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

Okay – back to the story…

There are a multitude of holidays in Belize and as an employer we have to be very aware of these holidays due to labour laws here. In Belize holiday pay is double and being a new business we had to decide if it was worth being open at all since some days we didn’t even cover wages at this point. It seems in Corozal specifically that there are certain holidays where people want to go out and eat at the various restaurants around town and then there are holidays where everything is a bbq or family picnic set up so we had to rely on our staff to steer us in the right direction.

The first holiday we encountered being here was Garifuna Settlement day which marks the 1832 arrival of the Garifuna people to Stann Creek and is celebrated on November 19^th. It’s mostly celebrated in Southern Belize but the holiday is countrywide. Word was that there was going to be a beach party in celebration on the bay side in Corozal so we decided to close down the restaurant for the day. We were looking forward to a rare day off so we had planned to take part in the festivities. At this point it hadn’t been raining too much anymore which was nice – things were finally starting to dry up. It had been a little cooler than usual lately though – it’s almost laughable because we were actually getting cold in 70 degree F weather. In the meantime back home in Oregon they were having an unusually cold winter – with actual snow. So we would complain to our friends and family back home that we were cold at night and had to put on long shirts and pants and they just laughed at us – I’m sure there was some eye rolling going on too. In any case it was colder than usual for the Belizeans and we would go around town seeing people in real winter coats. I think it was more the temperature swings than the actual temperature because during the day it would be in the 90’s and then at night drop down to mid 60’s range. So my point with all this weather talk was that the three of us went in to town after sleeping in that morning (it was a Wednesday), it was a noticeably chilly day and it was as if we had walked in to a ghost town. Nobody was out and I mean nobody. Everything was shut down and everyone was apparently shut up in their homes. We walked all along the seaside and there was no sign of any beach party to happen that day or night.

We were really confused about what was going on, but no one was around to ask so we basically just walked around town and went back home. A little disappointed that we weren’t going to experience the music and dancing that day. Salvador came around to the house to hang out with Will later that day and we asked him what was going on. I almost choked when he told us that everything was cancelled due to the bitter cold 70 degree F weather – what? It wasn’t even raining. I flashed back to all of the outdoor concerts I had attended in the pouring down rain or freezing cold that I had attended in Oregon. This was outrageous – people in Belize hate the “cold” weather.

That night we were getting bored. Will was being his hermit self and didn’t want to do anything but stay in and watch TV – he was in a major funk here and couldn’t seem to pull himself out of it. My mom and I couldn’t stay in the house – we hadn’t been getting days off and we wanted to take advantage of it. So we decided to eat at a local restaurant called Vamp’s Chill and Grill. So we headed out – we made our way in to the restaurant and it was pretty empty, there may have been two or three other people in there. The bartender was playing some punta rock on the stereo and it was a good vibe. He saw us come in from the bar and sit down. He came over and took our drink order – then when he went back over to the bar and suddenly the music changed. Mom and I sort of looked at each other quizzically and listened for a few minutes before stifling our laughter. He had changed the music to some sort of awful female pop CD that he obviously thought we would prefer. Now my mom and I are very much in to listening to the local music so we just sat there and couldn’t help but keep laughing and cringing at the new play list. We had our drinks and ate our food – they have delicious pan fried fish – and then we took our leave trying to listen whether or not they would change the tunes back after we left. Just as we were getting in the car, sure enough the music changed again. We both hoped that night’s music debacle was the last of its kind.