Exploring Belize with the Amazing Ms Allison

This past week I enjoyed a great visit with my grad school pal Allison. Her vacation started out with a few bumps but turned out amazing. The morning she was arriving just as I was walking out my door, I received a call that all Peace Corps Volunteers were on standfast meaning we couldn't leave out sites because of a bus strike. I never quite understood what happened but there was some disagreements between the government and one of the major bus companies. I think the government had made some promises and then changed their minds. All the bus companies agreed to strike in solidarity so there was no transport. The government was able to work something out and buses were running by noon but PC wouldn't let us travel the rest of the day. I fortunately reached Allison just before her plane left so she wouldn't be worried that I wasn't waiting for her at the airport.

She was able to take a short flight to San Pedro, the largest tourist town in Belize located on a northern island. I took a 5 am bus the next day and was able to meet up with her and enjoy most of the day on the beach. San Pedro was beautiful and we stayed in this amazing resort north of town. We had our own little cabana right on the beach. It seemed very romantic and felt like a honeymoon destination so we decided the week was our honeymoon together. Of course it made us both miss our boyfriends but we definitely enjoyed our girls time too! We enjoyed some great food and drinks there including these amazing basil lime vodka drinks.

We took the water taxi from San Pedro back to Belize City and bus to San Igancio in the west. I had visited this town with my dad and think its great. It has a very different feel than the coast so was glad she could see another side of the country. We did a tour here that included an activity for each of us. She really wanted to go ziplining so we did that. I had gone before in Costa Rica and it was similar but still a blast. I'm scared of heights so it always takes a little personal pep talk to get me to jump off a high ledge but its exciting to fly through the jungle. After a traditional Belizean lunch of rice and beans, stew chicken, coleslaw and plantain, we moved on to the next adventure - cave tubing. I think I read that Belize has one of the highest concentration of caves in the world and many were used by the ancient Mayans as sacred places for ceremonies and burials. We walked a ways through the jungle to reach the beginning of our route where we got into our tubes and paddled to the entrance of our first cave. We continued down the river through a total of three caves. Most of the time the water was deep and river slow-moving so we had to paddle along. The last cave was very shallow though and in several places we had to really raise our butts and the water moved us along swiftly. It hadn't rained in weeks which is why the river was so low but we only had to get up and walk in one area. I can't imagine what it would be like when the river is swollen. Inside the caves it was pitch black in some areas but most of the time you could see a little light from the entrance or exit. We had headlamps to look at the stalactites (are those the ones coming down from the ceiling?) and see where we were going. Allison didn't enjoy this as much but I loved it!

The last part of the trip was spent at home in Dangriga. I think she enjoyed seeing where I am living and what my life is like here. We enjoyed the market and the beach here and I even took her to work and she got to experience more of what Belize is like with lots of informal planning and nothing starting on time! All in all, I think it was a fabulous week with a fabulous friend!

Allison was so amazing treating me the whole week since she understands how little we make on a Peace Corps stipend. Its hard to enjoy all that Belize has to offer sometimes because all of the tourist activities charge American prices but I only get enough money to live at a normal Belizean standard of living. Thanks Allison for really spoiling me and coming to enjoy Belize with me!