February 11, 2011 (San Ignacio Town, Belize -- Again- for a Day)

Today I woke up at 7:00 AM in San Ignacio to a cloudy morning -- which I had found was very unusual for Belize. It had rained the night before -- which was also a bit unusual. But every place needs some rain to keep things green and beautiful. After a nice morning run to the famous spot in San Ignacio where the Macal and Mopan Rivers merge I had a nice breakfast at my favorite restaurant-- Serendib -- and took care of my only business obligation of the trip. The reason I had to make a quick trip back to San Ignacio was that I had to retrieve two nice (brand new) pairs of shoes I had tried to send back home when I tried to ship the slate Maya calendar pieces I had purchased from "Elmer" several weeks ago. Shortly after dropping off a very heavy box with "Roxana" at Exodus International in San Ignacio, filling out reams of paperwork and paying a hefty shipping fee, I received an e-mail from Roxana telling me that Federal Express had refused to make the shipment to the U.S.. They were apparently not happy with the flimsy box I had used to pack the heavy slate pieces, and they would not allow me to include personal items (my extra shoes) with the shipment. I sent an e-mail back to Roxana asking her if she could remove the shoes (which I would pick up in a week or two) and re-pack the slate pieces in a sturdier box. She was kind enough to help me out with this little hassle, and today I dropped by her place (which was primarily a travel agency) in downtown San Ignacio to pick up my shoes. I thanked Roxana again for the help, and headed back to my room at the Tropicool Hotel. Thank goodness my room at the Tropicool only cost me US$12.50 for the night. If I had to pay a lot for a hotel room I would have been better off to simply forget about my new shoes. I had learned already that one of the keys to third world travel is to PACK LIGHT. There is absolutely no need for fancy top siders, loafers and other shoes which simply add weight and take up precious space in your luggage or backpack. I had found that all you need in Belize for shoes are a pair of sturdy "high tech" sandals, climbing boots (for jungle and Maya site exploration) and running or walking shoes. That's it!

Once I had packed my bags and checked out, I was ready to head back to San Pedro Town. As my departure from Cancun was set for February 18, I had exactly one week to have one last fling on Ambergris Caye, check out some real estate on the island I was curious about, and get down to Playa del Carmen to make it easy to catch my flight back to the U.S. I will write about my "great real estate hunt" in San Pedro in several upcoming blog entries. I caught the bus to Belmopan (which only cost US$1.50!) where I jumped out to look for the building which houses the real estate records for Belize. Fortunately the building was a stone's throw from the bus station, so I could simply drag my luggage across the street and a big parking lot. I found the office that handles real estate documents, and was able to purchase a copy of the "land register" for the parcel I was going to check out for US$5.00. I returned to the bus station and shortly thereafter I caught the bus to Belize City-- which cost me a whopping US$2.00! Once I reached the Belize City bus station I jumped in a taxi and paid the cabbie US$3.50 to bring me about a mile to the place where you catch the water taxi to San Pedro Town.

The water taxi -- which costs US$15 for the one hour trip to Ambergris caye-- is especially great when the water is calm. The scenery is spectacular, and it is a lot more fun than those old army buses you typically find in Belize. When the water taxi arrived at the main dock in San Pedro I immediately started looking for a nearby hotel because I was dragging a heavy suitcase and a small backpack. I found an inexpensive place called Martha's Hotel about a block from the main dock. The hotel (shown below) was cheap -- and it was close to the beach-- but it was (unfortunately) a real shithole! The floors were warped and slanting (the classic cracked linoleum from forty years ago), the toilet was tilted, the place was in severe need of undating (or being torn down) and it was just real creepy in general. I had to ask for toilet paper and pillows -- and there were no screens on the windows. But it was only US$20.00 for one night. That evening I strolled the streets of San Pedro again and ended up having dinner at The Reef. I dined on a dinner of snapper and three Belikins for about US$20.00. Not too shabby.

Martha's Hotel in San Pedro Town: US$20.00 per Night