In Belize

Hey my friends & family... It's been awhile, huh? Sorry about that! We don't have internet at the house and we've been getting our bearings on the island. Last we chatted, we were heading down to Chetumal for an evening before crossing the border. I have to say Chetumal was pretty uneventful. It's a border town so, it wasn't the cleanest. But, they did have a small mall; however, they didn't open till 11:00 a.m. That was crazy! With that being said, we didn't have much time to shop. We needed to be across the border to catch a 3:00 ferry to the island. We were originally going to take a bus across the border but we had a taxi driver take us instead. It's not far & it only cost $7.50 usd. The car had a/c and the driver spoke English. He apparently lived in the states for years. He waited for us to get our passport stamped as we exited the Mexican border & took us on into Belize which was really nice of him. We have a good friend Dave Brysch who is married to a Belizean and he gave us the phone number to his in-laws in case we had any problems. So we called them while we were in Mexico just to ask questions about crossing the border. Marie is the mom-n-law & she was so nice. They wanted to come pick us up in Chetumal but we told them no, we'd make our way over. They insisted we stop by their place when we crossed the border. They just happened to live in Corozal where we would be taking the ferry. We had a taxi drive us over to their house. Everybody knows them. Marie works for the Mexican Consulant. We got to their place & met Joe, the father-n-law. Marie was at the courthouse working. We spent a good hour & half with Joe. Fantastic visit. We clicked so well. Bob & he were two peas in a pod. Unfortunately, Marie still wasn't home & Joe took us to the water taxi. He worked us hard to stay the night but we didn't want to impose. We just met them! While at the water taxi just a few minutes before it left....guess who shows up? Marie! She insisted that we stay. She had been looking forward to our visit. We told her that we would but our luggage was already on the boat. She talked to the driver of the water taxi & asked that they take our luggage off the boat. She drove us back to the house, cooked a great dinner, and we enjoyed our visit with them. We've never met their daughter Yvette but we hope to do so soon. With parents like that; she's got to be a wonderful person. Marie & Joe took us in as their own & we spent the night. So, we arrived on the island a day late...No worries! The ferry was a 2 hour boat ride from Corozal but it was nice. When we got to the island we had no idea where we were going. All we knew is that the house we rented is north of the bridge, whatever that meant. Turns out taxi drivers are not allowed on the north side. We had to take another water taxi to Basil's Restaurant dock. Where the heck are we going? The dock we got off at was the pier to the bar. Apparently we're suppose to find a guy named Steve to get the keys from. We asked the bartender there & wha-la...It's Steve. How easy was that? ! Now, where is the house? Ha-ha, it's literally across the street from the bar. Gotta like that! We take our luggage up to the house....let's just say pictures are not always what they seem. When actually was the picture on the web taken? We laughed. We had to do quite a bit of cleaning & the trees were huge all around the house. I really don't think this place has been rented out since it's glory days, many years ago. Not to mention we had a racoon that liked to take a dump at the front door. After the 2nd day of cleaning pooped; Bob found some mesh fabric to try to deter the little rodent. But he actually saw those beady red eyes on the 3rd night & it scared off the coon. That was easy. We haven't had any more surprises left behind by our furry friend. Other than that...Belize has blocked Skype. No where on the island can we utilize it. Big bummer! We really miss hearing our family's & friend's voices. We do have bikes that came with the house which has been nice. But get this, we're suppose to pay a toll for crossing the bridge. We have to cross the bridge if we want to grocery shop, get to an internet cafe or check out restaurants. Isn't that crazy. If you walk then there's no toll. Bikes have to pay $2.00 bez dollars which equates to $1.00 usd. Not bad but it adds up with the two of us. If you ride a golf cart they charge $10.00 bez dollar/$5.00 usd. We've talked to some of the folks living on the north side and they just wave off the little guard sitting there. They refuse to pay. So, we've done that a few times too. They've never said anything to us. It is very expensive on the island we're finding out. Groceries are way more expensive, at least double of what they cost back in the states (if not more). We've lived on an island before, Utila and prices weren't this high. That's all part of our travels though. We hope all is going well back home. Since we're not able to use our laptop, I won't be posting pictures. Sorry! Maybe I'll find some links to post. It is pretty here. Love you - B&B