fruity rum drinks on the beach

After regaining my senses in Orange Walk, I headed for a little rum soak and salt water rinse to dispel the smell of fear and regain some trust in my fellow humans. I got out of Orange Walk by 1pm after arranging a hotel and pedaled a couple hours down the road before stopping at Slim's Place. A roadside bbq joint that smelled good and i was hungry. I sat with a charming 50 year old man on his way back north to Corozal after doing some business in Belize City. We talked about relationships, younger women, middle age, purpose, writing, Anthony Bourdain, food, beer - a pleasant beginning to regaining trust. Several beers and good food later it was 5:30pm and my chair more appealing than my bike seat, so i camped in the yard. The night passed in conversation with an excellently inebriated American ex-pat, an ambitious Garifuna homesteader, as well as, Janice and Slim. And someone's aunt that I could not understand at all. In the morning I had a cup of hot coffee with Slim before heading to Belize City.
Belize besides speaking English uses miles and pounds - my map was in kilometers instead of miles and Belize City was less than 30 miles away instead of 50, pleasant surprise. Of course, if you ask a Belizean they will say, "oh, that is far." Belize is small with a population of about 310,000 people and smaller than NH - nothing is too far. I followed the Belize River into the city stopping to watch silver tarpon porpoising. The city itself is 70,000 people and i found the water taxi terminal easily among the faded two story wooden buildings ready to topple into the winding narrow streets of the old port city. The man in charge was able to lock my bike in a closet at the terminal which saved hassle for all. The water taxi to Caulker Caye/Ambergris Caye seated about 60 people and was a mix of tourists and locals - though everyone looked at my bike shoes. An hour and half after leaving Belize City i was walking down the white sand beach of Ambergris Caye to Ruby's Hotel where i passed four days doing pretty much nothing. Well, first thing i did was find a bookstore and buy the fattest paperback on the shelf, Shogun.
At 25 Belize dollars (2bz=$1) a night Ruby's is a steal which is otherwise priced similar to the United States. My room was right on the beach and Ruby's Hotel is attached to Ruby's cafe - sticky bun perfection. I spent my money walking the beach trying to decide who made the best ceviche. And spent a half day snorkeling on the reef dense with fish, turtles, sharks, rays, moray eels, grouper and snapper - i get hungry just mentioning it. This was my first real tourist stop and it felt a little surreal to be around so many North Americans with money - the conversation script changed but i met some interesting people on Ruby's porches. Made for an easy four days that required little thought.

On Friday morning i had to depart my Caribbean paradise and return to Belize City to pick up a package waiting for me in customs and plan out the rest of my Belize journey.