the point of no return! I’m excited and nervous. To enter the cave we have to swim across a 15 ft pool, there are tiny fish swimming all around us in the cool fresh water. The sunlight disappears as we swim across the pool, and as our feet find solid ground, I’m relieved to discover that the boulders and rocks we will be walking on and over are extremely grippy, we pull ourselves out onto a narrow path and the first part of the journey. JC switches our lamps on. We are advised to follow him and listen to him. He apologises for sounding like we’re in the Army and he’s giving orders, but it’s for our safety. Our little group proceed deeper into the cave. The route takes us through narrow slabs of rock, and a section where we are neck deep in water, and the gap is just wide enough for our head to squeeze through in order to enter the next chamber. We’re not frightened, JC leads and we encourage each other all the way, making sure the person behind us is ok. The caves open up to incredible heights, vast, wide columns of stalegmites and stalegtites glisten and sparkle around us. JC shines his torch up to the ceiling, the sights we see are truly breathtaking, the different colours of rock formations, the shapes formed by water dripping down these columns and walls for centuries. We clamber over boulders and through underground rivers, sometimes wading, sometimes up to our necks, upwards, deeper and deeper towards the main chamber. We climb up a large rock, JC guiding us where to put our feet and onto a ledge which we can see by the light of our headlamps takes us into a different cave landscape. We see a wall ahead of us, against which has been secured a metal ladder. One by one, we climb up onto a ledge. We sit, not near the edge….. take off our shoes and put on our socks, and carefully, walk further into this new chamber. The ground is flatter, the ceiling so so high, it’s like a cathedral, my words do not do justice to what we are seeing. We begin to see pots, large, medium and smaller placed around a wide wide area of groups of pots. Each pot contained an offering to the gods. How on earth did they carry them here? It’s mind boggling, given the tight spaces, chambers and differing levels we’ve come through. We have had the benefit of headlamps, how did they light their way? We could not imagine how difficult it would be to keep torches lit. JC points out high above our heads on a ledge, an enormous stringray spine and a huge obsidian blade leaning upright against each other, in a circle of stones. They are carved in slate, representations placed here by the Mayans of the sacrificial ceremonies they carried out within the cave. We are silent as we imagine what stories the walls could tell us. JC asks us to stand exactly where he places us, we are surrounded by pots, human bones and skulls. We’re in a very very wide and high cavern, the floor is almost flat, with natural walkways undulating across the ground by water steadily running across the floor, gently creating channels. These caves were only entered by high officials, leaders and their sons. It was considered an honour to be sacrificed. We see skulls of babies and young children amongst the adults. It was considered the greatest gift to the gods to give up a child, the thing you loved the most. It’s very moving to witness and sense what went on here.

Finally we climb higher over boulders and there, lying on her back, is the Crystal Maiden. She is lying on her back where she fell. Her legs are slightly bent upwards, though she is covered in crystals, to see her is startling, you can really sense just what occurred here, in this place, we are quiet as we study her, respectful. We turn away, absorbing the powerful and violent history of this cave system. We’re quickly turned back into the present as we begin to see a couple of small parties coming up through the chambers. Our way out is the way we came. We are more comfortable now as we know what to expect, we collect our shoes, the ledge here slants downwards slightly, and there’s a 20 foot drop below, we keep our backs to the wall as we sit and put our shoes on! I only have one whimper point, and that’s as we clamber from a high shelf reaching down with our legs onto a ridged boulder, JC and Terry encourage me! At one junction we are given the choice of entering water up to our necks and guiding ourselves between a narrow space of two slabs of rock tilted towards each other, to enter the next cave, or to pass round the back and down into the water. It’s narrow and the journey will only take a matter of 30 seconds or so. We go for it, we can’t get stuck, we use our hands to pull us through the space into a larger cave. Then, near the end, JC asks do we trust him? We all answer yes! JC asks us to put our hands on each other’s shoulders, I am behind JC and grip his shoulders. He switches off his headlamp and guides us through the cave in complete darkness. It was only for a minute probably, but it heightened our senses, the space, the dripping of water from the cave ceiling, the different textures underfoot, pebbles on the floor, then wading through water, the cool temperature within the cave. He then switched our lights back on! It certainly added to the whole experience, and we could imagine what it must have been like for some of the journey through the caves in Mayan times, they would’ve have torches, but how they kept them lit the whole time would surely have been impossible.

We finally see sunlight as we swim once more across the pool of water at the cave entrance, we are excited, tingling, and in awe of everything we have seen. We collect our water bottles, leaving no rubbish, walk back through the jungle path and back across the rivers, discussing our experiences as we enjoy a good lunch of chicken, rice, beans and coleslaw, followed by carrot cake washed down with rum punch. We want to remember every second of this incredible place. We’re sure that there will come a time when numbers will be restricted, though we have been extremely careful, we are still walking over and touching irreplaceable history. If you ever get to Belize, don’t miss this incredible place!

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR 2019-2020 PLACENCIA, BELIZE.

PLACENCIA, BELIZE, CHRISTMAS 2019 & NEW YEAR 2020

23 DECEMBER 2019 – 2 JANUARY 2020

Placencia is a little fishing village at the tip of a long narrow peninsular, making it an excellent sheltered anchorage. It’s a mixture of active fishing town, and tourist hot spot, old traditional houses built on stilts sit next to brand new blocky hotels and apartments. Norwegian line Cruise ships anchor at an island close by. The cruise line bought the island, kitting it out with a salt water swimming pool, zip lines and more so Placencia doesn’t become deluged with cruise ship tourists. Only a small number arrive here by lancha to explore the streets and walk along the mile long boardwalk running alongside the beach. Everybody is friendly and laid back. The prices, though higher than Guatemala, mind you, anywhere is higher than Guatemala, are comparable with UK prices.

Checking into Belize can be done in two places, Punta Gorda or Placencia. It’s easier, and cheaper at Punta Gorda, but weather and circumstances meant we would be checking in at Placencia. It’s a several stop process. First step is a ride on the Hokey Pokey water taxi across the lagoon to the town of Independence. With a tremendous name, the Hokey Pokey, we expected something a little special. The ride certainly was! We climbed aboard the lancha, and meandered gently through the mangrove channel which led to the open water of the lagoon. Terry and I were sat right at the back of the lancha, squeezed in behind the lancha driver at his wheel, the two huge 100hp outboards at our backs. As soon as we cleared the mangrove channel, boom!!!! We were shot like a cannon ball out of a cannon! The young driver opened her up, the bow of the lancha rose upwards, he surely couldn’t see ahead of him, we all, as one person, braced ourselves with the force of the sudden acceleration and the spray sparkled up along the hull as we powered across the lagoon. This was seriously a big grin ride, better than anything Disneyland could manufacture! The ride was about 20 minutes, I wanted to take a photo, but was scared to in case the force of the wind blowing down the lancha would blow the camera out of my hands. We reached the other side, slowing once again, and went in search of a taxi to take us to the immigration and customs offices out of town. The taxi drivers were familiar with the checking in process and told us the order of the offices we had to pass through for the required form filling, document stamping and handing over our Belize dollars. First stop at this cluster of offices set out in a cargo handling area. Immigration, next door to the Fyffes banana office. Very polite, simple. B$100 Thank you. Next. Customs, as instructed by Immigration. No,no,no. We were told we had to go to BAHA, Belize Agricultural and Health Authority first, then come back to Customs. We had to have a health check, no point in doing customs paperwork if we don’t pass the health check. We knew the Health check person was off that day, with it being near Christmas. The BAHA officer didn’t want to believe us, and it took a phone call to another official to check our facts. We saved B$100 on the health check. But….. our boat would require a search by BAHA and Customs. Oh no! We’d heard that this was a possibility. BAHA made a couple of phone calls, and decided that with it being near Christmas, they wouldn’t do a check. Phew, thank you, B$50 handed over in exchange for more stamped forms. The paper chase continued. Back across the dusty car park to the Customs office. Inside were a couple of officials. A young girl and Mr Jobsworth. We got Mr Jobsworth. We would require a search of the the boat before the Customs paperwork would be handed over. Really?! Even the girl was surprised at the decision. This was a new ruling this year, all boats are now checked. We had been in the company of a French gentleman, his son and girlfriend. The French do despair and frustration so well, much arm waving, shoulder shrugging and French guttral splutterings. To no avail, bring your boats to the jetty at Placencia by 12.30pm. It was now 11.30pm. Merde. And a Merry Christmas to you Mr Customs Officer. So, the 5 of us piled back into the waiting taxi, back into the Hokey Pokey lancha, booooooom across the lagoon, back into the dinghy, back onto Sisu, up anchor and moor up at the bloody jetty. By 12.30pm. The French being wonderfully French, didn’t do this. Pah! To the instruction given by Belize officials, pah! They went for lunch instead. Priorities. Lunch first, then they move their boat. They had their priorities right. We were advised by a young guy in the Port Authorities hut on the jetty that it would take at least an hour to get here from the Customs Office, and he actually mimed the swaying walk of the Customs official, which lightened our mood. We sat on the boat. 1pm passed, 2pm, 3pm. For goodness sake, this is bloody ridiculous! 4Pm, we recognised the walk of the Customs official so perfectly had it been mimed three hours ago….. A very cursory check inside the boat, hardly a cushion ruffled or cupboard opened and US$100 but no receipt available, thank you very much, good day. The French had come by now come back from their long lunch and had anchored just off the jetty. They offered to take the Customs guy to their boat. Not required as he was scared of going in the dinghy. They weren’t searched but were still charged US$100! Much French jumping up and down. We then took our near empty purse to the Port Auth hut for the final payment to be wrenched from us. At least the official made jokes as he took our cash. B$255!!! in total making Belize the most expensive country to enter in all our travels. We were broken and broke by this time. Then, incredibly a dock handler came up to us named Emerson and with a breezy caribbean/south London drawl asked us for B$10 docking fee for having the boat at the jetty so long!!!!! At this point our jaws could drop no further and we cracked up. What else could we do?! The entire process cost us approx £250 when you include the rather suspicious search fees. We say suspicious as they were asked for in US dollars, no receipt was provided and the notice on the customs office wall said all fees payable in Belizean Dollars, but what do you do when your faced with a customs official saying “without my paperwork you cannot stay”. Not only that,we are only given a 30 day visa which has to be extended every 30 days, for which, of course, there is a fee, payable at, you’ve guessed it, the offices at Independence! The Belize Government doesn’t make it easy to clear in here. If we had checked in at Punta Gorda

we’d have saved time and money as they do not have a creative fee system.

However, we overcame these challenges and had a blast over Christmas and New Year, celebrating New Year at Rick’s Cafe with a delicious dinner and sampling a pint of Dark & Stormy, Big Titty Rum (4 shots!) and ginger beer at Afrodite bar. We didn’t realise how big, or potent these would be, after having just one each, we decided it would be a safe move to get back down the sidewalk to our dinghy before the full effects took hold! It was a close call, our legs were getting definitely wobbly as we reached Sisu!