February 10, 2011 (Leaving Placencia Village, Belize)

The morning of February 10 I awoke about 7:00 AM and went out for a one hour "power walk" on the beach. I headed north and went as far as the future marina project (near the air strip that serves Placencia) that looks like it was abandoned recently before turning around. I came back on the only road that travels north and south on the peninsula. Before I had come to Placencia I had heard people talking about a new (private) international airport that was supposedly under construction-- but I couldn't see it from the road. A recent posting on the Internet showed a photo of a new runway that appeared to be ready for paving. "Inside sources" have said the new 9,000+ foot runway and the new airport will be TSA and FAA compliant and will be operational in early 2011.The new airport will feature the longest runway in the country it will be capable of handling aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 787. The new airport is supposedly going to open Belize to direct flights from Europe and North America. Who knows how long it will be before a terminal is built?

A Recent Photo of the New Air Strip Near Placencia

After my beach hike and shower I had a big breakfast in the hotel restaurant and packed up all my stuff to be ready for my 11:00 AM checkout. This would leave me almost two hours to kill in "downtown" Placencia before the 12:45 PM bus to Dangriga was scheduled to arrive. My two hour wait was made a lot more pleasant by the apearance of my new friends Roy and Cindy who were also waiting for the 12:45 special. We chatted about Placencia and their future destinations of Hopkins, Tobacco Caye and the nearby Maya Center (which I didn't know much about but sounded very interesting-- need to put it on my list for my next visit). Also, we were able to split "luggage guard duty" amongst the three of us so we were able to run around town a bit while waiting for the bus. The bus to Dangriga cost only US$5.00-- another incredible bargain. Shortly before reaching Dangriga, Cindy and Roy jumped out at the same place I had the previous week to catch a van to Hopkins Town. I got lucky when we reached the bus station in Dangriga because the bus to Belmopan was just about ready to leave. The Belmopan bus -- which would take us a considerable distance along the beautiful Hummingbird Highway-- also cost only US$5.00 (10 BZ). It must have been my lucky day, because when I arrived in Belmopan the bus to Banque Viejo -- which would bring me back to my "home away from home" in San Ignacio-- was also just getting ready to leave the terminal. And the Belmopan-San Ignacio leg only cost me US$2.00 (which is ridiculous)!

When I finally arrived in San Ignacio Town, I realized that I had been in buses for the entire afternoon --- but all that transport had cost me only about US$12.00! I kept remembering how in Minneapolis (or Las Vegas, for example) a taxi ride for just a few blocks often costs that much. AND the cabbie expects a tip on top of that! It had actually rained a little during the last part of my bus ride -- one of the few times during my trip that the sun was not shining! I had a nice dinner that night at the Serendib and got to see Nettie and some of my other San Ignacio friends.

"Raj" from san Ignacio Town (Eric Bana's Doppelganger for Sure!)

Lorena: The Hardest Working Shop Girl in San Ignacio (24/7)

I was back at the Tropocool Hotel again, and the only glich that night was an inordinate amount of noise generated until almost 2:00 AM by about a dozen American kids at a nearby joint called Mr. Greedy Too. There was so much noise and commotion a little after midnight that I actually threw some clothes on and walked over to the place to see what was going on. It sounded like there were about a hundred kids in the place, so I was shocked that all that noise was coming from just a few loud young ladies.