Belize (Belize)

Yesterday morning we headed out from Tulum. We ended up having a great time there, and meeting some really fun people. We were lucky that we had enough to time to wait out the rain and see everything the area had to offer. We packed up the car and started the drive down to Belize. We ended up making it all the way to the border before remembering that we forgot to return our unnecessary brake pads back to Autozone, so we had to hook a U-turn and explain to the officers who wanted to search our car that we would be right back...we promised (insert genuine-nonthreatening smile).
  After we finished with Autozone, we headed back to the border and into Belize. The border was relatively hassle-free. We did have to all get out, and they seemed to ask us questions in a very accusatory fashion as they searched our belongings, but again a smile and relaxed behavior works almost every time. We stopped to grab some car insurance, and proceeded into the country. Belize is a pretty poor country, and the roads spoke to that. The conditions we pretty crappy; not completely wretched and dangerous, but just not as well kept as those in Mexico. Using my trusty Lonely Planet forum, I had found a place for us to store our car while we hopped over to Caye Caulker for the weekend. After a lot of searching and asking many strangers, we finally found the house of the man that owned the storage facility, Edgar. Business is conducted very differently with this man. First off, he is an amazing bargain, and after talking to him, we realized he was fully aware of that fact, but wanted to provide a service people needed. After hollaring outside of his house for a bit, a man finally came to the door of the second story and told us to come in. Jared and I went into Edgar's actual home, while Nicole and Clint waited in the car. There was Edgar: pretty massive, shirt-less and hard of hearing. So he yelled as he explained that he would happily store our car for super cheap and even drive us into the city to the ferry and pick us up when we came back. Things don't always turn out how you think though, sometimes for the better! After driving the car into the private storage facility, we headed into Belize City to catch the ferry, and Edgar discovered that the last ferry had actually already departed. He recommended we not stay in Belize City, so he dropped us off at a cheap hotel back by the storage facility and waited for us as we dropped off our bags. He then took us to a yummy restaurant called Manatee Lookout, where apparently you can sometimes see some manatees...and dead bodies...not kidding. Luckily, no dead bodies, just yummy food, good local beer, and a great view of the Belize River. While there we met a nice Canadian/British couple who had moved down 2 decades ago and had taken up leisure and competitive canoeing along the river. They invited Nicole and I to join their team's morning workout! After dinner, we made the short walk back to the hotel, and called it a night for our early morning!
Today, Nicole and I woke up at 4:45 to get ready to meet our canoeing "instructors" at 5:15 at the docks. Soon after, Jared informed us that Belize is an hour behind, and we had in fact woken up at 3:45. Ug. Round 2 an hour later, and we met up with some of the people on the canoe team, endearingly named Grumpy "Old" Men, with the "old" circled and crossed out.  We took about an hour long, vigorous canoe ride up and down the Belize River and got to see howler monkeys, and pick mangoes right off the trees! We were pretty pooped and super sweaty after our 4.5 mile ride, but it was really fun and gorgeous!!!


   Jared had actually been invited as well, but ended up opting for sleep at the last minute. After our ride, we headed back to the hotel for a little nap and then free breakfast right in time for Edgar to arrive. We packed up his car and headed out for the morning ferry to Caye Caulker. An easy boat ride and we arrived. We walked around a bit, looking for the best deal and settled on a nice hotel. The island was swealtering, and our un-air-conditioned room did not make it any better, so we stripped down to bare essentials, and headed out. We went looking for a company that would take Jared on a dive to the Great Blue Hole. After a bit of shopping around, he signed up for a dive and then we all signed up for a snorkeling trip on Sunday.
  After the essentials were completed we got to leisure time. Shockingly, there is not really a sprawling beach area here, but there are lot of docks so everyone seems to congregate around one and get to basking. At some point the boys headed out and Nicole and I continued to relax and listen to music until hunger set in.
We headed back to the hotel, meeting up with Jared along the way, and catching a bit of a local soccer game, before making it back and picking up Clint. We grabbed a super yummy dinner of baracuda steak, curry shrimp and jerk chicken! Then we came back to the hostel and took a dip in the pool, playing a pretty epic game of Sharks and Minnows. All laying around now, playing on our Internet devices before bed.