10/10/11 day 9, Placencia to San Igancio Belize, 189 miles

Hotel pool and ocean (by Kris)

We enjoyed a late breakfast at the Inn. The receptionist, Jovita, made us a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, bananas and fresh pineapple. We also had juice and coffee. It was delicious, but we were a bit surprised at the $25US price tag (note to self, when someone says they'll make you breakfast, don't assume it's included with your room fee). During breakfast the sky dumped rain for about 20 minutes and then the sun came out and it was clear with a gentle breeze.

AJ loving the pool!

JJ in the pool

After breakfast Kris met with the inn owner, a Dr. Roger, who is from Southern CA. We wanted to see if we could rent one of their bungalows for a month. Our budget is something between $500-900 US, and he said the cheapest he'd ever rented one of the bungalows was $5,000 for a month! Eek! The boys and I swam in the pool and then the ocean. The water was calm and clear.

AJ in the ocean!

J finds a coconut

Ocean fun!

At first Jonathan wanted nothing to do with the ocean at all after his jelly fish encounter, but after a while he went right back in, he was carefully watching the water though. Our inn let us take out a canoe! This was one of those things that sounds more fun than it actually is. The boys were super excited until they found out that they had to sit still in the middle of the boat and that, no, they couldn't paddle either. Plus (I'm sure you frequent adventurer types know this) paddling a canoe is hard work! It was hot in the sun and we only made it a little ways down the coast and things there looked exactly like our coastline at the hotel. So we made a quick about-face and went back to the hotel. We all eagerly jumped into the ocean to cool off.

Ready to paddle!

We found crabs!

Kris went to check out one house we'd heard of and another house that Jovita had found out about for us. The boys and I stayed at the hotel and had time of rest. Kris came back an hour later and said that both properties were a no-go. They were in our price range but in a ghetto part of the city, with lots of people milling around. A large percentage of Belizeans are unemployed and so they hang around or wander around the towns. With the prospects in Placencia ruled out we decided to head toward San Ignacio, in the Cayo district. We got some gas in Placencia.. I say some gas, because gas in Belize is very expensive, like around $5/gallon! We got 20 gallons of gas and paid $114!

Ocean view from my hammock

Kris chillaxin'

Crossing a wooden bridge

Nearing sunset

Belize also has very few highways.. I think there are only 3 or 4- Northern, Western, Eastern and Coastal. So we headed back the way we'd come the day before through the jungle but this time we headed more West.

J on the climbing wall

AJ Swinging

We got into San Ignacio around 7pm and stopped for dinner at an outdoor restaurant called Hode's. Dinner wasn't too great and it was a bit pricey too. But the atmosphere was fun and they had a playground for the kiddos, and it even had lights above it so they could play safely in the dark. This playground had teeter-totters- a first for Aaron and something J has only done a couple of times. What fun they had! These restaurants are really onto something, playgrounds outside right next to the dining area! It's so much better than the germ-filled indoor ones at fast food restaurants back in the States!

After dinner the search was on for a hotel. We stopped at The Midas Resort and found out that they have rooms with a/c and internet for $89US, that seemed really pricy to us so we pressed on. It was totally dark by now and there were a lot of people on the roads (it was finally cool enough to be out and about). There was certainly lots going on in San Ignacio- there was a big game of football (soccer here) and basketball in a huge field, lots of grocery stores and little shops too. We found the San Ignacio Hotel and found out it was $150US per night! The receptionist referred us to an affordable place she'd stayed at before called J &R Guest House. She gave us a map and directions. This place was located in what we would learn to be the heart of downtown. During the night time it was pretty quiet and deserted but by morning it was bustling with activity. After a few extra loops around (making memories my mom likes to call it) and asking a couple people for directions our super loud Suburban with its dual-flowmaster exhausts turned down this super quiet street at 8:30pm. We stopped in front of a small house and couldn't find the front door! Kris tried one door and no one answered. I saw lights on upstairs and an elderly face peering out at us. A man came out, his name was John and his wife Rosa and  yes they did have a room we could stay in. Kris checked it out and paid them $10US (what a deal!) for the night. We moved a sleeping Aaron into one of the beds.  Then I took some time to take a look around. The "room" was little more than a partially renovated basement. It had a front room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. No a/c and no internet. Thankfully each bedroom had a standing fan to circulate the stuffy air. It was far less than ideal but we resolved to make the best of it. There wasn't any room to set up J's air mattress so he shared a bed with Kris and I shared a bed with Aaron. Sleep was did not come quickly nor soundly, but it came nonetheless.