Belize
Placencia

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    • Day 9

      Placencia - Day 1

      March 19, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Felt sad checking out of our dream cabana in hopkins and alexa was especially sad to leave all the doggies that she spent time with everyday.

      Had breakfast at a tiny mom and pop place. While sitting there, there must have been at least 20 different locals who walked in for one reason or another and every single person gave us a friendly hello. This country is over the top friendly everywhere we go, and especially Hopkins. Everyone walking by on the street says hi. While driving, everyone on the sidewalk waves. Even guys doing roadwork will stop, smile and wave.

      The drive to Placencia is only an hour and a lot of the drive is along some pretty coastline and through some pretty swank neighbourhoods. I had an apartment rented which took us a long time to find. My mapping app and booking.com had its location incorrectly mapped.

      While asking for directions, the person referred to my mom as my wife. Thats twice that has happened! I'm not sure how to feel about that lol.

      Spent the afternoon at the beach, sipping beers and jumping in and out of the ocean. The beach is very pretty but we cant help but compare everything to hopkins. Man, we are so spoiled haha.

      And its so quiet everywhere. This place is wall to wall resorts and hotels and its mostly empty at every turn.
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    • Day 11

      Placencia - Day 3

      March 21, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      I woke up and decided to try to change my air canada flight on expedia again. Success!, plus $850 to do it for all 3 of us. Now we are booked on two different flights home to cover our bases. Surely we will get on one of them hours before the border here slams shut hard for a long time.

      Felt better about things but i admit it was a nagging issue mentally. We really should have found an excursion but we just had another lazy day at the beach again. I walked the long boardwalk to its southern point and back. 80 percent of everything is shut down due to lack of tourists. Seriously, we are the last of the mohicans everywhere and its a bit unsettling now.

      All the Americans i met (and kept my distance from) had already flown home. Flights coming here wouldn't be dropping anyone off and only picking people up. Corporations and their bottom line concerned me that we might see cancelled flights. But out of my hands now and hoping for the best. Fantastic to be here in the sun and enjoying restaurants and bars but its an uneasy fantastic heh.

      And omg we have played maybe our 500th game of blokus. We are ready for world class competition. Our level of cut throat play has become saudi arabia impressive. Beware!
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    • Day 10

      Placencia - Day 2

      March 20, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      Beaches and logistics sums up most of the past couple of days.

      First we heard caye caulker was mostly shutting down because of a lack of tourists, so we cancelled our hotel there. Then started hearing different rumours about the airport and borders all closing, and different days. Yesterday read on the airport website that it was closing on the 23rd and our flight was leaving on the 25th. Uh oh.

      Couldn't get our direct flight to Toronto changed to monday because it was full but did manage to book a delta flight to toronto through atlanta. And contacted the embassies to make sure we could transit through American airports without quarantining. We can. Phew.

      Rest of the day was being lazy by the beach. Not entirely easy to enjoy with all the uncertainty ahead of us, but much better than back home in the cold and quarantining and everything being closed. And discovered the best nachos ever. Annnnnd... my first IPA craft beer of the trip! Banner day, minus all the worldwide doom and gloom, and dying and uncertainty of getting home 😉
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    • Day 31

      Placencia, Belize

      January 31, 2015 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

      Vanaf Caye Caulker gaan we met de boot en daarna met het openbaar vervoer naar Placencia. De rit was eigenlijk een toer opzich. Fantastische hard lachende mensen, allemaal lekker eten dat tussentijds verkocht wordt en natuurlijk de reggea muziek. Toen moesten we opzoek naar een hostel. In belize nemen ze het niet zo nou met tijd en werk. Dus we hadden een hostel gemailt en geen antwoord gekregen, toen hadden we een ander hostel op het oog, maar daar was niemand van de staf aanwezig, na wat rondlopen vinden we eindelijk een kamer maar... het was boven een chinees reataurant, onze kamer rook naar de keuken en het was naast een voetbalveld. Toen de voetbal afgegelopen was konden we eindelijk lekker slapen. Tot dat we wakker werder gemaakt door een kakkerlak.. Die liep maar liefst over vir zn hoofd. We hebben dus de hele nacht bij elk kriebeltje wakker gelegen. De volgende dag zijn we naar het strand gegaan en daar dus maar heerlijk in de zon gaan slapen. Dat maakte de nacht eigenlijk weer goed.Read more

    • Day 175

      Kindermägen mögen Mühe machen

      July 10, 2018 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      Es geht also ins nächste Land. Belize. Zur Abwechslung und um ein paar Stunden Reisezeit zu sparen per Fähre. Deren Abfahrt verzögert sich allerdings schon um eine Stunde. Wieso weiss kein Schwein. Sue auch nicht. Das Wetter ist nicht schlecht, Wellen auf dem offenen Meer hat es dennoch genügend. Nach etwa 15 Minuten beginnen die ersten Kinder, die mir in der engen Kabine natürlich direkt gegenüber sitzen, zu reihern. Zuerst in Tüten, später auf den Boden. Lecker. Jetzt ist mir auch schlecht. Das lasse ich mir aber natürlich nicht anmerken und ich lächle nur mitleidig. Nach zweieinhalb Stunden in Belize angekommen, ist aussteigen vorerst untersagt. Ich wüsste gerade eh nicht, auf welcher Seite des Durchgangs weniger Kindermagen herum schwimmt. Nach einer gefühlten Ewigkeit schleicht sich dann doch noch eine Immigrations-Tante aufs Boot und eröffnet ein provisorisches Büro. Die folgenden zwei Stunden darf dann jeder, der aufgerufen wird, bei der phlegmatisch wirkenden Dame antanzen und die Einreiseformalitäten erledigen. Anstatt lecker Lunch am Strand um Zwei, erreichen wir unser Ziel erst knapp vor dem Eindunkeln. Jetzt könnte ich kotzen. Tue es dann aber doch nicht. Hat leider keine Tüten mehr.

      Placencia - unser Stop-Over für zwei Nächte, auf dem Weg nach Caye Caulker - wirkt wie ein kleines Feriendorf. Viel schöner als erwartet. Beim Einkaufen offenbart sich dann allerdings das ganze Ausmass des oft kolportierten Preisniveaus. „Teuer“ beschreibt die Realität nur im Ansatz. Viele Dinge - beispielsweise die bei mir äusserst beliebten und aus Amerika stammenden Nüsse - kosten sogar deutlich mehr als in der Schweiz. Den einen Tag verbringen wir am Strand. Frankreich und Belgien machen ja um zwölf Uhr Ortszeit noch den ersten Finalisten aus. Ich hoffe auf Frankreich. Neben all den überteuerten Dingen gibt es an der Strandbar tatsächlich lokalen Rum mit Mix für läppische zweieinhalb Stutz. Geil. Müsste also Vieles schief gehen, wenn ich nach den neunzig Minuten noch nüchtern wäre. Und siehe da, nach sechsundneunzig Minuten ist es geschafft. Frankreich ist weiter und ich voll. Gratuliere.
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    • Day 108

      La Ruta Maya und Maya Center

      March 14, 2018 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      Morgens um sechs müssen wir den friedvollen Ort bei David schon wieder verlassen und das Gelände liegt in dichtem Nebel. Der frühe Aufbruch begründet sich durch die "Ruta Maya", ein viertägiges Kanu-Rennen, das jährlich zwischen San Ignacio und Belize-City stattfindet. Alle wollen sich den heutigen Start nicht entgehen lassen, zumal David in den Anfangstagen zu den Mitorganisatoren zählte, und so kommen wir zehn Minuten vor Beginn in San Ignacio an. 290 km liegen vor den wackeren Sportler*innen und beim Warmmachen ist schon ersichtlich, dass hier Profis unterwegs sind. Drei Leute im schmalen Rennboot mit Holzpaddel. Es gewinnen immer Belizianer*innen, aber jedes Jahr starten auch tapfere Menschen aus anderen Ländern (Japan, USA, UK, Kanada). Punkt sieben geht's los und die Zuschauer*innen haben natürlich am meisten Spass an den Booten, die sofort kentern. Grosses Getöse, fünf Minuten später sind alle Kanus vorbeigefahren. Nach einer herzlichen Verabschiedung starten wir zu neuen Abenteuern und fahren mit dem Bus nach Maya Center. Dieses kleine Dorf ist Ausgangspunkt für Wanderungen im Cockscomb Jaguar Reserve und wir buchen für den nächsten Morgen eine Vogelguck-Tour. Simon und sein Cousin Marcello zeigen uns alles, was flattert - vom Tucan bis zum Kolibri. Dabei beeindruckt uns besonders Marcello, der mit bloßen Augen Vögel entdeckt und dann auch noch bestimmt. Wir sehen die Tiere meistens erst nach genauer Beschreibung...Über 300 verschiedene Species leben hier, vom Winzling bis zu den vielen beeindruckenden Greifvögeln.
      Am nächsten Tag wandern wir auf eigene Faust bei grosser Hitze und freuen uns über eine Badestelle mit kleinem Wasserfall. Ganz alleine sind wir auf der ganzen Strecke!
      Wenn wir nicht unterwegs sind, geniessen wir die Stille in Auroras Garten. Die Nu'uk Che'il Cottages bieten Maya-Zeremonien, Auroras Heilkräfte und -kräuter, mayaischen Kakao und wenn wir in den Hängematten liegen, können wir Vögel und sehr große Grashüpfer beobachten. Schönes Ausspannen hier!
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    • Day 5

      Day 4/5

      January 13, 2022 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

      Day 4 started off the same with cappuccino and workout. Then walked around town and had lunch at a restaurant at the end of the sidewalk right next to Placencia Beach The Shak Healthier food and smoothies. Was good and of course very friendly attentive staff. Some “somewhat ugly” Americans there asking 1000 questions about the food.

      Went back to house and chilled on the deck for the afternoon.

      Dinner at Smoquiz on the sidewalk. Food was excellent and of course amazing service. The BBQ sauce was very good, and that is saying something because we are super picky when it comes to BBQ sauce.

      Very few tourists it seems, so all the restaurants are pretty empty.

      Checked out two hardware stores in the village. First one was more like a general store the other one MnM was more like a mini Home Depot. You could order tile, they had toilets, light fixtures faucets etc, just in small quantities.

      Day 5 (Thursday) cappuccino again and then we did 10 minute stretch and 10 minutes of core. We were super sore from last three days of workouts to do body weight again today, needed a rest day and the stretching felt so good!

      Then went to Placencia Beach club for lunch and to hang out. Met a nice lady Carla who lives here now. She was originally from East Africa. She told me about the juice delivery guy, the fruit guy etc. also sent me an email with the banking and QRP paperwork in case we decided to apply. People here are so friendly!

      Dinner was at Cha Chi’s, this time for pizza. The pizza was soooo good. We’ll have to eat there again! Started raining as we were finishing dinner so stayed for another drink to wait and it the rain. When it slowed down, we walked back. Got wet, but it’s warm, so no big deal.
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    • Day 7

      Day 7, 8 and 9 Sat, Sun, Mon

      January 15, 2022 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

      Low key days. Cappuccinos in the morning, workouts on the deck then out for lunch and dinner.

      Covid cases are going up in the area so the beach club was closed for Saturday, Sunday and Monday due to low staff available. Still feel much safer here in Belize than in the states since the masking rules are much more stringent.

      Lunches: De Tatch (on the beach), Barefoot Bar (on the beach) and Buba Wuba’s Grill and Smoke Shack. Lunch highlights were Bean dip at De Tatch, had portobello mushroom burgers at Barefoot Bar for a great tasting meatless option, and Greg had a great Cuban sandwich at Buba Wuba.

      Wendy’s Creole Restaurant and Bar Friday night special was: Cajun seafood combo - Mix of lobster, shrimp,crab in a creamy Cajun sauce with potatoes, sweet corn peppers and fresh herbs with
      S/w Coconut rice. Food was amazing! Messy to eat, but was really amazing!

      Sunday night dinner was at Rick’s Cafe. I was still full from lunch so I had a small Cobb salad. Not quite like the states, had a vinaigrette dressing instead of my usual blue cheese, but very fresh greens and ingredients.

      Monday night dinner at Cha Chi’s. Sat at the rail overlooking the street. Nice to watch what was going on below. Greg got to watch some kids playing a soccer game. Greg had the seafood linguine and I wasn’t as hungry so had a slice of pepperoni pizza. Both were very good as always.
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    • Day 20

      Days 20 & 21

      January 28, 2022 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

      Lazy days, weather wasn’t great. Rainy on Friday and chilly and cloudy on Saturday. If you were only here for a week, that would be an issue, but if you are here for a month, a rainy or chilly day every once in a while is not an issue.

      Mexican pizza lunch special at Barefoot bar on Friday. Wasn’t sure how it would be, but I’d was great. Baked on a tortilla. We would definitely have it again.

      Dinner Friday was at Rick’s Cafe. I wasn’t that hungry because of the big lunch so I had their small Cobb salad and Greg had the puttanesca pasta. They have a mural on the wall of the village which was fun to look at. Greg took a photo of it.

      We love it here and are pretty sure we want to return to spend the winter here next year. We spent some time looking at condos and houses online. On Saturday we walked down Sunset Point to look a a couple of condos down at the point. Not jumping into anything but wanted to take a look.

      It was chilly Saturday, so we had the lunch special after our walk at Tipsy Tuna. Today their special was fish tacos and $2 off coladas so we had pineapple colada with lunch. Needless to say it was a big drink and I got a little tipsy😄

      Because of the wind and the temperature was only about 73 we opened the windows which was nice.

      Dinner was at SmoQiz Saturday night. They do not post specials on Facebook, so we almost didn’t go there. We were pleasantly surprised they had a couple of delicious specials Saturday.

      We had the lobster egg rolls appetizer and then we each had their garlic stuffed shrimp with cilantro rice and vegetables. The chef there is so talented. The cilantro was not overpowering, it was perfect with the rice and the stuffed shrimp was on a sauce which was delicious. The chef stopped by the table to see what we thought and said the sauce was an asparagus cream sauce. Once we knew that you could taste the delicate note of asparagus in the sauce. Wish I had taken a photo of the food.
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    • Day 13

      Day 13 & 14 Friday snd Saturday

      January 21, 2022 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

      Friday was a pretty day. Morning cappuccino and only stretching and core workout (our off day). We spent the day at the beach club enjoying the breeze and beautiful ocean view! We had salads there for lunch, trying to stay healthy as much as possible.

      We tried the Pickled Parrot for the first time for dinner. They had a fish and chip special. While it wasn’t British style fish and chips, it was ok. I had ordered a rum punch which I’ve had at many different places while here, and it was VERY strong. I had to stir a lot to get the ice to melt some to water it down. Luckily it was served in a rock glass so not that big. Needless to say I only drank one.

      Saturday it rained quite a bit. We were on our way to get lunch at the Shak when it started to rain again so we stopped at the first restaurant which was De Tatch, and ate there instead. I got a cheeseburger which was my first red meat since we’ve been here and we had the bean dip again. Greg went healthier and had the shrimp burrito.

      Spent the afternoon on the deck and inside some due to weather.

      The bugs have been getting me again even with deep woods off. Greg of course hasn’t gotten any bites. There hasn’t been much wind the past several days so I think that is why I’ve been getting bit more.

      The beach club serves dinner on Friday and Saturday nights so we went there Saturday night. We both had the coconut crusted snapper with coconut rice. Extremely good and very healthy.

      More tourists seem to be here now. Heather at the beach club had said it usually picks up toward the end of January, so that is probably why.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Placencia, PLJ

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