My last Belize post, wrapping up a few end & outs that I didn’t get to other places. On our first afternoon there, we were eager to hit a bar & check out the island. I totally fell for a place called The Palapa Bar & Grill, where you could supposedly float in an inner-tube and and have your drinks lowered down to you. It sounded really neat, so we hired a taxi & crossed the bridge to the north side where were arrived at a very cool dock bar on a pretty cloudy afternoon. We grabbed a bit to eat & some delicious drinks as we watched a few others floating below and some tour boats pull up for a drink stop.
After the crowds left, we headed out to the open dock to drink more & ponder the mysteries of life. It was fabulous sitting up there, soaking in the Ambergris coastline with all the palm trees swaying in the wind & looking down to watch the stingrays swimming below. A fishing boat pulled up with quite a catch and we watched them clean all the fish and then smelled them cooking up an impossibly fresh meal.
On our way to the Palapa Bar, there is a new toll bridge to the north side of the island, where all the swanky new developments are going in. It’s a tiny bridge & I chuckled that you had to stop and pay a toll to cross it- perhaps that’s why the taxi ride was so expensive!
In downtown San Pedro, Central Park is a gathering area for salesman hustling trinkets to the tourists & many locals just hanging out.
There really aren’t many streets in San Pedro, and you can walk a full loop around the city in about 20 minutes. I loved seeing all the brilliant and bright colors that the various buildings and shops used to attract customers- even a neon Jesus.
One of the tourist-friendly things we really appreciated were the maps that were all over the island. Most of the major restaurants and resorts, along with shops, were all listed & we consulted these several times. I also just happened to adore the marine life stuck atop each map and really wanted to see a manatee. (Is that what the gray animal is?)
There are supposedly many really good restaurants on the island, including many up north which are only accessible by boat. We’d planned on having a very nice dinner on our anniversary or even the next night, but the weather had other plans for us. We just headed downtown & dined at Mango’s. It was so awesome that we ended up going back the next night- the pasta alfredo was to die for. And yes, it’s totally cool to drink water from a martini glass on vacation- especially if you’ve already been drinking since noon! There looked to be some fairly cool bars & clubs, but with the weather being drizzly, we didn’t get to try out too many of them.
We really enjoyed our vacation, despite the less than optimal weather & would highly recommend Belize to anybody. The small town, laid back atmosphere combined with the amazing reef & stunning water make it a super-easy and fabulous get away from the US.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Survived my first hot yoga class on a cold, rainy, windy morning- it wasn’t as miserable as I was expecting.
