Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Heading East on the Hummingbird Highway...
We headed back to coast for our last few days in Belize, crossing the entire country from west to east on one of the most incredible bus journeys through the jungle-coated Mayan mountains. Our first stop was a Garifuna town called Dangriga, the largest town in the Toledo district of South Belize. We got off the bus to boiling heat, and cheked into the hostel as fast as poss to try and finally catch some sun!
Unfortunately, as usual, it wasn´t meant to be. Dangriga´s beaches were not the white sand of the cayes but seaweedy, gritty and covered in litter. We had heard of a nice resort we could use further down the coast. It was a good hour in the boiling heat to get there and immediately the clouds rolled in. I would like to say we couldnt believe it, but we could believe it as it is a very reliable weather pattern following us around relentlessly.
That night was perked up a bit when the lady who owns the hostel called Val asked us if we fancied a dance that night - obviously we did - so she asked some Garifuna drummers and dancers to come and play for us on her roof under the moon. The dancing was quite something, a sort of shuffle with mermaid arms... we did our best. I even managed to improvise a bit and throw in a few twirls. The highlight was definitly the hippie couple having a dance with us (they had a sone called Sage) whose dancing I can only describe as special, and caused Val to worry they might take off and fly away.
Having exhausted Dangriga we spectacularly missed the morning bus out of there and spent a couple of hours in a shack cafe sampling Fry Jacks and making our own coffee before jumping on a bus for Independence, a small town further down the coast that is the crossing point for Placencia, which is basically a caye out on a long peninsula. It was BOILING, and miraculously, not a cloud in the sky, even when our boat pulled into the docks and we checked in to a hotel on the seafront next door to the bar. We spent the day sunbathing, swimming, drinking Belikin on the sand, and then crashing after getting hugely carried away with our first dose of proper sunshine!
The next morning we caught the first boat out, even though it was another gorgeous day, because another day in the sun was definitely not a reccommendable idea. Owain in particular was struggling with the idea of moving and sporting some of the most spectacular contrasts of red and white I have ever seen. We carried on South to Punta Gorda, Belize´s southern port town, and in a whirlwind of indecision / persuasion from locals ended up quite unexpectedly on a boat to Guatemala still mostly wondering what had just happened. At least Belize left us in startling sunshine!
- comments