Welcome back, long time no seeee!
A lot has happened in the last three months – mainly that we’ve been to (if I’ve counted right) 7 countries, so I think I can now safely say that I’m an actual traveller, super chivoo! Oh and side note, the day I’ve started writing this is the fourth which means I’ve now been here for 6 whole months, halfway there! I’m also writing this two hours before I’m away to go and meet Mum, Dad and Caitlin in Gracias (Angus just doesn’t love me enough clearly) which is very exciting.
So since a lot has happened, I’ve decided that I’m going to do a blog post for each country we visited to try and split it up so there’s going to be many short posts (if you call 4000 words short) instead of one huge one, if ya don’t mind (well you don’t really have a choice – it’s what I’m gonna do 😊).
First stop Belizzeee
On the 17th of November we left Belen with embarrassingly overpacked rucksacks which defo provided some amusement in our house. We said our goodbyes although Anderson assumed we were going to school which is fair enough since that’s about the only place we go to. I remember sitting on the bus driving out of Belen, so excited for the next few months ahead. It was kind of unbelievable how quickly it came around, I remember my first few weeks where I told myself I just needed to get through these three months to get to travelling – when things got tough (which quite often they did) it was the only thing getting me through. Yet, as I was sitting there driving out of Belen, I thought to myself that I could go another month before having a holiday, which could either be because I was finally feeling very settled or maybe just because we’d only been back a week and a bit since our impromptu visa run (read last blog), but I’d like to believe it was the former.
Iona and I were supposed to be meeting Flossy and Emily in San Pedro Sula to meet up and continue travelling to Belize together however they were too busy throwing up, so their travelling had to be postponed. This left Iona and I alone to travel to another country by public transport, and I think it’s relevant to point out that we’re probably two of the most incompetent people in the group to do so. So we arranged with the lovely owner of our hotel to give us a lift to the bus stop the next morning and from there she’d put us on a bus to Puerto Barrios to get a boat to Belize. With our next days travel plans sorted we spent the evening supermarket (a proper big one as well, first one we’d seen in over three months!!) shopping and then eating food in bed while watching Netflix – the best way to start travelling! The next day was an early morning start and we got put on this big boujee coach that would take us straight to Puerto barrios (apparently). With our bags safely underneath the bus instead of traditional Honduras ways of thrown onto the roof, I settled in to get a bit of sleep. Unfortunately, this bus was not direct to Puerto Barrios as we were previously told and we ended up driving an hour past our stop. Bags off the bus and left stranded on the side of the road with no clue what to do. Luxury over – this felt a bit more like the Honduras travelling we were used to! Luckily not too long later, a “bus” which in reality was the size of a big car, stopped to let us on. This bus was already over-flowing, people stuffed in to make them fit like Tetris. Add Iona and I to the mix with rucksacks bigger than us, I just did not see how this was going to work. Anyways they managed to do it, but it meant that I was literally sitting on the step of the bus (door open) with my legs hanging out of the vehicle – Honduras safety at it’s finest. We made it to the taxi boats in one piece (just about) and were rushed along (imagine us already really sweaty running with our huge rucksacks that we can barely walk with) to immigration office since the boat was supposed to be leaving in about one minute. After the huge big rush and eventually getting to the boat five minutes after it was supposed to leave, we ended up sitting there for about twenty minutes.
Made it to Puerto Barrios safely. Unfortunately I had bought a big bag of apples at the supermarket the night before and hadn’t eaten any of them, and now I’m standing here at immigration where there’s big signs saying no fruit, seeds or farm produce are allowed to be brought into the country. I was just hoping that they wouldn’t check my bag so I didn’t throw my apples out. And now he asks me whether I have anything to declare. I have some options here, say no – which would be straight up lying and I’m not as wild as Iona so I couldn’t do that, I could pretend I don’t speak Spanish which would normally work but they speak English in Belize. Just saying yes would be the clear answer but I wanted my apples. So instead I told him I had tajadas which was not a lie. He didn’t know what they were to my absolute horror so I took a while explaining them to him and even ended up showing him my bag. Bingo, thought I’d managed to distract him, then he asks me if I have any fruit. So close, and now I’ve just provided him with 7 apples for his lunch.
This is going to be a very long post considering I just wrote a whole paragraph on apples. I’m sorry, try to stay with me here.
Since we’d spent a few days in Punta Gorda a few weeks ago and we were pretty tired we just chilled in the hotel room (double bed each and an ensuite since we’d booked for Flossy and Emily as well) before going to buy food for tea and I ended up having a nap. Which was then interrupted by Iona telling me there was a crab in a toilet – yeh you read that right. There was a full-on huge crab rattling around in our toilet bowl. With no clue how to solve this issue we closed the toilet lid and put a hefty bible (because I never leave the house without one) on the lid because only Jesus could save us now. This meant we did not use the toilet until the next place because we’re wusses and I didn’t want a crab to pinch me while I’m trying to pee. At night I could hear the lid flapping up and down which meant the crab hadn’t left, and Jesus didn’t save us which is probably because Iona is a sinner.
The next day we got onto a bus to Plancencia, which wasn’t too cramped although I think that was the windiest bus I have ever been on, like my face was doing the flubber thing if you know what I mean. Anyways we got dropped off at this random petrol station and got a taxi to the boat taxis to take us to Placencia. Our timing was perfect – the boat was just away to leave but they seen us coming so held it for us, saving over an hour of waiting for the next one. When we arrived in Placencia we made our way to our accommodation – Lydia’s guesthouse which was really lovely and we just had a little room with two beds in it, Flossy and Emily’s room was opposite and there was two bathrooms in the corridor to share (with hot water hurrah!). That afternoon we wandered along the beach and came across the only two bars in town. One was relatively busy so we grabbed a drink and sat up the top at this balcony overlooking the sea. It just so happened that the day we arrived was Garifuna settlement day in Belize. If you want more info then google it but pretty much it is the celebration of the Garifuna people arriving into Belize (British Honduras at the time) from mainland Honduras. So we sat and watched a re-enactment of this which was pretty cool then we watched some traditional Garifuna dancing.
That night we went out to the only two bars and had a pretty chill evening just sitting on the beach bars chatting before we went and got pizza which was probably one of the best decisions we ever made and we took it back to the hostel and sat eating it in bed before going to sleep. Unfortunately that first night we got off on a bad foot with Lydia (the owner of the guesthouse) because we came home just after midnight but we couldn’t unlock the door so she had to come do it for us and she was not very happy at all, and made us out to be stupid for not being able to open a door. Although to be fair we chatted with some other people from the guesthouse who also said they struggled to open it, so not just us thanks very much Lyds.
The next day we had a beach day, we found a spot on the beach and spent the morning just chilling. We both ended up falling asleep – biggest mistake ever made, my bum burn was the worst I’ve ever had. It was so sore and looked just as bad as it felt, still have the lines now oops, won’t make that mistake again. When we went back to the guesthouse Flossy and Emily were there which was a lovely surprise and we all headed out for lunch. I got the lunch special which was enchiladas and probably one of the best meals I had the whole of travelling. We got cocktails and lay on the loungers on the beach and went swimming in the sea, it was a really good day. That night we went out the four of us which was (mainly) a lot of fun. Emily ended up singing karaoke, she also attempted the frisbee challenge and failed (miserably if I’m honest although way better than I could’ve done) and then many bitters later Iona thought it would be a good idea to have a shower, I cut my hand open, Emily and I got in trouble and Flossy was enjoying a glass of water. As you can guess there’s a bit of a story to that one, which I don’t think is suitable to share, sorry.
One of my favourite days of travelling was this next day. We rented a buggy for the whole day, brought our bikinis and speaker (essentials) and spent the day driving up and down the peninsula just singing. I won’t lie, we didn’t really do much mainly just drove around (well Emily did since she’s the only one with a licence – thanks Em) but it was a lot of fun. We stopped once at this pretty little walkway that went out onto the ocean where we took some photos and then Flossy pushed Emily in (which was really quite horrible and I didn’t realise Flossy was capable of such cruel things) which started a bit of a war. We also followed this sign that took us to this little art gallery which was very cute. Emily really wanted to see crocodiles and manatees so we went on a hunt but our time for the buggy was running out so we stopped to watch the sunset which was gorgeous although there was this couple also watching the sunset and I don’t think they were too happy that Flossy was in all their photos and we ruined their romantic peaceful evening, oops soz. When we arrived back Esther, Izzy, Lois, Libby, Alice and Molly were there and we had a quick catch up before all getting ready and heading to Barefoot (one of the bars) for drinks. We ended up having a really good night and making some American friends. We ended the night in a mansion party (in reality we sat and ate crisps and had chats until it turned into political chats where views didn’t match up and it was time to leave) and brought in Lois’ 19th birthdayyy! Flossy, Lois and I may or may not have stolen a boat and a golf cart that night, a bit random but what night out isn’t.
The next day – diecinueve babbbyyyy!!! Lois’ 19th birthday woohoo! Anotha beach day which was really chill and fun. We spent a lot of time in the sea and played “who has the rock” which is a really stupid game that I love a lot and nobody else does. We all went out for lunch to the same place I had my amazing enchiladas but this time I got coconut curry tacos which were so insane and another one of the best meals I had while travelling. That night we all got dressed up ready to celebrate Lois’ birthday. Not much happened that night, just a lot of dancing and a fair few bitter shots. Ended the night on the beach with Emily eating the best burger I have ever had in my life (apparently). Although Em tells me the next day that they were both bought for her and I just kept eating them, oops soz.
We had another chill day soaking in the sun and ended the next night on the beach but this time it was almost all of us and we just sat there chatting which was nice. Iona, Emily, Flossy and I got up the next morning to head for Caye Caulker and it’s safe to say Lydia was very glad we were leaving. In fact, we’re actually not allowed to stay there again oops don’t think she was too happy with us four for some reason. Okay so we were quite loud and almost every night that we came home late we couldn’t open the door BUT neither could any of the other guests. Also just pointing out that we read her reviews on trip advisor and everyone said she was grumpy.
We then made it to Caye Caulker, I don’t really remember how but somehow we got to the ferry terminal which was very boujee and had proper tickets and a luggage drop-off. From this we knew that Caye Caulker was going to be touristy. We had a bit of time before our ferry so we went to a café and got some nachos which were highly recommended to us by the couple next to us. I’m not saying they were bad but they weren’t worth the hype. Anyways Iona wouldn’t know since we had to end up rushing and so Iona went up to pay for all of us and threw almost all of hers away because she didn’t want to eat them on the ferry.
As soon as we got off the ferry we fell in love. It was picture perfect, stunning, and I knew I wouldn’t want to leave in a couple of days time. We collected our bags and the guys there asked how old we all were and said that we looked about 14. Only one week in and this seems to be a common theme. I get that we look young – we are young, but 14, seriously?! I think Iona and I bring the age down a bit, everyone else could pass for 21, but certainly don’t think we bring it down to 14.
Anyways, we were in a shared dormitory room, which was fine, very basic, and bathrooms weren’t great. We had our own little upstairs attic bit which sounds cute but there was only three mattresses between the four of us so was a bit inconvenient. Although we did actually have a fourth bed but it was in a separate bit so we decided it would be easier if we all had that share section so we could make a mess and not bother anyone.
That night we were all very tired but only had three nights in Caye Caulker so wanted to make the most of it. We had a wander to see what there was and ended up on this little restaurant by the sea where we got some food (I got a chicken burrito which was quite disappointing) and a cocktail then called it a night.
We spent our first day at recommended Iguana Reef, and we had such a good day. We chilled in hammocks with cocktails. In the sea they had hammocks and swings which we spent quite a good bit of time in just trying to take insta photos. There was also a lil part cornered off where the seahorses lived which was really cool. The owner became quite attached to us and was telling us everything about Iguana Reef and what they do for the animals which was interesting. He came over and asked who the brave ones were which apparently was Flossy and I. So the two of us were given this extremely hot chilli called a bird pepper. I actually don’t think you understand how hot this thing was, I felt like my mouth was on fire. Meanwhile Flossy looks like she’s just eaten ice cream. Pretty sure after that the next time someone asks who the brave ones are, my name will not be making an appearance. While I’m still recovering (crying saying I’m dying) this man sitting under a palm tree was cutting up coconuts so he gave us all coconut water as well which was very kind of him and actually helped the burning. We stayed there all day, and after watching the sunset we helped feed the pelicans. To do so, you had to hold a dead fish by its tail over your head and then it would swoop down and grab it out of your hand. It was a little scary at first – imagine a dock full of people holding fish over their head and huge birds flying everywhere snapping trying to get food. After that we watched the stingrays get fed – there was sooo many of them it was really cool. And then it was the sharks turn! Again, another one of the best days in travel. We went out that night and had a boogie which was a lot of fun.
The next day we woke up and we were keen to go snorkelling since it was meant to be really good in Caye Caulker so we searched around and booked the four of us in at 3pm. Iona wasn’t feeling too good due to a previous wild night and we were all quite tired anyways so just had a chill morning. We went to see ‘The Split’, which is essentially a split in the island, dividing it into two. The first split occurred due to a hurricane but then people dug it to make it bigger and into a feature of the island. It is possible to cross the split to go to the other side of the island but we didn’t have enough time for that unfortunately. Instead we sat on the promenade by the sea until Emily pushed Flossy in, getting her back for Placencia. But we all decided to go for a swim anyways since the water looked so clear and blue and we were all roasting. We then went to this really cute pizza place for lunch and were joined by the infamous ‘no – shirt’. Just as we were getting ready to go snorkelling, it was very windy and looked as if there was a storm coming (“There’s a storm coming Harry, and we all best be ready when she does”) but in the little boat we got anyways. By the time we were getting into the water it was chucking it down with rain and there was lightning. But then again when you’re in water, it doesn’t really affect you does it. Anyways Flossy didn’t want to get it so she stayed with the boat while we went and seen loads of fish and coral, it was amazing. I had never been snorkelling before and I loved it so much, I seen a rainbow fish and it looked exactly like the one from the book (please tell me that you know which one I’m talking about, if you don’t then you didn’t have a complete childhood clearly) and I was very content. When I lifted my head up, I couldn’t see the boat (where Flossy was currently sitting alone) and I panicked thinking that she’d floated off by herself, then I realised I was just looking in the wrong direction so all good. We then got back on the boat to go to another spot, this time Flossy got in the water with us. This time we were surrounded by stingrays and sharks – I’m not exaggerating when I say surrounded, like it made it difficult to move. I even got to stroke a stingray, which was weird, bit too slimy for my liking, wasn’t too desperate to do it again. We got in the water one more time and this time our guides didn’t come with us and we just got about 45 minutes to swim around and see what we wanted to which was cool. Oh and they even gave us fruit and water and at the end we fed fish in the water by holding a dead fish over the surface so they could jump out and get it. Overall one of my best experiences, loved it all , and who said that rain spoils the fun?!
When we got back from snorkelling Esther, Izzy and Lois were there since they were coming to Caye Caulker for a few days as well so there was a very short layover. We all went out that night except Iona since she had a well needed early night. We met this group of American girls who were all 17/18 – this was the first time (and pretty much the only time) that we met people our age. They were all family friends here with their parents for thanksgiving since they owned a house on the island. In fact we got invited to their house for thanksgiving dinner the next day. Although I’m sure if we actually turned up they wouldn’t have been too happy.
We got up fairly early the next morning to leave and head for Mexicoooo. I was very glad I’d packed the previous night and I slept most of the ferry back to Belize City. At the water taxi terminal this taxi driver offered to take us all the way to our next destination since he needed to go there anyways. There was no buses until very late afternoon and they were more expensive than what he was offering so we decided to take the deal. So we all got into his dodgy white fan (broken aircon) and thought wtf are we doing. If you’ve ever seen we’re the Millers, this was the type of situation I was imagining. Luckily that didn’t happen, we were joined by another couple who were lovely and we’d seen before so I felt a bit more safe.
We got through the Mexican Border and to Laguna Bacalar problem-free and saved a bit of cash so no complaining there.
Anyways, Belize was over – we had the most amazing first week and a bit of travelling and now vamos a Mexicoo!
Erin In Honduras 