Around town Dangriga

Just hung around the hotel this morning and went for breakfast around 9.  Had a
breakfast burrito with a side of ham and a glass of fresh squeezed grapefruit
juice for less than $5.

5 of us decided to go to the pelican hotel where it might  be possible to
snorkel.  It was too windy and the water visibility was not good.  Swam for a
while.  Went out and laid out on the pier to get a bit of sun as the beach is
shaded by palm trees. The pier was as comfortable as my foamy from canoeing.


Walked into town which is about ½ hours along the beach and some side streets
where it was not possible to follow the shore.  Saw quite a few birds: Pelican,
frigate, herons, plover, and a few others.  I even saw a wood pecker. 

I did not have my camera as we were going snorkeling and did not want to leave it on the
beach with no one there.  Too bad.  As I got into town there was an old man that was making drums. Stop and chatted with him for a while.  At first he just answered with yes and no but when I started talking about being from Canada and my family were fisherman, he really got interested and was asking me questions about the fishing industry.  The drums he was making were very nice.  They were made out of mahogany.  If I was into drums, I would have been tempted to buy one.  His prices very very good for the sizes..

Back at the hotel, a bunch of us decided to go get out laundry that we dropped
off yesterday afternoon.  I had a full bag and it only cost $6.  It was much
needed as some of my clothes from canoeing were too stinky to wear anymore.  My
non canoeing clothes needed a wash as well because in 30 degrees, a person tend
to sweat quite a bit just walking around sightseeing.  I now have a full set of
clothes for teh next few days.  I will get another load done before I leave
Belize.

Team Germany and I went out for Chinese food tonight.  2 of them had gone last
night and wanted to go back. I take that as a good sign. It was really good. We
were the only one there while we were there.  I guess Monday night is not a big
Chinese food night in Dangriga.  Maybe they do all there business at lunch.  We
hung around outside for a bit but we were all tired from last night so most
people called it a night early.  Tomorrow we travel to our last destination Caye Caulker.

Here are pictures from around town today.

Blue Hole NP & Dangriga

This morning, 4 of us decided to go to town for breakfast at a restaurant called Mikes.  There are 2 tables outside and 3 inside.  We clear the dishes off the table that can seat 4. The other ones only had 3 seats as they are against wall. Big restaurant. No menus, the waitress tells us the 4-5 choices they have. We order and have a good breakfast.

At 11 we leave the hotel for Dangriga. It is a 2 hour drive there. Last night we were giving the choice of paying an extra $2 and we could use private van and stop have way for a swim or else take the local bus like I took from the Mexican border when I first got to Belize. Everyone calls it the chicken bus. Choice was unanimous.  I guess I am not the only one who prefers not to sit on a crappy seat with no leg room.

Half way there we stop at the Blue Hole.  It is a cenote, that is a where limestone eroded and then collapsed. This cenote is about 100 deep with the water being about 20 feet deep.  It is very beautiful and refreshing.  We do a picnic lunch and have a nice break.

The second part of the trip is on the hummingbird highway.  It is very beautiful. The driver stops at one point and says this hill is called Magnetic Hill. So he puts the van in neutral and it goes backwards.  Where have I seen this before?  Oh yeah, Moncton, but it is still cool.

A one point the van starts to shake.  One of the back tyre (that how they spelled it here) started to come to shreds.  A good thing it was not the front tyre.  We all get out and the driver does the tyre change quickly and we are back on the road. 

Belize grows lots of oranges.  We see trucks going by with full loads of them.  We got potatoes, they got oranges.  I guess that is why fresh squeezed OJ is so cheap. There also a juice factory nearby, so we see lots of truck going by.

We reached our hotel.  Jungle Huts.  Nice spots, some of the cabanas are covered with bamboo sticks.  We have a group supper.  Seafood chowder, coloured greens, chicken.  It was very good meal. After supper local dancers and drummers gave us a show.  We all had to get up and dance, me too if you can imagine that.  The whole evening was fun. 

Dangriga is known for his Garífuna culture.  It is more like Africa/Reggae in their music and religious traditions and for anyone who want to learn more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangriga

Team Germany, one other guys and me and 2 of the drummers stays up for a bit longer than the rest. I hit the bed at 11:30 but team Germany is still drinking but there is not much rum left so I do not think they will be up much longer.  Rum is cheap here; $7 is a good bottle. I guess we have to go get some more tomorrow as I think we are spending the day walking around town and doing some beach time.