The Road to Placencia (and Recovery)

The morning started with a fair amount of trepidation on our part. It wasn’t that we had a five and ½ drive back to Belize, or that we had to recross the borders from hell, rather it was we weren’t sure I could make it 15 minutes down the road without dropping my drawers. In the end it turned out to be a fairly uneventfull day although we: 1. Were heckelled by Guatamalean construction workers 2. flipped my first Belizean bird and 3. saw some interesting road-kill.

We got at the crack of dawn, packed, loaded, bought some sort of Mayan stone carving from the front desk and were on the road by 6:30. Because we left so early, we were able to avoid most of the construction work, however, at one location where they got at it early, we pulled out around a stopped vehicle . The flagman screamed: "Alto Alto Alto" and his ½ dozen workman buddies started to laugh and point. I stuck my head out the window and yelled “Lo Siento”. When they finally waved us through the men all stood up in unison, whistling and hooting and gave us a standing ovation. Stupid gringo. In fact I have heard the term "gringo" twice in conversations by others when I was the subject of discussion.

The surprise of the morning was that it took us 20 minutes less to get to the border than on the way in, and that we were through both borders in about 15 minutes. No one asked us for any money and there were no hassels. We even saw our old buddy Franklin who wished us happy trails. So far, the constitution was holding.

Once through the border we decided to have breakfast at the hotel we stayed the previous night. Good thing. Not only had we forgot one of the camera cases, but we hadn't paid our bill. After taking care of our previous transgression, we had a pleasant breakfast and headed out. On the way out you have to cross the river over a one way bridge. The cars from the other side didn't seem to have any sense of fairness in that they kept right on coming even though they could see someone was waiting their turn on the other side. Finally, when there was an opening, I started across, which didn't seem to impact a truck racing for the bridge on the other side. He kept on coming forcing me to back off the bridge. As he passed by he smiled and gave a thank you wave, I proceeded to give him the finger and yelled.... well, you know what I said. Hey, give me this one, I have been exceeding courteous for the entire week.

Mary Lou took the wheel and drove us all the way into Placentia. Along the route we encountered numerous road kill, including a dog and two monkeys. All along the roads of Belize and Guatemala you have to be on your toes for unmarked speed bumps, tethered animals, streams of school children and a variety of others sharing the asphalt. At one spot a tethered horse was standing right on the road jumping all around with his eyes peeled on one spot on the ditch. Snake.

As we got close to Placentia, we crossed by a new airport with a sign that said " cars, please give the right of way to planes taking off ". The Town itself reminded me of a run down US boardwalk town. That is about to change. There is a huge amount of construction going on: subdivisions of mansions coplete with a lock systems, condominium developments and hotels, and the aforementioned airport. Much of it is Canadian money according to two torontonians we met at supper in the Purple Monkey Cafe.

Still run down, we finished our meal and went right to bed. We decided to have a lazy day Saturday and catch up on our sleep, so it will likely be an uneventful one. Although, every time we think that, something always manages to stir things up.