Placencia, Belize: A Tourist's Paradise!

Here’s the rest of the story about my “visa stamp” visit to Placencia, Belize….

I finally arrived, just after dusk on Monday, Mar 15th, after a long day of travels and my first impressions of the village are really just a blur as I blindly followed my new friends from Minnesota from the dock to their hotel.

Thankfully there was a room available at the Seaspray Hotel as I wasn’t up for any more adventures that day. This was also my awakening to how expensive everything was going to be as I was charged $96 BZ (remember that the Belize dollar is 2 for 1 USF) for a comfortably large room with a private bath, a fridge and hot running water – I can tell you, that hot shower was glorious after such a day!

Dan & Destiny invited me to join them for dinner, just next door at “De Tatch” and over a couple of the local “Belikin” beer and a great Jerked Shrimp dinner we shared stories with each other. This was their first time vacationing in Central America and they were quite amused when I asked if they had “got the bug yet?” It certainly appeared that they were having a great time discovering Placencia and surrounding areas and already planning as to when they could return again.

Needless to say, with a full belly and a clean bed waiting for me, it was an early night for me. Somehow, I keep forgetting that I’m not as young as I used to be!

Early Tuesday morning was a special treat for me as De Tatch opened at 7am, so I was able to get a big mug of coffee and curl up at a beach table to soak in the sights and sounds of the Caribbean Sea filling my horizon. Placencia stretches along a crescent shaped section of clean beach, with both ends remaining fairly forested. There’s quite a collection of commercial and private residences tucked in along the beach and poking their multi coloured roofs above the trees.

The day’s priority was to find a cheaper hotel since I was working with a fairly non existent budget so off I went to explore. One of Placencia’s claims to fame is the fact that one of its two main streets is actually a concrete sidewalk that stretches from one end of the village to the other. Everything is built on sand, so this was a bit of a relief for me as walking in sand is still pretty tiring for the re-built hip. What a treat it was to be able to waunder along barefoot, following little trails between houses to find John’s Bakery, various gift stores and yes, the hotels I was actually supposed to be looking for.

I found “Omar’s Guesthouse” that had been listed in a very old copy of Lonely Planet and had a pleasant chat with an older man named Pine about a room. Sadly, the price was right at 40 BZ a night, but this ramshackle two-storey wooden place had seen better days, a very long time ago. Going back along the sidewalk, I had a delightful visit with Sharm, the clerk at “Evan’s” and was amazed at their huge full kitchen private suites for 130 BZ (discounted to 100 BZ if I was to stay three nights) and I stopped briefly at the “Cozy Corner” with their fully equipped rooms at 109 BZ but couldn’t face the thought of living right over their busy bar and restaurant. I trekked out to the opposite end of said sidewalk and made inquiries at “Lydia’s Guest House” which was offering a private room with patio hammock, hallway bathroom and a communal kitchen for only 40BZ a night.

I wasn’t terribly certain that I wanted to stay at the far end of the village so strolled along the sidewalk yet again to find that there was a room available at “Julie & Lawrence’s Guest House” and readily accepted it. It was still a little high for my budget at 80 BZ a night, but the room was large and came with a fridge and coffeemaker, hot water shower and my own little patio complete with a great hammock! All within sight and sound of the beach and sea….

Days were spent merrily making new friends like Denise & Wendy at the “Pickled Parrot Pizza, Bar & Grill”, discovering ham & cheese flat bread breakfast creations at “John’s Bakery” and stopping and visiting with numerous Mayan women or local Garifuna artisans. The Mayans set up their tables or blankets along the sidewalk (remember, this is a main street!) and display their woven baskets, hematite jewellery and various other art works of painstaking detail. A number of younger men and women also simply walk throughout the village with their back pack, politely ask if you would like to see their work and if you accept, simply (and very efficiently!) shake out a small cloth and, their hands working like magic, instantly set out their various goods.

The weather remained fairly cool (at least for me, the acclimatized Honduran!) but it only rained the one night and most days the stiff breeze blew the clouds off for afternoon episodes of sunshine. I walked the beaches, collected sea shells, took hundreds of photos and generally played at being a tourist. I was really surprised at the number of Canadians I met who live & work there, are building to retire there or were returning over the years to continue their appreciation for living in this little corner of paradise.

I inadvertently wound up operating as a tourism assistant as Julie’s place was full, so I was able to share my new found hotel information with various backpacking fellows, a couple of young women travelling together and even two fairly affluent North American couples who were making their own inquiries.

There is quite a variety of Caribbean and international food available and I tried to sample as many as possible! Wood fired, thin crust pizza at “Tony’s”, conch fritters and a gorgeous green salad at the Pickled Parrot, the Jerked Shrimp at De Tatch, the Curried Prawns at Pirate’s Grill (which specializes in Caribbean Fusion, a new concept on me) to name a few of the best ones. Again, most meals ran about 25 BZ to 30 BZ and were big enough that I snacked merrily on leftovers.

It seemed that most bars specialized in “happy hours” whereby regular prices were either reduced or they offered mixed drinks at two for one, so as a purely economical restraint I visited a few of the many beach places in the later part of the day. The infamous parrot slightly pickled me one day while I was meeting so many Canadians and the “Tipsy Tuna” was great for meeting up with the various 20 to 30 “something” crowds of younger folk out to just have fun. Tony’s Pizza was a great place to sit and visit with a wide variety of “most ages” folks and had the distinct advantage of being a 20 second beach walk back to my patio at Julie’s.

Wednesday night at the Tipsy Tuna a local Garifuna band was featured and they shared their music and dance with the crowds both in the open bar and all along the beach as the drums echoed and the chanting voices carried strongly over the water throughout the night.

Thursday was spent verifying the D Express ferry schedule and pickup location, purchasing far too many jars of Belizian hot sauces, simply cruising the town taking photos and visiting with all kinds of friendly folks. I even discovered a thrift store – I have a knack for finding them in whatever country I’m in it seems.

Overall, it was a wonderful little vacation to a gorgeous sea side village and a novel way of ensuring that I can remain in Honduras with a legal visa without being forced to donate my fine money to the Honduran government. Two birds with the same stone!