Remember how I told you that quite often I get these glimpses of my past trip? I will be doing something and I’ll get this flash in my mind of a certain moment during my trip. The picture will be very clear, very unexpected and not related to what I’m doing at that moment. I may not remember the name of the place or the names of the people I’m with. But it is always a welcome image.
Sometimes reality brings back memories, too. Last weekend I was walking down the street in the neighborhood that I had not been in for at least a couple of years. It’s different from the city center where I live. As soon as I saw the simple wooden houses with big gardens, avocado and mango trees and chickens running around, I thought of Belize. In particular the Crooked Tree village (I love the name!), that was my home for a couple of days.
Crooked Tree is all about wildlife and bird paradise. To me it was all about beauty and peace.
Villages of Belize is what I saw and fell in love with.
It was amazing to be on my own and plan my days however I wanted. I booked my stay in a hostel in Dangriga (couchsurfing did not always work). When I arrived, I realized I was the only one staying there and so I had 8 beds all to myself. Yay!
I visited the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. They say you have a good chance of spotting jaguars there.
I didn’t get to see any, but I thoroughly enjoyed a very very long walk to the reserve all on my own. I didn’t mind, although a few locals I met on the way gave me funny looks, not quite believing I was making the distance on foot. While at the sanctuary, I was reminded that having a travel buddy was very useful at times. I started climbing one of the peaks, and it was not too hard nor too high, but I was so extremely hot (and already tired from walking all the way to the reserve) that I didn’t reach the top. The view was supposed to be amazing and I really wanted to see it, but I didn’t have anybody next to me not letting me give up: ‘You can do this, Vilma!’, ‘Just a bit more!’
The view I did get to see was nothing short of amazing and after that I jumped into the nearest waterfall to cool off.
It was while in Dangriga, in that empty hostel with 8 beds, that I contacted my future host in Punta Gorda. I did want to go there, I did want to leave Belize through its Southern border. In my mind that was the fastest way through Guatemala (which I had visited previously) to El Salvador, my next destination. That host was the only one living right in town, and even though his references didn’t shine, I sent him a request to host me for 4 nights. And he accepted it.
I remember how good I felt about seeing his message: ‘Yeah, you could chill with me, just keep me posted when you are in town’. And he gave me his phone number. Then I had to tell him that I had no phone myself, but would specify my arrival day through couchsurfing. ‘Have a bless day, Vilma’. And that did it. He seemed nice, very nice. He obviously could not spell, but, let’s be honest here, not many of us can, not all the time, not without the help of Google!
Before I reached PG, I spent a couple of days in Placencia. I had the best time there. My Canadian host treated me with extreme kindness and we spent a lot of time together. The beaches in the village are picture perfect and it was great to rest in a comfortable house and have my own room. When I told my host about planning to visit PG, he told me it was a dump. ‘Pardon me?’ He told me it was not a joke, there was a community in Toledo district near Punta Gorda called Dump. What an unlucky name! Disregarding his comment, however, I continued with my plan. I spent a couple of extra nights in Placencia and finally took a bus to the very South of Belize.
