Mud Wrestling

Today's the 17th of September. So far this month, we've had fourteen days of rain and two without. Today will be added to the official count, so make that fifteen days of rain.

Last month, August, we had eighteen days of rain and sixteen without. The rain started about the 13th of August. That sort of means we've been having near constant rain for, oh, about thirty-three freaking days in a row! Give me a break, will ya?!

Along with that, Dianna and I have been keeping a rough guesstimate of the number of vehicles that have become 'stuck in the muck' - we just got another one as I'm writing this. Conservatively, we think we're over sixty vehicles mired in the goo. Including a Belize Water Service (BWS) truck yesterday afternoon.

I got an email yesterday morning from Dean, a friend of ours from Orchid Bay, over on the Sarteneja peninsula. Here's a brief exerpt:

"...Did you hear our crash on Saturday evening in front of your place?  I hit the water at 15 mph and hit the 2 foot hole. Bounced 3 to 4 times, tore off my light plug on my rear bumper, hurt my back, bounced my passengers around. The road all the way to the ferry was bad..."

A short time later, this bit from Chuck, who also lives in Orchid Bay. Dean had picked Chuck and his wife Jamie from Chetumal, Mexico, on their return from a cruise over in Europe:

"...We passed by your place last night on our way back from the airport at Belize City via [a friend's] truck - and nearly right in front of your place we hit the Mud Hole from Hell and all four of us hit our heads on the truck ceiling, which explains why they call it a "Head Liner" (On account of it leaves lines on your head). The fact that we made it all the way back home must rank as some sort of a miracle.  But nonetheless we did make it home, well after dark.

The road the rest of the way to the ferry is so bad that you couldn't even hold a mud-wrestling match in it without some handicapping for all entrants. Man, I mean to say, that is some serious mud.  You guys must have had quite a bit of rain in the last couple of weeks..."

Yesterday, I had to get some supplies from in town, but I knew there was no way that I was going to attempt to cross the great muddy of Ferry Road. I called Doug and Twyla, who live just north of us, but away from the muddy patch to see, if they were heading into town for some reason, if I could hitch a ride with them to get my shopping done. They were nice enough to allow me to go with them.

I greased up with bug juice, put my back pack on (I needed some way to haul the groceries on our return) and began the walk up to their house. I avoided the road and the muddy track of vehicles through the vacant lots north of our place, and still I was hiking through about six inches of mud and about three to four inches of water on top of that for most of the trek through the lots.

Once past the muddy patch of the road, I got back on the road up to Doug and Twyla's. Once there, I hosed off my legs and sandals loosing about a good pound of mud in the process.

After we completed our shopping and had returned to their house, I spent several minutes on their porch loading up my pack and a couple extra plastic bags, carrying things that it didn't matter if they got wet or not.

Same thing after I got back. A few minutes with the hose and I was good to go again. At least it didn't rain while I was hiking either direction.

While we were shopping, Doug needed to stop at our mechanic Rick's place about some repairs he needed. I took the opportunity as well, and talked to Rick about my needed brake job for the Isuzu. I mentioned to Rick that I thought I'd be able to bring it up to his shop the following day (that'd be today), if it didn't rain. Hah! Guess it's still going to be a few days before I can get up to Rick's to have him look at the brakes.

So far this morning, we've already had three stuckees in the muck and it's only approaching 7:30 AM. The day is young... and, it's still raining.

Say What?

I had to go into Corozal this morning and I had to look for a grout saw (used to gnaw the grout out between tiles before trying to remove them) and the usual assortment of pharmaceuticals, and a whole slew of groceries.

I thought I'd be a nice guy and ask Denis or Vivien if they wanted to ride along since their vehicle is in the shop up at Rick's getting some new shocks. I picked up Vivien and we tootled off into town.

Our first stop was at Lano's Hardware Store. I needed to get that grout saw I had mentioned. While I was waiting for the crowd to diminish, I got into a conversation with one of the girls who works there about water pumps. I mentioned to her that I didn't see any 1/4-horsepower pumps in their selection. She said "quarter inch"?. I said no, "horsepower'. This prompted her to say "No, we don't have that size. We only have half-inch, one-and-a-half-inch, and two-inch pumps, no quarter-inch pumps".

This led me into a discussion with her about horsepower, what it was, what it meant and that it had nothing to do with 'inches'. It was plain that the further we got into the discussion, the less impact I was having on that stone wall, if you get my drift.

I gave up, just in time to have Mr. Lan's nephew, Kim come to my rescue and asked me about the grout saw. He knew what it was and told me they didn't have any, but suggested I try Villa's Imports - "They have strange stuff like that there".

By now, my head was reeling from the inches vs. horsepower incident. Vivien was done with her purchases, and I with mine, so we beat a rapid retreat to the sanity of the Isuzu. As we headed off to go look at grout saws at Villa's Imports, I tried to tell Vivien about my discussion. She had heard part of it and couldn't make heads or tails out of what we were talking about. Just as well. I couldn't either.

We got to Villa's a few minutes later. After talking to Mr. Villa's son, he found a smaller version of of the saw than I wanted, but I went ahead and purchased it anyway, just in case.

The Grout Saws

After Villa's, we went over to National Hardware and inquired as to grout saws. They had one, more in the line of what I was looking for, with a blade about 2-inches (not horsepower) long, so, long story short, I bought it as well.

Our next stop was at Caribbean Chicken, where I needed to get some boneless chicken breasts and three-dozen eggs. I also had three empty styrofoam egg cartons to trade back in. Something I had done previously several times with no problem. You trade in an empty and they knock a shilling ($0.25 BZD) off the price of a full carton. So, $3.35 down to $3.10 a carton.

Remember I mentioned "long story short"? Forget that.

Of course, it was crowded in Caribbean Chicken. And, as it got to be my turn I passed over my two packs of chicken breasts and the three full cartons of eggs that I had picked up off the table. I also started to hand over the three empty cartons to justify my shilling discount on the full ones.

Whoa right there partner! You'd have thought I was trying to wreck the Belize economy or something. The three folks behind the counter all started telling me they couldn't do that, that I had to be charged the full price of the cartons. Of course two or three shoppers on this side of the counter, chimed in and seconded the storekeepers. I was flummoxed at this point, not sure what to do.

The lady who ran the cash register (and ergo, who I would assume was in charge) jumped up and said they would gladly fill my empty's and give me the discount, but there was no way they could discount already-filled cartons and take the empties.

"Ok", I said. Let's do it that way. I handed the young man behind the counter my three empty cartons. He authoritatively took them and went over to another counter where there was a stack of trays filled with eggs and proceeded to fill each of my empty cartons. Remember I said the place was crowded? Didn't matter. He was out of the flow of customers and cashiers while he filled my cartons. Vivien could attest to this as she was behind me in line.

While he finished filling the cartons, I settled up with the cashier, including the discount. Oh, yes. I also put the previously filled cartons back on the table so there would be no confusion about how many cartons I wanted.

Where Did I Go Wrong?

Once he was done filling them, he re-bagged the now filled cartons in the same plastic bag I had brought them into the store with, and rather insistently offered to carry them out to my car. Obviously, he felt since I was such a dunderhead about empty egg cartons, I couldn't be trusted to accomplish something as complex as carrying them ten feet to the car.

By now, I was becoming embarrassed by the whole thing. I thanked him for his trouble and took control of the egg cartons and the chicken breasts and promptly made my own way, safely, to the Isuzu. I even managed to unlock the doors and sit down, where I waited for Vivien to come out and join me.

As we left Caribbean Chicken to go to our last stop of the morning over at New World Supermarket, we shook our heads and had a chuckle about the cultural differences inherent in speaking English and getting a grip on inches, horsepower, and discounts.

After an uneventful visit to New World where we completed all of the items on our respective shopping lists, we beat a retreat for our homes. It's lucky we're allowed to roam free. It must be the sun or something. Nelson has the right idea.

I Need A Nap!

A Shopping Trip to Orange Walk

Yesterday, we took some time to head over to Orange Walk to do a little shopping. Before we could actually take to the road, we had to stop at the Texaco station and buy a case of motor oil. The Isuzu was really low on oil. Turns out the steering center link was rubbing against the oil filter and had worn a small hole in it. Not good.

So, we loaded a few quarts into the vehicle and headed out. Our first stop was Mike's Auto Parts, where we got a filter and a wrench.

From there, we went to San Sing's scooter shop to get a couple of inline fuel filters for Bob's scooter. While there, we scavenged a hunk of cardboard and borrowed a screwdriver to get the oil filter off the Isuzu. Bob did yeoman's work in replacing the filter.

After that, we went to the market place for a late breakfast of some local foods (forgot the names), and glasses of watermelon juice.

The Orange Walk Market Eateries

The Orange Walk Market Shopping

After eating, we strolled around the market place. Nicer and cleaner than Corozal's, I think mainly because they don't allow vehicles to get into the immediate area. Just more pedestrian friendly.

Beans and Seeds for Sale

The Central Bandstand and Park

After that, we did some grocery shopping at People's Market, then we went on to New River Enterprises, Ltd (http://www.newriverenterprises.com) to look for furniture. Well, more to see what was available.

New River Patio Tables

New River Patio Tables and Chairs

They also have doors, cabinetry, shelving, paneling, etc.

Standard Doors

Custom-Carved Doors

They do all sorts of wood products, with their own lumber mill and three kilns right there.

Kitchen/Dining Chairs

Kitchen Cabinetry

Lots of doors and sidelights, too.

Entry Doors

Louvered Closet Doors

More doors and coffee tables.

A Maze Door

Free-Form Coffee Table

They do doors nicely, as you can see. The stuff isn't cheap, so if we get any of their stuff, it'll probably only be special pieces for specific applications.

Front Doors and Sidelights

Front Doors and Sidelights

Beds

Cabinet Fronts

They also do custom carvings, as you can see by the door and table below.

Custom-Carved Doors

Custom-Carved Tables

Everything they do can be in any one of forty-nine different woods or a mix of any, however you want.

More Patio Furniture

Ho Hum, Ho Hum, It's a Gray Day

You ever have one of those days, where it's gray all day? It goes without saying that if you're from the Pacific Northwest, you know all about what I'm talking about. Well, believe it or not, we've had one of those down here in Paradise - I mean Belize.

It started off nice and cool and overcast. We got ready to head to town for breakfast and grocery shopping in our newly repaired Isuzu. Backed out of the driveway and motored off toward downtown Corozal.

We got to Al's, and managed to find a parking spot right in front. Not that that's a big achievement, really. Parking is never a problem in Corozal - no parking meters, no traffic lights. A place where policemen walk their beats and ride around on bicycles... Kinda like Mayberry with palm trees. You have to substitute Miss June for "Aint" Bee, though.

So, anyway, as we sat down at Al's for breakfast, it started to rain. That's usually a good sign. The sky will clear up afterward. Not today. We had a good breakfast and then ambled across the street to see what the local Corozal Farmers Supply Store had to offer. Salt licks and other necessary stuff for real farming, plus lots of hardware - tools, nails, and other things. I did buy a small home-bottled jug of Mr. Menzie's Laquer Thinner so I could clean a brush I used yesterday when I Varathaned an oak threshold I had purchased to keep rain leakage out of the living room.

We got done at Al's, and went over to the little news shop beside the Evergreen Pharmacy to get the weekly rags, the Reporter, Amandala, the Belize Times, and the Guardian. They all come out once a week. At least two of them are owned by the competing political parties and report accordingly. Yellow journalism is alive and well down here. I was amazed to find a current copy of Popular Mechanics, in a plastic slip-cover for sale alongside the papers. This is first rate. I didn't buy the magazine but was impressed that it was for sale.

As raindrops continued to sprinkle, we went on to Caribbean Chicken where we got some chicken breasts and thighs, and some yummy yogurt (strawberry fruit). After that we cruised on to D's Supermarket and blew a ton of money on dog and cat food, litter, fabric softener, etc. Of course when we came out it was still gray.

After draining the Belize Bank, we went home. It was still gray. It did drizzle a few times and stayed relatively cool (Ok, it got down to 87 degrees). Humidity came and went all day, and stayed gray.

We read our current novels, the new newspapers, laughing about the Belize City Fire Department being accused of slow response as three houses in a crowded Belize City neighborhood burned to the ground. That wasn't what was the hoot, that was sad, 4 or 5 families losing everything - the hoot was the fire department was slowed down to a 35-minute response because of their participation in a fire safety presentation elsewhere in the city! Oops.

We watched a Jim Carrey movie - not one of my favorite actors, in Me, Myself, and Irene. It was still a gray day.

As nightfall approached, we polished off the rest of the rice and beans with stew chicken that I had made the other day. We'll probably read some more this evening. We're looking forward to sunshine tomorrow, enough of this gray stuff.

Sunshine! Sunshine! Sunshine! Sunshine! Sunshine! Sunshine! Yeeeeaaaaaahh Sunshine!

We Needed a VacationTo San Pedro

We escaped to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. We were a little apprehensive, from our previous brief stop flying from Belize City to Corozal. That had seemed to be just loud, and obnoxiously touristy. I guess with a vacation in mind, your perspective changes.

We arrived at San Pedro and headed up the street a block and a half or so, to Ruby's Hotel, on the beach, for the budget-minded tourist. We could have gotten a room with A/C but opted for a room with fan and on the beach-side for the breeze. Perfect. We were on the third floor. Elsie's room was on the first floor.

Ruby's Hotel on the Beach, San Pedro

Room numbering was unique - Elsie's was #20, ours was #12. There seemed to be absolutely no rhyme or reason... But, hey, no problem, Mon!

Check in was 12:00 PM. Being early, we stashed our bags in the hotel office and walked north to explore a bit of the town. We got back to the hotel a bit after noon. Things move at a slower pace on San Pedro, so we waited for the maid to finish with our room.

Elsie and Dianna Chatting While the Maid Finishes

Our room, sans A/C, was only $40BZ ($20US) a night. Hard to imagine, a hotel room right on the white sand beach, in the middle of town, for that price.

We had a private bath, and the balcony on the third floor, provided an unbeatable view of virtually the whole beach. The balcony was huge, and most of the time we were the only guests using it at all.

Spartan but Clean Accommodation

Enjoying the view

from our third floor balcony

Each morning, we not only enjoyed the view of the beach and the dive/snorkel boats heading out, but we would head around and check out the view from the front of the hotel. Early in the morning, it seemed particularly sleepy, with only a few golf carts and pedestrians out and about.

Downtown Views From Ruby's Front Balcony - Looking North

Downtown Views From Ruby's Front Balcony - Looking South

Ruby's didn't have a restaurant, but they did have a small take-out coffee shop next door. Hot coffee, johnny cakes with bacon and eggs, burritos with ham, eggs, cheese and beans - those were always our favorite breakfasts. Coffee and a burrito was $4.00BZ. How much more reasonable could you get?

Dianna Heading Into Ruby's Coffee Shop

Enjoying Breakfast on the Balcony

Here's the sign for the Water Taxi to Caye Caulker - as well as other points around the area.

San Pedro Water Taxi Sign and Schedules

Now, I ask you... What's wrong with this picture?

Tied up and Ready to Go

On one of our forays around town, while Dianna and Elsie went shopping for clothes, I strolled around and took a few pictures of workers adding touches to some of the construction/repairs around town.

The guys on the left are bending rebar in preparation to positioning it for a concrete pour. The guy on the right is painting a new fence going up near Ruby's.

Workmen Hard At It in San Pedro

Painter Hard At It in San Pedro

We ate and drank at several places around San Pedro. It's a nice place to visit, but, I wouldn't want to live there. Overall, it's just too expensive and too touristy. But that's it's purpose. We enjoyed it a lot. We'll definitely come back.

Dave Enjoying Chow

Dianna Showing Off Her Hard-Won Purchase

We always got up early - something about fresh sea air, lines banging against masts... You know, the usual. And with Ruby's Coffee Shop opening at 5:00 AM, who could resist? Sunrise began about 5:15 or so, here's a shot (below) of early sunrise. It was worth the price of admission.

Sunrise at San Pedro

The two shots below provide a vista, looking north and south, respectively, from our balcony. Remember, only $40BZ a night for this. It's a steal!

North From Ruby's 3rd Floor Balcony

South From Ruby's 3rd Floor Balcony

Even though we were only At San Pedro for two days, we sure did a lot of walking on the beach and in town. We ran across a tourist (seems like they were always from Boston) who told us a disjointed story of opening a business and drug-testing his employee (who failed) and some other stuff. At least he was coherent enough to take a picture of us on the beach. We returned the favor. He ploughed into the water for us to snap his picture with his feet wet. Probably the weirdest few minutes of the whole trip.

The 3 of us on the beach

Dave and Dianna visiting jewelery dealers

 and on the beach

Some of the other shots we took on our travels... The Water Taxi office - this is where you buy your tickets to take the taxi over to Caye Caulker. The guys hard at work on the right are getting a dive boat ready to head out early in the morning. Maybe going to the Blue Hole?

Taxi Office

Readying the Dive Boat

Just a couple of tourists from the mainland. Getting rid of time-share touts was easy. They'd ask, "Where you from?" We'd answer, "Corozal." Pretty much the end of their effort every time.
an unexpected dividend.

Tourists

Nearly constant companions while on San Pedro and Caye Caulker were the Frigate birds. these are big birds (five or six-foot wing span) that apparently are independently wealthy and don't have to work for a living. They seem to spend all day just catching thermals and practicing their gliding skills - mostly staying in one place as long as possible. Rough life.

A "Fleet" of Frigate Birds

one a bit more close-up

Well, you can only do so much walking and shopping and eating. Occasionally, you have pull the plug and just unwind. That's what we're doing here.

Enjoying the view, the sun, the experience

Enjoying the view, the sun, the experience

Dianna answering the phone... Oh, wait a minnit. She's listening to the recording of the ocean in the conch shell.

Listening to the Sounds

One of our dining experiences, eating at Caramba! Restaurant (Caramba's!) in San Pedro. We had fresh spiny lobster, shrimp, baked potato, salad and drinks - all for about $25BZ each. Can you beat it? Hey, if you go to Caramba! - ask for Spongepants. He'll treat you good for the evening. I told him I'd mention him in the blog.

Dianna Can't Believe She Ate It

Elsie Grinning Large

Just a non-descript fishing boat that seemed to want it's picture taken, so I did.

San Pedro Fishing Boat

Across the street from Ruby's a local residence. Not that we were spying, but that hammock is real. Folks really sleep in it every day.

Upstairs Home in San Pedro