After breakfast, we walked around some more and stopped in at one of the local groceries. We checked prices on a few of the items we purchase frequently and found them to be much better than in San Pedro in all cases and better than Brodies in Belize City in many cases as well. Too bad we couldn't bring a suitcase of groceries back to San Pedro with us!
We were looking forward to taking a bike ride up north and planned to ride to the Maya Beach Bistro for lunch as Jacki had given this restaurant her highest recommendation. Our room came with two nice (new!) beach cruiser bicycles, so we had one of the workers doing some construction at Casa Placencia adjust the saddle and handlebar height for us, then we took off.
We stopped in at the car rental place next to the Placencia airstrip and made arrangements with Winston to rent a car later that day so we'd have it early in the morning, as we were planning to drive up to Red Bank to see the Scarlet Macaws that typically feed in the area from January through March. Winston said he'd come pick us up at 4 pm to come do the paperwork, then we could drive the car back. Nice!
It started looking like rain again, so we stopped along the way at Blue Crab Beach just south of Maya Beach. This is a small beachfront resort run by the couple who make the Goss Chocolate we enjoy so much. We'd hoped to say hello to Linn, but another couple who had also stopped for cover there said that there was a note on the door that she would be back around 2 pm. This time, the rain only amounted to a light shower with heavy winds, so we only waited for a few minutes, then hit the road again.
Along the way we saw the sign for Sunsail and the Moorings, companies that charter sailboats out of Placencia, so we biked down their road and looked at the docked boats on the lagoon. It was a beautiful setting with the mountains in the distance (though they were off to the right so don't show in the photo; you'll have to take our word for it.)
After we parked the car back at Casa Placencia, we walked into town yet again, looking for the Hokey Pokey ferry dock. We planned to take this ferry on the trip back, but our map didn't seem correct as we found only a private dock with no Hokey Pokey sign, so we figured we'd ask Jacki exactly where it was. We walked around the attractive residential area around the lagoon and looked at homes and boats. Once again, I was reminded of the Florida Keys, and was struck by the fact that Placencia seemed cleaner and tidier than San Pedro.
The restaurant was packed and loud, but the food was good and cheap. We both had versions of grilled snook, rice and beans, and green salad. It was certainly the least expensive seafood dinner we've had in Belize at $50 BZD total ($25 US).
This was to be an early night since Jacki admonished us to get on the road to Red Bank by 5 am -- ouch! We are not normally creatures of the morning, but we really wanted to see the Scarlet Macaws. Barry actually had planned this trip mostly if not solely for that reason, while I was just as interested in seeing Placencia village, but I did want to see the famous birds as well.
Before turning in, we noticed a HUGE black insect (maybe 3" long and skinny) on the wall of our room. Yikes! Barry bravely trapped it under a cup and was able to humanely relocate it outdoors. Just a little reminder that we are in the tropics! Sorry not to provide a photo of said insect, but we were scared it would fly off if we took too long in dealing with it!
We set the alarm for the ungodly hour of 4:30 am before turning the lights out at 9:30 pm.
Stay tuned for Day 3 - Red Bank and the hunt for the elusive Scarlet Macaws