January 26, 2011 (Leaving Ambergris Caye: The Trip to San Ignacio)

Kirby and I had decided that on Wednesday (January 26) morning we would leave the hustle and bustle of San Pedro and travel to the Cayo District -- a very different part of Belize. I hoped I would be able to wake up very early (5:30 AM) on my own, but I had asked Kirby to act as my surrogate alarm clock in the event that I was still asleep at 6:00. The water taxi to Belize City (via nearby Caye Caulker) was scheduled to depart at 7:00 AM so we wanted to be sure we were on time. Fortunately, we made it over to the dock on time and loaded (with our luggage) onto the boat promptly at 7:00 AM. By the time everyone had boarded the boat was pretty full. We were hoping a few people got off at Caye Caulker -- because, if not, and anyone else got on at Caulker the boat was going to be packed like a sardine can! After a short ride to Caye Caulker, the boat stopped to pick up additional passengers and we were wondering where they were going to sit. A few passengers climbed on board, and just as the door was closing, a young lady squeezed in right at the last minute and scrambled for a place to sit down. Kirby and I looked at each other in astonishment-- the last passenger was none other than our old friend Danielle from Pedro's Inn! And here we thought she would have practically been in Nicaragua by this time! We found out that she had enjoyed Caye Caulker so much she stayed a couple extra days, and now she would be riding the same bus we were taking up to the Cayo District. Whereas Kirby and I would be getting off the bus in San Ignacio, Danielle would continue all the way to the Guatemala border.



Danielle Has Returned to the Blog!

After the water taxi delivered us to Belize City (at about 8:30 AM), we took a taxi to the bus station and waited for the next bus to Cayo. As we had heard from a number of fellow travelers, the primary reason for visiting Belize City is to make a connection to someplace else in Belize. The bus to the Cayo District came shortly after we arrived, so we climbed on and watched the bus driver's assistant load our luggage into the back of the bus. The bus headed into the center of the mainland. After about an hour we stopped briefly in Belmopan-- the capital of Belize - and continued on to San Ignacio Town. We arrived in San Ignacio at about 11:30 AM, and we said our good-byes (again) to Danielle (who was traveling on to Benque at the Guatemalan border). The "twin cities" of San Ignacio and St. Elena have a combined population of about 15,000 (2005 statistics), which makes it the largest town in Belize. Here, the Mopan and Macal Rivers merge to form the Belize River (this whole situation reminded me of Minneapolis/St. Paul-  where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers merge - without the winter part). San Ignacio Town was built on seven hills, one of the most famous of which is also a famous Maya ruins site called Cahal Pech ("place of the ticks")-- which Kirby and I will be exploring very soon. The bus delivers visitors to the center of town, so I guarded our luggage while Kirby shopped around town for a clean and reasonable place to stay. We decided on a nearby place called the TROPICOOL HOTEL on San Ignacio's famous Burns Avenue. The hotel was clean and very "no frills"-- but it was very affordable (35 BZ or $17.50 each - per night - for a shared room with a shared bathroom). In addition, the Tropicool had WIFI in the rooms - a big bonus I had discovered along the way. The hotel is operated by a former British soldier named Andrew Wallacott and his wife Doris. Their son Kieran helped me out a lot during my visit keeping my Internet connection working, and their staff kept our room clean and neat as well. Andrew and Kieran are also avid runners and they helped me find some decent areas for running in the vicinity as well. 
The first night we stayed in San Ignacio - and before I had spoken with Andrew and Kieran about good routes for running in town, I just ran out and tried jogging through the streets just as it was starting to get dark. I had a horrible experience due to numerous cars, exhaust fumes, bad roads, dogs, rubbish fires, and you name it. My runs in the area were much more enjoyable after I found a couple good routes. Because I went out running I apparently missed Kirby's dinner plans so I went across the street to check out a restaurant called "Serendib" Doris had recommended. According to Doris, the restaurant was under new management but had retained the Sri Lankan recipes brought in by the former owners. I enjoyed a chicken-rice- curry dish, and I found out later that Kirby had run into the English lady named "Susan" who he had met previously in Corozol Town and they ate dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant.

The next morning I also ate breakfast at Serendib and met one of the owner's -- a very nice lady named "Nettie". During the next week, Nettie and I became good friends and she gave me a lot of information about the town and Belize in general. She mentioned that she had run a restaurant in the neighborhood for the past 25 years, but had been on "sabbatical" for the past four years.

This Is "Nettie"

Now Nettie and her husband had purchased the Serendib Restaurant, so she said she would be utilizing their Sri Lankan recipes in addition to the traditional recipes she had developed over the past 25 years. I asked her about a place called "Eva's" -- which was touted in my "Living in Belize" as THE spot in San Ignacio and a fellow named Bob Jones (a former British soldier who ran Eva's). Nettie thought my question was pretty funny, because Bob Jones is her HUSBAND, and Eva's was the place they operated for over twenty years! I'm sure they had a good laugh over this one.