The holiday has arrived. But the good weather regrettably hasn't!
After arriving at my lovely beach-side hostel at about 1pm yesterday I immediately befriended a very comely collective of Irish girls: six trainee dentists studying in Dublin who are travelling around before beginning a summer elective in Honduras. They are a great deal of fun, which has proven crucial, since the weather did not really allow for much yesterday.
I enjoyed a rainy session of basketball with Nielle, Nessa and a couple of local kids. We also booked up a full snorkelling trip and had a lovely dinner in the Enjoy restaurant: a whole grilled lobster for 22BZ (about 8 pounds!) It was gorgeous and the half-price cocktails were also a real perk.
Drinking then continued predictably with various amusements - by this point we had been joined by Leah's boyfriend Rory and an Australian chap called Michael. We only continued till about 2am though, wishing to save ourselves for today's snorkelling.
We needn't have bothered! It has truly reached epic monsoon levels of wind and rain here and the trip was quickly cancelled. We are now booked in for tomorrow and hopefully the weather will improve. It is a shame because it is such a lovely island but it's hard to do much in these conditions!
*
I have had a good day! Despite initially being holed up in our hostel, confined to Monopoly and tea, won by Rory (Monopoly, that is; not tea. Everyone's a winner with tea), things did calm down and Leah, Rory and I went out for some lunch at a pizza place, the waiter of which was a salient specimen of the Belizean way: exceptionally slow, cripplingly stoned but eager to treat us as best friends. We saw him again much later on, cycling round in circles and wearing two hats. I love this island.
Lunch quickly became an afternoon of drinking and soon we stumbled upon by far the most chilled and atmospheric bar we have found. I think it is called 'Bamboozle'; it has swings at the bar, is made entirely of bamboo, sells delicious rum cocktails and has a sign that says 'Happy Hour - 4pm 'til everybody happy'. We make three separate visits.
We have Chinese for dinner and then drinking games in our hostel, which serve as an effective tonic for our ensuing trip to the Reggae Bar. Only Mary, Chloe along with Rory, Leah and I make it there, though, from the original group, plus an American guy called JD and a Canadian called Kyle.
The night draws to a close, as did the previous, at the only nightclub on the island.
Almost. Against everyone's best advice I accepted an invitation by a local Belizean man to go back to his for a drink!
And very glad I am too that I took the gamble. He was a thoroughly hospitable and interesting chap who took a particular shine to me because I was British: an ex-Belizean soldier, he had been trained by the British Army. He loves the British Army. Although Belize has been independent since 1981, apparently Britain has been discreetly helping them in military matters at various times since.
He shows me an old British Army training manual that he has wrapped carefully in brown paper. I have never seen a book like this before and am genuinely impressed. I now know how many sidesteps to the right I must make before releasing a second burst of gunfire at a stationary target.
"But what about the Americans?" I say. "They have a much more powerful army."
"The Americans are good," he says. "I have fought with Americans. But the British - the British are the best."
I nod.
After arriving at my lovely beach-side hostel at about 1pm yesterday I immediately befriended a very comely collective of Irish girls: six trainee dentists studying in Dublin who are travelling around before beginning a summer elective in Honduras. They are a great deal of fun, which has proven crucial, since the weather did not really allow for much yesterday.
I enjoyed a rainy session of basketball with Nielle, Nessa and a couple of local kids. We also booked up a full snorkelling trip and had a lovely dinner in the Enjoy restaurant: a whole grilled lobster for 22BZ (about 8 pounds!) It was gorgeous and the half-price cocktails were also a real perk.
Drinking then continued predictably with various amusements - by this point we had been joined by Leah's boyfriend Rory and an Australian chap called Michael. We only continued till about 2am though, wishing to save ourselves for today's snorkelling.
We needn't have bothered! It has truly reached epic monsoon levels of wind and rain here and the trip was quickly cancelled. We are now booked in for tomorrow and hopefully the weather will improve. It is a shame because it is such a lovely island but it's hard to do much in these conditions!
*
I have had a good day! Despite initially being holed up in our hostel, confined to Monopoly and tea, won by Rory (Monopoly, that is; not tea. Everyone's a winner with tea), things did calm down and Leah, Rory and I went out for some lunch at a pizza place, the waiter of which was a salient specimen of the Belizean way: exceptionally slow, cripplingly stoned but eager to treat us as best friends. We saw him again much later on, cycling round in circles and wearing two hats. I love this island.
Lunch quickly became an afternoon of drinking and soon we stumbled upon by far the most chilled and atmospheric bar we have found. I think it is called 'Bamboozle'; it has swings at the bar, is made entirely of bamboo, sells delicious rum cocktails and has a sign that says 'Happy Hour - 4pm 'til everybody happy'. We make three separate visits.
We have Chinese for dinner and then drinking games in our hostel, which serve as an effective tonic for our ensuing trip to the Reggae Bar. Only Mary, Chloe along with Rory, Leah and I make it there, though, from the original group, plus an American guy called JD and a Canadian called Kyle.
The night draws to a close, as did the previous, at the only nightclub on the island.
Almost. Against everyone's best advice I accepted an invitation by a local Belizean man to go back to his for a drink!
And very glad I am too that I took the gamble. He was a thoroughly hospitable and interesting chap who took a particular shine to me because I was British: an ex-Belizean soldier, he had been trained by the British Army. He loves the British Army. Although Belize has been independent since 1981, apparently Britain has been discreetly helping them in military matters at various times since.
He shows me an old British Army training manual that he has wrapped carefully in brown paper. I have never seen a book like this before and am genuinely impressed. I now know how many sidesteps to the right I must make before releasing a second burst of gunfire at a stationary target.
"But what about the Americans?" I say. "They have a much more powerful army."
"The Americans are good," he says. "I have fought with Americans. But the British - the British are the best."
I nod.
