Diary for Bill & Annette On the Road


Old Belize

2008-02-29

We caught a ride with a Gentrac sales rep, into town and out to "Old Belize". On the way, the sales rep made a stop at "Crystal Auto Rental" where he invited us to look around while he did some business there. As it turns out, the business owner has made quite a hobby out of collecting and displaying artifacts from the area, among beautiful tropical plants. See the photos for a taste.

Old Belize is an attraction a few miles west of the city, co-located with a large marina. There is an excellent museum of Belizean history, restaurant and a beach. We did not visit the beach, due to intermittent rain, but enjoyed the museum and its gift shop. A friendly Belizean (lots of them here) saw us waiting for the bus and drove us back into Belize City, where we ate lunch at Macy`s; recommended in most guide books. We were somewhat surprised at the small size - only slightly more area than our motorhome, but the food was strictly Belizean and very tasty. Bill had fried chicken, Annette had curried chicken, both with cole slaw and... (all together now...) rice and beans. A brisk walk brought us to the Mirab store north of the swing bridge, where Annette had spotted some small bamboo rugs she failed to purchase the other day, and had been lamenting since.

On leaving the store, we got the usual "Taxi?" question from an older gentleman, and since it was drizzling, we decided we would negotiate for a taxi with him. It soon became clear that he really didn`t have a cab, but "could get us one at a good price". This is not an unusual ploy here, so we played along because he seemed interesting. As we walked with him back towards town, he started a very enthusiastic and fascinating history of Belize. He introduced himself as "Prince Charles Paris", saying he was 3/4 Mayan (although his appearance was more African), and a certified tour guide (confirmed later by a Taxi driver), with an intense interest in Belizian history and PR. With the flair of a stage actor, he used drama and question-and-answer to make sure his message was getting through, eventually "knighting" us as "ambassadors of Belizian culture". At the end (about 30 minutes later), as you might expect, there was a pitch for a small stipend, which we gladly gave. He did indeed find a ride for us back to Gentrac, for which he also extracted part of the fee from the driver. Total cost to us was about the same as the regular taxi fare, but the added entertainment and history was a bonus.

We have found that most Belizeans speak Creole when talking with each other. We can only catch an occasional word, as it might as well be Greek when spoken at the usual pace. Bill bought a "Kriol-Inglish Dikshineri" at Old Belize, and can tell you, for instance, that "Mi ma mi hafu aiyan owt da tayblklaat kaa ih mi mash op bad" means "My mom had to iron that tablecloth because it was very wrinkled". We have also noticed that all speech in Belize seems very polite. "Sir" and "Mam" are almost always used.

The engine is mostly assembled, but awaiting another injector, as a second one was found to be damaged, as well as the turbo, which on disassembly revealed the last missing (3rd) valve head from cylinder 6.