Dec 1
Belize City - December 1, 2017
We enjoyed our last breakfast in Guatemala. I had poached eggs with two types of sauce (mild habanero red & green) which was delicious with retried beans and fried plantain. We did a bit of souvenir shopping at the gift shop and Bill bought me a beautiful silver and jade bracelet. Jade was considered the most valuable stone for the ancient Mayans.
Jonathan picked us up at 9am. Melchor Demencos is the official and only borderline with Belize. It took us 90 min to get to Belize and across the border. We said goodbye to Johnathon and was handed over to a Viaventure rep from Brazil.
After a 20 min drive with our guide Edgar we arrived at the airport that took us to Belize City on the 30 min flight. The airport was between San Ignacio and Benque Viejo del Carmen. The latter is where we crossed the border from Guatemala.
The tiny Maya Flats Airport was super adorable and I loved the picnic table that was designed for 4 people to play games and cards on.
We had a short wait for the 4 other passengers and then we were off. We landed in Belize City after our 22 min flight, our shortest flight ever. Our S&L rep was not there, so Bill crossed the parking lot to the office where we had been picked up a week ago. As he crossED the parking lot, out of nowhere it started to pour.
Bill returned a few minutes later a bit soggy and still without a rep, I found our documents that had a phone numbe for the agency, so he tried to call them while I attempted to find our rep. Over by the international arrival area I found Lesel holding a sign for us. He was a bit confused and thought we were arriving by car and were planning on flying out of the city.
Once we had everything cleared up, it was smooth sailing to the Radisson. There was a lot of traffic and construction so it took some time to get to the hotel. We checked into our slightly musty room with a view of the Sea, dropped off our bags and went to get some lunch.
We ate across the street at the Smokey Mermaid which. We enjoyed some conch ceviche, Creole fish and BBQ shrimp. We also had 2 for 1 pina coladas and Belikin.
We walked over to the museum and did a self guided tour. The first floor of the museum explores the history of the local area and was focused on slavery and the culture of the people who were brought here by the British.
The second floor was about the indigenous culture of the Mayan people and had some artifacts from archeological digs. It was a good collection, but did not rival the collection that we saw at Las Laguanas.
We inquired about the jade head that was found at Alta Un. They only had a replica on display and found out that they rarely show the actual piece because it is valued at $8M. They simply can’t afford the security required to have it on display. So, it is kept in a safe and only the city treasurer is allowed to make the arrangements to have it displayed to the public.
It only takes an hour to visit the museum and we were there until close, 4:30. I was almost locked in for the night while looking at the items in the gift shop. Apparently I would have been joined by the ghost of the only woman to be executed here. I heard 2 versions of the story, but this is the one I like the best:
She and her police officer husband who was jealous and abusive were having a fight. At some point during the altercation she threw a lamp at him which broke and doused him with lamp oil. He stepped outside and lit a cigarette, and of course caught himself on fire. Since he was a police officer, his bereaved colleagues threw the book at her even though it was clearly a case of self defence. The saddest part was that she was pregnant with her 8th son when this happened. Ultimately she was hanged for the alleged crime and now apparently haunts the museum, which was formerly a prison.
We went for a short walk and tried to explore one of the churches, but it was closed. We headed back to our hotel and sat at the poolside bar and had a couple more 2 for 1 drink specials.
It was dark out and Bill was getting sleepy at 7:30, but we powered through and went out for dinner. We were warned that it was not safe to walk at night, so we hired a cab to take us down the street to Celebrity.
It was highly recommended, but definitely not gourmet. I think the reason for the high ratings is the portion sizes and the numbers of menus that you can order from. We had a 6 page drink menu, 6 page dinner menu and two other menus with specials. It appeared to me that most of the food was American, but there seems to be a lot of Middle Eastern dishes with hummus. So, I selected chicken kabobs with hummus and sheppard’s salad. Bill ordered grilled shrimp along with a small conch and shrimp ceviche to start for us to share.
I knew we were in trouble when the small started was served to us on a platter. It was insane! We ate a huge portion, but it looked like we had barely dented it. Then our main dishes showed up. I think my chicken kebab, which was so delicious and tender, was made with 2 or three chicken breasts. We could not finish our meals and left a ton of food behind.
We had an early evening so we could complete our tour of Belize City in the morning before Lesel picks us up for our flight to Chicago.