SARTENEJA
We are headed to Sateneja up on the NE coast of Belize. There is a backpackers Hostel there where we can camp, it is on the Caribbean Sea and is supposed to be beautiful. We found the buses a short walk from where the ferry dropped us off. We checked the time of departure then Colleen ran off to the grocery store to re-supply.
The way the buses work is you board them, they fill up and as the bus makes its way to its destination a ticket taker/conducter makes his way down the aisle and collects the fare.
This trip was just over 3 hours and cost us BZ$27 which is US$13.50 for the four of us. We passed mile after mile of flat savannah, i am surprised how flat the country is, i was expecting more sharp steep mountains like Tortola but there is not a mountain to be seen. The flora is like Hawai’i as we are at 17 degrees N latitude. Lots of sugar cane. At Orange Walk Town we took on lots of people and sqeezed 4 into a seat. Jakobi and I shared our seat with a mayan grandmother with a big box of lard on her lap. The people are all so friendly and such a beautiful mix of Mayan, Spanish and African faces. The ride from OWT was long, dusty and bumpy and we were glad to finally arrive and the bus let us off right in front of Backpacker’s Paradise where we are staying!
We were greted by Natalie, the owner and set up our camp in the shade at the back of the property right up against the forest.
There is a communal screened in structure with hammocks, lights, wi-fi and a kitchen. It is so QUIET here after Caye Caulker.
A fellow traveller informed us that the last chance to buy fresh fish before everything shuts up for the holidays is right now so we walked into town to find the local fisherman.
Christmas in Belize!
The town is sleepy and peaceful right on the gulf with little beaches and long piers leading out into the water.
We found the fisherman and followed him back to his house where we picked out a 3# US$5 barracuda which he gutted and fillet for us.
Our friend LUCY who found us every day in Sarteneja and followed us everywhere,
We walked back to our camp as the sunset and Colleen cooked us a glorious fish dinner.
We spent lazy days in Sarteneja. I asked Natalie about the Mayan ruins nearby and how to find them and she told me I would never find them without a guide, a guide that would cost us $US20 per person. I had the feeling she was getting a cut of this fee so declined her offer and after breakfast we headed out to see just how hard it would be to find. We walked through the village to the road we figured from the map that the ruins were on and it lead us out of town though the forest. We came across an Irish-American who lived on the road and he told us to look for a big mango tree so we continued down the road and came across two locals one of which had just killed a snake and wanted to show it to us. I enquired about the ruins and he said he could take us there and headed out into the brush. Colleen figured we had just hired him but i was not so sure, i think he was just being friendly.
He led us through the jungle to a small overgrown ruin and said there were bigger ones just up the road. Colleen was still worried we were going to have to pay him and the girls were being eaten by bugs so we declined and headed back to town, We came across Patrick, the Irish-American, again and when we told him we did not see the ruins he said I will take you there myself. Which he did and there it was, a big brush covered tree topped mound, You could tell it was something ancient because the land is flat all around. Beyond it was a flat courtyard with big mounds at the 4 corners. Pat told us this was the ball-court. The bugs were really bad and the girls quickly left which left me no time to linger (thus I forgot to take photos) and get a sense of the place but still I could feel it, it was awe inspiring so much so that i forgot to take pictures because I was caught up in the thoughts of a vast civilization that had once been here upon the land where no we have all these concrete block shacks selling chips and cell phone towers there was once an elaborate culture that spanned this whole region for hundreds of miles, a culture that has nothing in common with the one here where even the poorest people are staring into smart phones all day. The Mayan world view is now gone buried here in the jungle but the stars overhead which inspired that world view are still overhead every night and staring at them I can almost feel the awe and wonder upon which the Maya looked upon the world and built such majestic temples and cities to reflect it.
We ate lunch on the waterfront and Jakobi tried to go in the water but 1 foot off the beach sunk up to her knees in the mangrove mud. Swimming must be done off the piers here and so we ventured out on the one un the background of this picture and splashed around.
Due to the Christmas Holiday there would be no buses out of Sarteneja on Christmas day and not wanting to be stuck here and not looking forward to that dusty bumpy bus ride Colleen hatched a plan to catch the Thunderbolt ferry to Corozal on Christmas Eve in hopes that the buses there would run on Christmas day and get us to San Ignacio where we were to meet up with my sister Patti. So we packed up and left Backpacker Paradise and headed into town to catch the Christmas Eve 6 on 6 football (soccer) tournament and the 4pm Ferry to Corozal. I spent time at the game watching the action and sewing my backpack.
Then we headed down to the pier and hung out awaiting the ferry, Colleen took a nap, Jakobi and I splashed around in the water, Ambiana began her 2nd book of the trip; “A Wrinkle In Time”. Sarteneja is beautiful, a palm lined waterfront that in the US would be worth millions but here is litter strewn and fronted by concrete shacks in various states of disrepair and construction. We wiled away the afternoon watching a brush fire in the distance and the sun sink lower. The locals came out on their bikes to hang out and swim. Everyone here has a smart-phone and it on it all the time. At 4pm people began arriving for the ferry and it showed up on time and very crowded but they somehow managed to fit everyone on-board.
COROZAL
It was a quick 30 miute trip into the sunset to Corozal where we disembarked and walked the short way to the Carribean Village RV Park
Camping and RV’s was crossed out on the sign but they still let us camp and we had the entire 100 space lot to ourselves and our own really nice bathroom with a shower. We ended up cooking in the bathroom because it was so windy.
Colleen went into town to find gas for the stove and to buy some food, she loves these missions to get supplies as it is alone time for her and an adventure while I am content to stay back and set up camp. Colleen returned with the gas and some Belekin Stout, the national beer of Belize for a Christmas Eve Treat, it tasted like Budweiser mixed with a weak stout, not very good but it is always good to try out the local stuff.
Jakobi in what has become her Christmas Tradition hung up her sock on a bush and we went to sleep with a street light shining down upon us and the nearby road and fireworks lulling us to sleep. We woke to a morning shower which quickly passed and then we were up in hopes of catching a bus. As I broke down camp Jakobi opened her sock; she got a lime, some chocolate balls and a page from Ambiana
s puzzle book to do on the bus.
We walked to the bus station and found there was an 8:30am bus to Belize City and had 45 minutes to wait so we ate some breakfast.
We rode south to Belize City through flat savannah like country. I spied a pyramid shaped hill and knew it was a ruin and had the overwhelming sense that we are traveling through a wasteland with the remnants of an awesome civilization hidden everywhere. We arrived in Belize City at 11:30am and immediately got on a bus to San Ignacio. The conductor on this bus was a woman and she was an awesome conductor. She found seats for all of us on a crowded bus. I had to stand in the back with the luggage for awhile but that was okay as I like to keep an eye on it. People embark and disembark from the back door of the bus. We passed through the capital of Belomopan. As we traveled further west the country became hilly and more jungley
