Part Five - Belize Bound!

From our quick visit to the ruins at Tulum on March 8th we headed south once more on Highway 307 towards Belize.  The road was in excellent condition and all we could see for miles on either side of the road were trees.  Despite the unchanging scenery we did enjoy attempting to translate the many signs along the road.  In every village we passed we had to slow down for the "sleeping policemen" marked with large signs reading "TOPE".  The literal translation of these large speed bumps was "Run into."  Funny and rather appropriate if one happened to sneak up on us.  It also became apparent that the Mexican government really encourages the use of seat belts...."USA TU CINTURON DE SEGURIDAD - SALVADADE TU VIDA." (Use your safety belt, save your life.) 

After a few hours with Dave behind the wheel and Roger and Brian helping to navigate we neared the Mexico-Belize border...before 4:00 P.M. and hopefully with enough time to get the much-needed insurance for the van so we could legally travel throughout Belize.  It took little time to get through the border at Mexico.  We paid our departure fee, had our passports stamped and got back in the van to cross the bridge over the Rio Hondo and into Belize.  We soon realized that our luck may have turned.  The little green building just past the bridge, the one that our friend George had instructed us to go to and purchase our insurance, was closed! 

But, don't worry, dear reader, as we had been told, the people of Belize are kind and helpful people.  A young man noticed our perplexed faces, came over, and told us that the insurance office was closed because it was a holiday. 

In our pre-trip reading we had read about Baron Bliss Day which celebrates Henry Edward Ernest Victor Bliss, commonly known as Baron Bliss (16 February 1869 – 9 March 1926), Bliss was a British-born traveller who willed some two million U.S. dollars to a trust fund for the benefit of the citizens of what was then the colony of British Honduras, now Belize.  According to the guide books Baron Bliss Day is March 9th and for some reason it never occured to us that like the U.S. the Belizean government may observe holidays on the nearest Monday to the actual date.  Thus, our dilemma.

The young Belizean man let us know that there was another insurance office just a few minutes up the road just past the Belize border offices.  So off we went again and the Belizean kid had a few coins in his pocket for a cold drink.

It took longer than we had hoped to get through the border at Belize as we found ourselves waiting with hoards of Belizeans out for holiday shopping in Chetumal, Mexico.  Eventually all of us except Dave had made it past the required immigration and customs hurdles and were outside waiting for Dave and the van to make it through too.  At least it was a perfect opportunity to go back inside and use the restroom before our last hour of driving into the Orange Walk District of Belize.  In fact, when Brian went in one of the customs officials asked him where he was going in Belize.  Brian told him, "Yo Creek."  The official apparently gave Brian a funny smile probably thinking that this gringo had no clue what he was talking about.

When we were standing outside, still waiting for Dave and the van, we saw that the ICB (Insurance Corporation of Belize) was literally less than one-hundred yards from the parking area.  Roger and Brian decided to walk ahead to make sure the office knew a vehicle was coming for insurance so they would not close before 5:00.

Looking back at the border from the insurance office.



Notice the Belizean flag at half staff...one of the most successful businessmen in Belize, Sir Barry Bowen, was killed in a plane crash on February 26th. Sir Barry headed the Bowen group of companies that includes the Belize Coca Cola franchise, the Belikin Brewery (the only brewery in Belize) the Ford Automobile Distributorship, the Chan Chic Tourism Lodge and Belize Aquaculture Ltd. one of the largest shrimp farms in Belize.

Just after 5:00 we were all back in the van with everything we needed to continue on into Belize.  In just under an hour we were in Orange Walk Town and headed west on the very dusty and bumpy San Antonio Road toward Yo Creek Village....previous home of George and Irma Lebard, our friends from Tahoe.

We arrived in Yo Creek and immediately met two of Irma's sisters, Laura and Rosie, who showed us the way to the house.  When we entered through the beautiful tiled courtyard we were greeted by amazing smells and one of the nicest Belizean women, Lorena, Irma's cousin.

Lorena had been at the house waiting for us with a wonderful dinner ready to go. We feasted on chicken stewed in a traditional Belizean spice blend called red recado. Along with the chicken we had coconut rice and beans, coleslaw and our very first Belikin beer.

Our first dinner in Belize...ready for a Belikin toast!

After dinner I called my parents' home to check in with them and the boys only to have my mom say that Ben and Sam were both happy, neither had cried or been sad, and neither had asked about us at all.  What a relief and the perfect way to end the day!