Travel Diaries — The Ridiculous Ups and Downs of a Day in San Pedro, Belize

Morning

San Pedro was our first stop in Belize and was a breath of fresh air, it felt as if we had left Central America and jetted off to the Caribbean. (Belize is often considered a Caribbean country in Central America, it is completely different from surrounding Mexico and Guatemala)

Palm trees lined the promenade to our hostel, the waters lapped crystal clear and vivid turquoise, and jovial women laughed and jostled to sell their wares in English with a Jamaican-esque twang.

Within minutes of our first outing, the heavens opened and we were drenched within seconds, right through my supposedly waterproof jacket. But as quickly as it came, it went. The sun blurred pretending as if nothing happened. We had to turn on our heels to change clothes and people were looking at us with wide eyes as if also pretending that the rain had never happened. They looked at us as if instead, we were victims to a rogue hooligan dumping a bucket of water over our heads.

Luckily we were able to drown our sorrows in the best chocolate milkshake we’ve ever had at the Belize chocolate company. This delightful chocolate shop was a stone’s throw from the hostel and we visited it more than I would like to admit!

One of the things that I find amusing about this island (and the Mexican ones) is the prevalence of tourists riding around on golf buggies. This time, we decided to get in on the action and rent one ourselves. Joe loved driving the golf buggy and laughed at my screams and grasps for dear life as we nearly tipped the thing over careening over potholes and rocks.

He left me at the beach one day to head back to the hostel for something he forgot and a man jumped out in front of him waving and shouting at him to stop as if there were some dire emergency. When Joe stopped, the man hopped in, can of beer in hand, and said “Town please” as if he had just hailed a cab.

Joe looked confused when he returned and when I asked him what was wrong he replied

“I picked up a hitchhiker by accident.”

Who would have thought of people hitchhiking golf buggies but then, on the way home, we saw people with their thumbs out on the side of the road. At this, Joe gasped and put his hand over his mouth. A realisation just hit him. He had passed a young boy with his thumb out earlier, how sweet he thought, and he returned the thumbs up with a smile.

“Oh no! I can’t believe I did that, he must have thought I was a right dick!”

It was my turn to laugh!

Afternoon

Where were we going on that golf buggy? Well, we were off to the Secret Beach, or not-so-secret beach as I would call it. We knew we’d found it as we were greeted with the word SECRET BEACH in life-sized, cartoon-like, jazzy letters in front of two beach bars, a ton of deck chairs, loungers, and many, many occupants of said deck chairs and loungers. I think either the cat is out of the bag or perhaps it’s an ironic name.

It was so pretty and I loved watching Iguanas sunbathing on the rocks.

We went for a glorious swim in what I thought was pristine water until I noticed something weird on Joe’s back. It looked like a clear woodlouse. Then I felt a strange stinging sensation and looked down horrified to see a collection of them on my belly. We immediately started slapping ourselves to get the buggers off. They’d given us itchy little welts on our skin. We later found out that these are referred to as sea lice or sea roaches and are actually some sort of horrible jellyfish spawn. Maybe the secret beach should stay secret after all?

Evening

We managed to turn it around with some stellar food. Caribbean Garifuna cuisine is bloody delicious! Coconut, lime, and seafood make a perfect combination with rice and plantains. We also had some terrific ice cream that was extra rich with the addition of egg in the mixture. We drank nothing but rum! Cuba Libres are simple but lovely, it’s just rum, and coke with lime and is sold everywhere in Belize.

The sunset also was magnificent. We pulled up to this bar called Crocs, which is up on stilts overlooking the mangroves. We were lucky enough to iguanas in the trees and a crocodile slinking away down the murky waters below. The crocodiles are what give the place its name and it felt really special to spot one safe up high, Cuba Libre in hand, and orange sunset gleaming on the horizon.

Cheers to a day of ups and downs, of golf buggy mishaps and green iguanas and crocodiles. Of itchy sea roaches and gorgeous drinks and dishes. Cheers to the island of San Pedro. What a way to start our trip in Belize!

Thank you for reading! Hearts and tips are always welcome and your support is very much appreciated.

This story was originally published on Medium

If you enjoyed this, you may also like 👇