She was almost out of lunch food, but we split the last plate of vegetarian tamales, veggie chili, and black beans. Delish! I had an iced coffee to drink, and Barry had a tropical smoothie. As if that weren't enough, we also indulged in milkshakes for dessert (Barry got coffee, and I got chocolate), and two peanut butter and jelly muffins. Barry ate his on the spot, but I saved mine for the next day's bus ride.
On Saturday and Sunday (July 28-29), we explored the town of Punta Gorda several times, riding beach bikes provided by Hickatee Cottages, where we were staying, and on foot. Punta Gorda is very different from San Pedro, even though both towns are right on the water. Unlike San Pedro, which caters to divers, fishermen, and tourists from all over the world (including celebrities), "PG" is not touristy. And since it's not on an island, cars and trucks roam where mostly golf carts and bicycles still travel the streets of San Pedro (though more and more motor vehicles arrive monthly, it seems). Traffic was lighter than in San Pedro overall, even on a Saturday. There's a great Saturday market we got to check out, and I bought a Maya bag from a local man that probably would have cost me double in San Pedro. We found this row of distinctively painted Blue Bird buses one street off Main. There seems to be a bus for each nearby village. Most Belizeans do not own cars, so this network of local buses provides a hugely valuable service all over the country. Saturday (and Wednesday) are "cook's night off" at Hickatee, so we knew we'd have to find a place to grab some dinner in town. We chose to ride bikes back in and use our headlamp to find our way back to the cottage after dark. There are many fewer restaurants in PG than in San Pedro, and a few of the restaurants with signs were closed, so we didn't have a lot to choose from, but we landed in a little Italian place that had great pizza and a very friendly Belizean staff (not an Italian in sight!) Unfortunately, the flies chased us in from our table outside, and they didn't have an alcohol license (it's hard to eat pizza without a beer!), but we were glad to get dinner somewhere! On Sunday, town was absolutely dead. Most shops and restaurants were closed, and there was no traffic whatsoever. That's another big difference between PG and San Pedro, which is just as bustling on Sunday as any other day of the week. We had planned on eating lunch in town but were striking out on finding anything open. Just when we were about to give up, we found the Driftwood Cafe, which felt like an oasis in the desert for these two hungry walkers. It was a real hippy cafe, run by a woman from Ohio (like Barry!) with dreads (a contradiction in terms, you'd think!). She served coffee, fresh-baked goods, and vegetarian food. She was almost out of lunch food, but we split the last plate of vegetarian tamales, veggie chili, and black beans. Delish! I had an iced coffee to drink, and Barry had a tropical smoothie. As if that weren't enough, we also indulged in milkshakes for dessert (Barry got coffee, and I got chocolate), and two peanut butter and jelly muffins. Barry ate his on the spot, but I saved mine for the next day's bus ride. Stay tuned for more from Hickatee Cottages, a great bike ride to the river, and Placencia as our trip continues....
3 Comments
Allison Demoline
8/12/2012 01:33:09 am
Thank you so much for sharing your adventures in Belize! It is such a beautiful country rich in culture. We are in the process of adopting children from Belize and if all goes well we hope to have the opportunity to travel with our new children while in Belize for their adoption. Our desire is for them to see their country and have some experiences to remember their home country. Your blog is such a great resource for us and we really appreciate that you take the time to share your adventures, love of food (us too :-) and love of Belize!
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BeBelize Emily
8/12/2012 02:39:38 am
Hi Allison -- how wonderful that you are adopting children in Belize. Glad our blog is helpful to you. It's people like you who make the work on it all worthwhile!
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