As I mentioned in my previous post we attempted to start a Christmas boat parade here in Corozal and there were high aspirations for this project.  The venture started off three months before December even arrived.  The idea emerged at the tail-end of a night out drinking with friends.  Mom and I were sitting around a table with Rod and Ken at Haley’s, a local bar, when the topic of Christmas boat parades came up.  Rod had been in a few big parades in Florida and thought that it would be fun to try and rally all the boat owners in Corozal to be a part of a boat parade here.  Unlike nearby San Pedro (on Ambergris Caye), Corozal doesn’t have this tradition.  Mom and I both thought it would be a lot of fun so we said we were onboard for sure (we don’t own a boat so our involvement wasn’t much of a commitment).

The three of us planned on having a committee meeting every Wednesday until the middle of December when the event would take place.  Our intentions were good, we even assigned each committee member a position (I was the secretary), but as the weeks moved ahead our enthusiasm waned.  All hope wasn’t lost yet; we had spoken to about 12 couples who all owned boats and told us they would be involved.  It really would have been a sight for the Corozal Bay if everyone had participated.

It became clear a couple weeks before Christmas that Ken and Rod would be the only two boats appearing in the parade.  No matter, we were still determined to make this happen and had planned on it up until the weekend the whole thing was to take place.  Then the weather turned and Rod still wasn’t even back in the country with his boat yet.  So the three committee members in country (me, mom and Ken) decided, with regret, that we would be canceling the boat parade.

Then Rod got back in the country and the project had life breathed in to it again; Rod convinced us all that it could still be done and they would decorate the two boats.  Two days later, and two days before Christmas we were on the bay in boats surrounded by Christmas lights and having an absolutely awesome time.  There were two boats with seven people total and we had our Christmas music blaring as we made a slow pass back and forth the town of Corozal.  We weren’t sure anyone would see us from shore since our parade had sort of fizzled before it sparked back to life.  There had been no announcement this would be taking place, but there were plenty of people along the water that night.  So we waved and yelled, “Merry Christmas” and spun the boats in front of each crowd we passed.

In the end we provided some entertainment for the kids along the water that night and for ourselves.  It is the start of a tradition for us as long as we’re in Corozal for Christmas and we may even add another boat next year.

This Christmas was a fun one – besides the missing my family part – we had a great day.  The holiday really started for us on Christmas Eve.  My mom cooked a dinner for the girls who work for us and we had some small gifts to give them so it was our version of the staff party.  We also invited a few friends to join us for dinner.  Mom fried a whole hogfish (caught in Belize) for our appetizer and then the main dinner was baked chicken along with a few typical holiday side dishes and it all turned out fantastic.  We closed the bar early so the girls were out the door before 8pm and since we would be closed for Christmas day and Boxing Day they had the next two days off.  One of our waitresses had brought over a sampling of the rumpopo her mom had made for the holidays.  Rumpopo is a traditional eggnog type drink in Belize that is made with eggs, cream, nutmeg, cinnamon and overproof rum and is delicious.  After we ate and opened gifts we all took a few pictures by the tree (fake).

A very typical sound in Corozal during the Christmas season – especially on Christmas Eve to bring in Christmas day – are the blasts of various fireworks and firecrackers that are let off all day long.  As the night continued on, more and more blasts are heard and we all knew that we would not be falling asleep before midnight so I grabbed a book and knew exactly when midnight hit by the obvious finale happening all around town.  In Corozal that night it sounded like New Year’s Eve sounds in the states.  After midnight I did fall asleep easily and was woken up by a 7:30am phone call so I drug myself out of bed and spent the next few hours hanging out with my parents and getting ready for the party later that day.

At 11am we were in the truck headed to Ken’s house for a ride on his boat to Progresso Lagoon.  My friend Matt and I were going to ride in the boat with Ken and then my parents were going to take a truck to the same party so that they would have a way to get back home.  It was a perfect day for a boat ride – the bay was calm and the sky was mostly sunny – we zipped over there pretty quickly with just one pit stop in the Copper Bank lagoon to catch Rod on his way over too.  Rod had his own boat and he zoomed off ahead of us, long gone by the time we even hit the Progresso Lagoon.  We got to the party around noon and the food was already out.  We were among the first to arrive and my parents got there almost exactly the same time we did.  Bruce and his wife Nicole already had the place ready for guests.  They had put a pig in the ground the night before and it had cooked all night long, there was also an abundance of Indian food purchased from one of the local men in town along with the various side dishes and desserts other people brought with them.  We all grabbed a drink and a seat to start in on conversation.  Slowly, more and more people started to arrive and by the end of it all there were about 40 people there.

The boat ride was already a far cry from the typical holiday activities when I was living in Oregon but it was about to get even better.  After dinner the water toys started to come out.  Water skis, tubes, a wakeboard, boats and kayaks; I knew that I wanted to water ski so I put on my swimsuit and headed out to the boat.  Matt hadn’t been waterskiing since he was a kid so he wanted a go at it too.  So Matt and I got on Rod’s boat with Rod as captain.  It was a ton of fun on two skis but I did take a nice fall to end my first trip around the lagoon.  It sort of stunned me so I passed the skis off to Matt and he got right up and made a nice spin around the lagoon before he fell.  I got back up on the skis and we made our way back to the dock were I made a much more graceful landing.  While all this was going on there was a big group of Belizean kids who were very excited to go on a boat so they piled on Ken’s small boat and from the dock it looked like an accident waiting to happen.  Luckily all the kids were wearing life jackets and the lagoon is very shallow, but sure enough, as Ken’s boat was coming back in to dock the kids were getting nervous because the front of the boat started to take on a little water due to the amount of weight on board.  Suddenly some of the kids panicked and went to the bow of the boat; well this was the very last thing that should have happened because as all their weight shifted to the front the boat took on more and more water.  Rod saw what was happening and ran his boat over to the scene to help as Bruce did a quasi dive in to the lagoon as the kids (most of whom have never been on a boat before) were insanely screaming in terror.  In the end everyone was okay but a few of the kids were very upset – I knew one of the little girls from other trips and I grabbed her hand as she was crying hysterically by herself on her way to the house.  We found her mom and eventually she calmed down, but it was quite an experience for them.

After everything had calmed down I went back out on the boat to try my luck at getting up on one ski.  I had done it before a few years ago during an Oregon skiing trip but it had been awhile, so I fell on the first attempt and the next 10 or so attempts.  At one point I did get up but did not stay up for any amount of time, but on my last try my hip popped and my leg went numb so I figured that was enough for the day.

Most of the guests left soon after that and there were just a few of us (who were spending the night) visiting before everyone made their way to bed.  As you may have already guessed I was extremely sore from my slalom experience but the worst part was that I actually injured the right side of my neck so for the last four days I’ve been nursing that.  We also attempted Corozal’s first annual Christmas Boat parade which I will write a separate entry on.   Happy New Year everyone!

Garifuna Settlement Day fell on Thursday, November 19^th and my mom and I chose to close Scotty’s for the holiday. We did the same last year simply because we didn’t know what to expect on this holiday – we have to pay our staff double their wages if we are open on a national holiday and since it is still the slow season here it isn’t worthwhile for us to be open. In Corozal not a lot happens for this holiday – more of the celebration happens in the Southern parts of Belize especially in Dangriga. Since most of the town is shut down we decided to go out for a boat ride on a friend’s new boat. We left around 1pm and the plan was to go across the Corozal Bay in to Copper Bank lagoon and then on to Progresso lagoon to visit friends. The bay was fairly calm that day – a little choppy but as soon as we moved in to the lagoon the water became very still and the ride on the boat became a lot more fun. Our first stop was in Copper Bank lagoon and this started the barrage of mishaps that day. The boat’s reverse was not working and since I was in the front of the boat I would get the privilege to jump out of the boat and stop us from hitting a wall of rocks as we pulled in. This wouldn’t have been a bid deal if the engine had been cut much earlier but instead I got ready to jump out and as we got closer to the rocks and because of the deceptively slow speed we were moving at I put my legs out and my feet crashed right in to the rocks – they were no match for the rock wall so the boat hit as well. We had stopped but there was no finesse involved at all. We picked up the 4^th person to be on the boat and we were off again with a few more Belikin in the cooler.

Next we would maneuver through a series of channels that separate Copper Bank lagoon from Progresso Lagoon. This is where our second accident occurred; since the boat is new, our friend’s experience operating it was also a little raw. This particular boat is a jet drive and it has a very tight turning radius so it was being tested on the frequent curves through our path to the next lagoon. At one point it seemed we were headed straight in to a bunch of mangrove on the shore but I didn’t really think much of it since the turns had been so tight, but then as we got closer and closer it was evident that the boat wasn’t going to make the turn. We all ducked at the last minute as we smashed in to the mangrove and managed a slow turn out of it. Since it would have been such a close turn apparently backing off on the throttle in the middle doesn’t work on this type of boat. Again, there were no injuries but we didn’t let anyone forget it had happened with the teasing that followed. Little did we know that we would still have a much harder crash later that evening. We finally made it through the curvy waterway and in to Progresso Lagoon. I was never so happy to see a lagoon in my life – I was starting to get a little concerned that we may not make it back in one piece.

After a short visit with our friends in Progresso we hoped on to the boat again as the sun was starting to set and took off back to Corozal Bay. None of us really wanted to be in the boat at dark so we weren’t going to be able to take our time. This time our friends switched the operator of the boat thinking that someone with a little more experience would get us safely back home. The ride back was amazing – the water was just like a mirror – the sunset was being reflected perfectly on the water. We were all in awe of the scene we were lucky enough to witness as we continued on to the bay. Unfortunately we did not make it to Corozal before dark so we slowed down and took our time through the bay. Then our third and final catastrophe took place. In a testosterone driven act the boat was sped up close to the shore of Corozal despite the dangerous amount of rocks that are hidden under the shallow water. We powered along closer and closer to a jetty of rocks that was directly in front of us – the three passengers started to yell to turn the boat away from the rocks but to no avail – the operator was not listening. We crashed directly in to the rocks and as the boat’s momentum was suddenly halted our bodies were all slammed to the left of the boat. No one was seriously injured and the boat made it off the rocks and back on to its appropriate dock not far from there. We finally got back on to dry land and I decided on the spot I would not be taking a ride on that boat for quite awhile – to top the day off I fell in to the bay as I got out of the boat. Cold, wet and a bit shaken I was very happy to get home.

The next day I realized just how hard we had hit those rocks; I could hardly move the left side of my body. I was so sore where I had hit the boat. Happily the whole day is something I can look back and laugh at since there were no serious injuries and the boat seems to be in tact (although it has not been in the water yet since then). Sometimes being in the water I forget that accidents can easily occur but I got my reminder that day.

The sunset we were lucky enough to experience

First of all I would like to make a note in regard to my last entry on the domino tournament. Last Wednesday mom and I were getting a bit nervous that we hadn’t heard anything about the tournament that was supposed to happen this coming Sunday because we had been told officials would be to our place to give us details. So when David from Belikin came in on other business we asked him if he knew anything since they are sponsoring it. He said he had not heard anything either and would try to find out what was going on. About an hour later a couple guys from the domino team that won at our place came in and were looking for donations to get the team to Belize City for the final tournament. Well, you can imagine our disappointment. Obviously the whole thing had been moved and we had yet to be informed. Now we just needed the details of what had happened – another hour later Adam walked in and told us that there had been a meeting on Monday because a lot of the teams from the southern parts of the country were upset to have to travel all the way to Corozal rather than Belize City which is more of a centralized location. So the decision was made to move the location to Belize City and they had apparently forgotten to inform us. It all makes sense but it was very disappointing to lose the opportunity to host that tournament.

Now back to the fun stuff…

I got invited to go on a trip to the Lamanai (submerged crocodile) ruins with a couple friends about a week ago and since that was one trip I had not experienced here yet I was excited to go check it out. My mom had been on the trip and had a great time so I was really looking forward to it. The whole tour takes off from Orange Walk (about a 40 minute drive from Corozal) and it consists of an hour long boat ride to the ruins through the New River, then we were to dock at the ruins, eat lunch and do the hike through the temples. We were supposed to be on the boat at 9am and had lost track of time so we didn’t actually leave until 10 minutes to 9am. Luckily we were leaving from just outside Progresso village which meant that at a fast speed we could make it there in about 20 minutes. So the three of us hopped in the vehicle and we were off – fast. As we were practically flying over a very dusty and bumpy dirt road I made a call to the tour guide to tell them not to leave without us. I told a little white lie that we would be there in 10 minutes but we weren’t too worried about it since nothing in Belize seems to happen on time. By the time we arrived we were all a little shook up physically from the ride over but ready to jump out of the vehicle to get on the boat. We were correct in the assumption that the boat wouldn’t be leaving on time anyway because we waited around for another 25 minutes before we all actually got on the boat. So we sat down and drank some thirst-quenching watermelon juice while we waited. There were two other guys on our boat – both around the same age range and from Holland which meant there were five of us in total on this trip.

It was finally time to leave so we all got on the boat and Ignacio, our tour guide, started in immediately about what to expect. The boat ride would be a slow ride on the river so that we could see any wildlife that was out and about and we would all soon learn that Ignacio had the best eye to spot any animals running around on shore or in the river. The first stop was a tiny island to feed some semi-tame spider monkeys bananas. These monkeys are used to the boat stopping and fully expect to be fed bananas when we pull up. Unfortunately we only had two bananas on the boat so the girls got to feed them – I was happy about that! It was such a cool experience because as we pulled up they were bounding right down the branches of the tree they had been lounging in. The bow of the boat rustled right below the branches and the monkeys (two of them) jumped in. They knew what they wanted and went right over to us and grabbed the banana from our hands. In a flash they had those peeled and shoved them down their throat. They wanted more and thoroughly checked the rest of the boat, jumping and walking all over us and the boat but once they realized we had nothing else to give them they made their way back to the tree and we headed back out.

Along the rest of the ride we saw lizards, bats, birds and dragonflies and Ignacio fed us information the entire ride. I was disappointed that we didn’t see any crocs on our way there since I had yet to see one in Belize but I had high hopes for the ride back. About an hour and a couple applications of sunscreen later we made it to the dock out of Lamanai. We all disembarked, grabbed the cooler full of our lunch and headed to the picnic area to eat. They had provided a typical Belizean lunch of rice & beans with stew chicken and a salad and it was all delicious. We got our fill and got ready to head out to the ruins. We’ve had a couple hard rains lately and as a result of that the mosquitoes are out in force so since we were in the jungle we knew we’d have to put up a fight – the long shirts and pants went on, hats and of course the repellent. The choice is basically between lots of sweating in heavier clothing or lots of mosquito bites – the consensus was sweat. After our tour of the small museum on site we actually made our way through the ruins at a fairly fast pace. The highlight was the main temple which we were able to walk up and down – on the way up I couldn’t help but become nervous of the trek back down which seemed far scarier. We all made our way up and the view is breathtaking – we were above the canopy and had a perfect 360⁰ view.

We all caught our breath for a few minutes at the top and enjoyed the view then made our way down (at a much slower pace) but eventually got there. As the sweat was pouring from practically every part of my body I looked up again at the temple I had just climbed up to realize what an incredible experience this actually was. On the way through the rest of the site we were able to see a few other temples as well as the ball courts – with each awesome scene and the raucous sounds of the howler monkeys staking territory in the high trees above us there was also the faint sound of mosquito repellent being sprayed from varying bottles.

By the end of the hike we were all dripping with sweat and tired from the hot sun and ready to get back and take a nice siesta so we got back on the boat and were very happy to see that there was cold rum punch provided for the trip back. The boat ride back was a bit faster and I’m extremely happy to report that we saw two crocs in the river on the way back.

Overall it was an excellent experience that I would absolutely recommend. I will post Ignacio’s information soon for anyone interested in using him as a guide. He was extremely informative, professional and friendly.

My uncle Charlie (Mom’s brother) was the first person to visit us in Belize.  He arrived a couple weeks before Christmas and would be in town for about five days.  At this point we had made a few friends in town who had boats and other water toys to play with so we had a few things planned for his trip.  It would be a busy month because right after he was scheduled to leave my Dad would be flying in for a couple weeks.  That would be over the Christmas holiday so it would be nice to have him here to spend Christmas with us.  U. Charlie was flying in to Cancun and then taking the bus down to Corozal – he was going to be arriving pretty late and told us to be ready to pick him up at the border around 2am so we had a long night planned.  He told us he would call when he got close but what he didn’t count on was that his cell phone wouldn’t work in Mexico, so we were sort of flying blind when it came to his arrival time.  Finally we got an estimated time down for his arrival at the border and we drove over there to wait.  20 minutes went by, then 40 and 50 – we were starting to get worried.  Just as we were about to go looking for him I see this guy in the distance walking to the border with a suitcase in tow.  I couldn’t tell for sure but I was pretty certain it was him considering this was very obviously a tourist walking to the border at 3am – that doesn’t happen so often.  Sure enough, it was him so we waited until he got through customs and immigration and ran over to him when he got through the building.  We all exchanged big hugs and then heard why it had taken him an hour longer than he had told us. 

The way the border is set up between Mexico and Belize you go through the Mexican border first and then there is an entire little commerce area after that border and before the actual Belize border called the Free Zone.  If you don’t realize what is going on it can be a bit confusing.  Well, U. Charlie thought he was through with the borders since he was told that he was in Belize (technically you are in Belize once past the Mexican border and over the river but there still is an official border to go through on the Belize side).  So he camped out at one of the casinos before the actual border and was waiting for us.  Finally someone saw him sitting there with his big suitcase at 2:30am and asked what he was doing.  He told the guy that he was waiting for a ride from his sister – he was promptly informed that he had not quite reached the Belize border yet.  So he got up and lugged his bag along the road until he finally saw the border which is where we finally found him.  We were so glad to see him because we were starting to think the worst.  We got back to the house and stayed up for another hour or so just chatting and gave U. Charlie his first Belikin beer. 

For the next few days we really tried to show off Belize.  It seemed to work because he loved it here.  The major trip was a boat outing with our friend Ken and another guy we had befriended from Canada named Rod.  They both have small boats that we decided to take from one lagoon to the Progresso lagoon.  Then we were going to stop by another new friend’s house.  Just a nice day trip and it was the first time that I would be on it.  We left late morning packing our beer, rum and minimal food – we left from the Copper Bank lagoon (off Rod’s dock) and headed out.  It was a beautiful day and actually not just my first time on these lagoons, but also my first time on a boat in Belize.  The ride was fantastic – to get from the Copper Bank lagoon to the Progresso lagoon there is a serious of thin waterways that you weave in and out of and with a small boat it’s pretty incredible.  It really was a day full of laughing, drinking and general fun.  My uncle got along really well with everyone and was thoroughly enjoying himself.  I think the smiles were actually plastered to our faces for the entire day.  We stopped off at Bruce’s (American) dock to say hi and have a couple drinks.   I had never met him and his wife but my mom had once and she sure thought he was a kick.  We were warned that he can tell a mean story and will have you laughing the whole time you’re around him.  By the time we docked the boat we were all a little tipsy and I was pretty determined to not drink anymore.  Little did I know that not drinking at Bruce’s really isn’t an option.  It only took a few minutes to realize that this guy is an entertainer.  I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone who can tell a story like Bruce.  We were thoroughly entertained the entire time and by the time I left I was drunk and my face hurt from laughing so much.  I immediately took a liking to Bruce and his wife – he’s the kind of guy who really couldn’t care less what you think about him.  He says it how it is and that is refreshing in an odd way.  They were currently working on their house – he was in charge of building it and the two of them were putting in most of the labor themselves.  They had a party room with thatched roof already standing and then living in the motor home they had brought down while they built the rest of the house. 

After a long and entertaining day in the sun we headed back to Rod’s place – the sun was setting and the water was gorgeous.   We spent most of the night out on Rod’s beach talking and laughing and having the insane type of philosophical conversations that you can only have when you’ve had way too much to drink.  Yes, I did fall backwards while looking up at the stars to convince my uncle that the prominent constellation you see in this part of the world is Orion and not the Big Dipper.  No, he didn’t believe me at the time but a couple weeks later admitted that I may have been right. 

The rest of the trip consisted of impromptu poker games and general entertainment – U. Charlie loved it and we hope to see him back very soon.  The next visitor on deck would be my dad and sadly this visit would cause some major fireworks between Will and me.  It really would be the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

It’s been a crazy few days for me here in Belize for multiple reasons.  It’s been a very telling week as far as the state of my divorce – I recently received a very nasty email from Will and I know his intention was to hurt me with his words but instead it gave me reassurance that our relationship was not right.  I was so tempted to post his email on my blog as some weird therapeutic thing but I have decided against it because I’m not so sure what that would actually accomplish.  That being said it is a sad thing to realize how much hate he has for me right now considering our history together.  All I can do at this point is to live my life so that’s what I’ll continue to do – and there has been a lot to do in the last few days.

Corozal Carnival