Knowing we would be sitting around the boat on the hard for a few weeks before our return to Australia we decided to head to Belize for a week or so.
We organised with our marina to have a water taxi (colectivo) to pick us from the RAM dock at 9.00am. Cost Q125 each one way down the Rio Dulce to Livingston. After doing a bit of a tour up river to the Castillo de San Felipe (Fort) and picking up passengers from hotels and the main dock, we headed down river, crossing El Golfete, stopping at the hot spring that we visited last year with Dani & Jens, a circuit around some water lilies while some local kids paddled out to the boat offering local crafts for sale, then onto Livingston Dock, arriving at around 11.30am.
We travelled from Fronteras (red line running north to south) down river to Livingston on the coast.
Egrets nesting in a tree in El Golfete
The water taxi launcha was full.
Livingston dock
First impression of Livingston as you come off the dock. We found Livingston fairly clean with friendly people.
Raul, the agent who looks after the paperwork for visiting cruisers to Guatemala, is based in Livingston. We have been caught up in a situation where we have not received the 9 month extension for the temporary importation of our boat. When you first enter Guatemala you are granted a 3 month visa (passport) and a 3 month temporary importation for your boat. If you then wish to stay longer you apply for a 9 month extension at a cost of Q1,950 ($260AU), which we did in July last year. We (along with many other boats) never received the stamped paperwork from SAT (Government Dept). In March a decision was taken by the government that if a boat had been in the Rio for 12 months it had to leave for 3 months before re-entering and applying for the 3 then 9 moths again. This caused a bit of an uproar as there are many boats who have been based in the Rio for years and pay a yearly renewal. The government were trying to make the rich Guatemalans who register their multi million $ power boats in the USA to fully import their boats, thereby collecting 30% of the value of each boat. A good revenue raiser. This decision however effected the cruising community and as we were going to be here for over 12 months, us in particular. We had not received the paperwork from the government and had no proof (other than our receipt) that we had applied. An amnesty was announced in April because there was a major backlog of filed applications that had not been processed by SAT and those cruisers, like us and Dani & Jens, could re-apply for the 9 month extension. We contacted Raul and requested he do this, which he did but we still did not receive any paperwork. We visited Raul when we arrived in Livingston and he gave us photocopies of the paperwork he has submitted to SAT on our behalf along with a sticker which is now displayed in our cockpit window. We have given a copy of all our paperwork to Karen (RAM Mariner Manager) and are are hoping this will be adequate or our temporary importation papers will finally arrive.
We stayed at a little B&B called the 'Casa Nostra' owned and run by Stuart, an American. Simple place but safe, clean, on the river and some of the best food we have had in Guatemala. His mint Mojitos and pizzas are great but the Tapado (Garafuna seafood stew) was exceptional. This stew includes whole crabs, fish, prawns and anything else available at the time.
Casa Nostra back garden backing onto the river.
The fishing boat dock next door. These would leave at around 5pm and return about 6am with their catch. The fish market/co-op was just in front of the dock.
'Thunder' assisting John in selecting his lunch from the menu.
One of 3 Red-lorred parrots at Casa Nostra, but beware 2 bite.
Just up the road is a communal laundry. The bottom is tiled and full of water and is lined with cement basins all the way around.
Came across these sheep wondering through town. Not at all concerned by us.
This one was intent on rubbing its rear end on the fence, obviously to ease an itch. They were moulting and the hair/wool looked a bit like dreadlocks.
And of course the sleeping dogs that have been everywhere we have gone in Central America. These 2 were under a boat on the beach.
Looking down onto the mouth of the Rio Dulce and its mud bar.
Docks along the river front.
We paid around Q80 departure taxi at the immigration office and had our passports stamped. We purchased our water taxi tickets from the Captain outside the Immigration office for Q200 each and then headed back to Casa Nostra for a few drinks and pizza before our trip to Belize the next day.
Leaving Livingston early (0700) the next morning on the water taxi heading for Punta Gorda, Belize.
The ride crossing the Bahia de Amatque was a bit bumpy, 15kts of wind with maybe 2ft swell when we crossed the open part of the bay. We were lucky not to get wet. (refer to the map at the top of the page)
Booking into Belize was efficient and no crowds, just the six of us off the boat. No entry fee, no fruit etc, a stamp in the passport a brief look through our bags and we were welcomed to Belize. Residents of Belize, ex British Honduras, speak English with a West Indian/Creole accent so it made life a lot easier getting around (my Spanish is still rudimentary). First thing we noticed was the lack of rubbish lying around. We hit the ATM, and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts and with the help of a bank employee withdrew some Belizean dollars so we could buy a cup of coffee and some cinnamon rolls.
We had a couple of hours to kill so did the tourist wander and made our way to the bus station.
A Punta Gorda cat napping place.
We caught the James Bus from Punta Gorda to Independence - $9BLZ ($4.50AU). It was a chicken bus, but reasonably comfortable and there were only 6 people standing in the isle not the regular 30. This photo was taken at the beginning of the journey and we hadn't stopped every 10kms to pick up people.
From the bus terminal in Independence we caught a 8 seater mini bus/cab with 8 other people and were taken to the 'Hockey Pokey' water taxi docks. This water way leads into the inlet where the Placencia Peninsula is located. We had about a 3/4hr wait until enough people arrived to fill the launcha. We were looking at a poster about the preservation of the Harpy Eagle when a guy started to offer info on this unusual endangered bird. He turns out to be a research biologist who has been doing work in the Belizian jungle and was one of the scientists that discovered a juvenile bird in the remote part of the Belize jungle. Sometimes its amazing the people you meet along the way. The boat ride took 15mins to reach Placencia - $10BLZ. Pretty waterway which looked ideal Mud crab and Barramundi country, although they do not have either of these species.
We booked into the Westwind Hotel. Our room on the second floor looked directly over the beach and was a few steps from the hammock palapa. We were to find out that the owners in residence (Lisa and George) were closing the hotel down and we were their last guests. A bit sad really as this had been in Georges family for 3 generations but there was some type of litigation going on and 70year old George didn't need the stress.
John's hammock and we spent hours relaxing, reading and snoozing here.
The view from the hammock. We swam when we got hot then back to the hammocks.
We timed our arrival in Placencia for the Lobsterfest, the commencement of the Lobster season in Belize. Needless to say, Lobster was on the menu with rice & beans, coleslaw and fresh lime juice. Yum and cheap!! The festivities went on all weekend with a duck race, local bands, food and handicrafts for sale. We even ran into several other cruisers who we knew here, although they had their boats at anchor near the southern tip.
Dock at southern tip with boats at anchor in the background.
We did the tourist bit and hired a golf cart off an American couple (Captain Jack) for $25US for 4 hours and drove the length of the peninsula.
You may have heard about the raked beaches in Belize. We saw several examples of this in Placencia. This was at the Maya Beach Resort about half way up the peninsula where we enjoyed a great meal of fish and chips. Note this pattern is straight. We also saw swirls, waves and scollops raked into the sand. Its a pity you have to walk over it to get to the water.
The Placencia Resort development (one of many along the peninsula), although this estate had a lot of empty and uncompleted mansions. This is opposite the new Placencia Marina, one of the most expensive marinas in Central America and its not finished yet.
This is the more typical housing in Belize. We spent 6 nights in Placencia, ate some wonderful food, laid around and read and generally felt as if we were on holidays.
