**Note: This entry was copied from Laura's blog (I couldn't have put it better!)**
Just when I think I have mastered the art of traveling I remember that its not possible to actually perfect. The only thing I know thing I know for certain is how uncertain it is! After retarde trains in Paris, and a flat tire in Croatia, for some reason I was under the impression that our travel karma was on the upswing - I mean, it has to be right? Not so much. On Saturday, Vandria and I got up bright and early in Honduras to catch a flight to Belize. Even though the actual distance was only about 160 miles, for some reason TACA airlines chooses to add 2 layovers in San Pedro Sula, Honduras and San Salvador, El Salvador before reaching our final destination of Belize City - 6 hours later. Which isn't all that big of a deal, but still rather out of the way, no? All was going great with the first 2 legs and we were scheduled to arrive in Belize in time to catch our pre-arranged shuttle to San Ignacio (inland Belize...aka the rainforest). We even got so far as to board the plane when they announced that because of mechanical issues we were going to be delayed 2 hours. At this point we knew it would pretty much take a miracle to get us to Belize City on time to catch our shuttle. (I guess I should take this opportunity to explain that the reason we needed to get inland that night, was because we made a last-minute decision to do a cave tour in the rainforest - near the Guatemala border - scheduled on the following day).
Just as we thought, we arrived in Belize City about 3 hours behind schedule and there was no shuttle in sight. We learned later that the airport doesn't even stay OPEN that late, and our arriving flight (at 6:30pm, mind you) was the last one of the night....so strange. Our only option at the airport was to take a taxi the 1 1/2 hours to San Ignacio for $140 USD!! WAY out of our budget. Instead, we thought we'd "outsmart" the taxi driver and have him drop us off at the bus station in Belize City and we would just catch the last bus of the night to San Ignacio. When we arrived at the bus station, however, it was dark, the bus was PACKED, semi-sketchy looking, and I wasn't too thrilled about scrunching into a hot, ancient school bus, only to stand with my 20 kilo backpack for 3 hours. I had Vandria wait by the bus as a last resort while I went out onto the street to try to find a taxi driver willing to negotiate with me. Luckily, I found a nice man named Oscar who, after some serious bargaining, offered to take us there for $90 USD. It was still way more than we had planned to pay, but looking back...it was definitely the right choice.
When we got to Oscar's taxi personal minivan, we were surprised to find his wife, Antonia, in the front seat along for the ride! Oscar and his wife didn't seem to catch that we were exhausted from about 12 hours of travel, and talked our ear off about Belize, his wife and kids, the hurricanes, etc. One of his first sentences once we started the drive was: "you listen to me now, and I tell you tings they dont have in no geedbook." (The official language of Belize is English, but one of the more common languages spoken is Kriol...which, if you aren't familiar, sounds a lot like a Jamaican-ish accent, and is basically speaking in half words). Here are sample phrases from our guidebook:
How are you? : Da how yu di du?
How much does this cost? : Humoch dis kaas?
I don't understand: Mee noh andastan.
So aaaaaanyway, that explains my butchered quote from Oscar...but I digress. After a history lesson (or twelve) from Oscar, we finally arrived in San Ignacio, but not before he left us with the cheesiest, most amazing quote: "make sure when you get home you tell everyone there that they have to Belize it to believe it!" Classic Oscar...
Did you think we were at the end of this travel story??...haha oh no! We had heard from several sources that there was no need to book accommodation in advance and there were plenty of places to choose from when you arrive. Well this is, in fact, true - UNLESS you happen to arrive on the one weekend per year of the "fair." We never really got an explanation of what the fair is, and we certainly saw no signs of a fair in town, but it still made every. single. place. completely booked up. We walked (with our packs, mind you) to about 10 different hotels, hostels, etc. before we decided to go to the Mayawalk office (from whom we were taking the tour) to see if they knew any secret places. The woman at the front desk was SO kind and called just about every hotel in the phone book to no avail. Just about the time we thought we might be sleeping on the street, we talked to a man who said that, though his hotel was at 100% capacity, he had a room that he didn't rent out that he reserves for archeologists who come to explore the caves. It was a massive room with FIVE double beds - and the reason he gave for not renting it out was that "guys usually go out drinking and bring "friends" back to the room for free because they have so many beds." After promising repeatedly that we would NOT do that, he not only let us stay in the room, but stay in it for only $5 USD per night! I mean, it was really no frills, but it saved us...and let me tell you, we sure did spread out in that room and take advantage of all the space!
So...the moral of the story...GO WITH THE FLOW and everything always works itself out in the end! It took us about 5 hours longer than expected (and a minor anxiety attack) but we made it safely and it ended up being well worth the struggle!
Just when I think I have mastered the art of traveling I remember that its not possible to actually perfect. The only thing I know thing I know for certain is how uncertain it is! After retarde trains in Paris, and a flat tire in Croatia, for some reason I was under the impression that our travel karma was on the upswing - I mean, it has to be right? Not so much. On Saturday, Vandria and I got up bright and early in Honduras to catch a flight to Belize. Even though the actual distance was only about 160 miles, for some reason TACA airlines chooses to add 2 layovers in San Pedro Sula, Honduras and San Salvador, El Salvador before reaching our final destination of Belize City - 6 hours later. Which isn't all that big of a deal, but still rather out of the way, no? All was going great with the first 2 legs and we were scheduled to arrive in Belize in time to catch our pre-arranged shuttle to San Ignacio (inland Belize...aka the rainforest). We even got so far as to board the plane when they announced that because of mechanical issues we were going to be delayed 2 hours. At this point we knew it would pretty much take a miracle to get us to Belize City on time to catch our shuttle. (I guess I should take this opportunity to explain that the reason we needed to get inland that night, was because we made a last-minute decision to do a cave tour in the rainforest - near the Guatemala border - scheduled on the following day).
Just as we thought, we arrived in Belize City about 3 hours behind schedule and there was no shuttle in sight. We learned later that the airport doesn't even stay OPEN that late, and our arriving flight (at 6:30pm, mind you) was the last one of the night....so strange. Our only option at the airport was to take a taxi the 1 1/2 hours to San Ignacio for $140 USD!! WAY out of our budget. Instead, we thought we'd "outsmart" the taxi driver and have him drop us off at the bus station in Belize City and we would just catch the last bus of the night to San Ignacio. When we arrived at the bus station, however, it was dark, the bus was PACKED, semi-sketchy looking, and I wasn't too thrilled about scrunching into a hot, ancient school bus, only to stand with my 20 kilo backpack for 3 hours. I had Vandria wait by the bus as a last resort while I went out onto the street to try to find a taxi driver willing to negotiate with me. Luckily, I found a nice man named Oscar who, after some serious bargaining, offered to take us there for $90 USD. It was still way more than we had planned to pay, but looking back...it was definitely the right choice.
When we got to Oscar's taxi personal minivan, we were surprised to find his wife, Antonia, in the front seat along for the ride! Oscar and his wife didn't seem to catch that we were exhausted from about 12 hours of travel, and talked our ear off about Belize, his wife and kids, the hurricanes, etc. One of his first sentences once we started the drive was: "you listen to me now, and I tell you tings they dont have in no geedbook." (The official language of Belize is English, but one of the more common languages spoken is Kriol...which, if you aren't familiar, sounds a lot like a Jamaican-ish accent, and is basically speaking in half words). Here are sample phrases from our guidebook:
How are you? : Da how yu di du?
How much does this cost? : Humoch dis kaas?
I don't understand: Mee noh andastan.
So aaaaaanyway, that explains my butchered quote from Oscar...but I digress. After a history lesson (or twelve) from Oscar, we finally arrived in San Ignacio, but not before he left us with the cheesiest, most amazing quote: "make sure when you get home you tell everyone there that they have to Belize it to believe it!" Classic Oscar...
Did you think we were at the end of this travel story??...haha oh no! We had heard from several sources that there was no need to book accommodation in advance and there were plenty of places to choose from when you arrive. Well this is, in fact, true - UNLESS you happen to arrive on the one weekend per year of the "fair." We never really got an explanation of what the fair is, and we certainly saw no signs of a fair in town, but it still made every. single. place. completely booked up. We walked (with our packs, mind you) to about 10 different hotels, hostels, etc. before we decided to go to the Mayawalk office (from whom we were taking the tour) to see if they knew any secret places. The woman at the front desk was SO kind and called just about every hotel in the phone book to no avail. Just about the time we thought we might be sleeping on the street, we talked to a man who said that, though his hotel was at 100% capacity, he had a room that he didn't rent out that he reserves for archeologists who come to explore the caves. It was a massive room with FIVE double beds - and the reason he gave for not renting it out was that "guys usually go out drinking and bring "friends" back to the room for free because they have so many beds." After promising repeatedly that we would NOT do that, he not only let us stay in the room, but stay in it for only $5 USD per night! I mean, it was really no frills, but it saved us...and let me tell you, we sure did spread out in that room and take advantage of all the space!
So...the moral of the story...GO WITH THE FLOW and everything always works itself out in the end! It took us about 5 hours longer than expected (and a minor anxiety attack) but we made it safely and it ended up being well worth the struggle!
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