We left Xcalak and headed 25 miles south to Belize the day before St. Paddy‘s Day. It was a beautiful sail, wind beam to and a little aft, sun sparkling on the ocean as Gualby speed along at 7-8 knots. One of the best days of sailing we have had in awhile! We spotted the entrance through the reef off of the town of San Pedro around noon. It is a pretty narrow pass but is marked with a big yellow buoy so that was nice! The water is ridiculously clear and beautiful here. We dropped anchor off the town of San Pedro into deep, white sand and took in our surroundings. The town looked awesome, the water was gorgeous, the sail had been great, the reef pass no stress; we were already loving Belize.
The check in process was no big deal. The offices were a little hard to find but immigration, customs, and the port captain were all very friendly and excited that we were visiting their country. We paid $140USD to the port captain and had to bring the custom guy out to our boat to be fully cleared into the country. He was a nice guy but was strangely concerned with not getting splashed in the dingy ride out. So much that he stood up in the dingy so the seat of his pants would not get wet. Ted was nice enough to dingy the officer to our boat. I don’t know how it would have gone over handing him a paddle and pointed to our canoe as our means to get him to Gualby. All the officers we encountered barely acknowledged Penny, even though she had her scowl face on, accompanied by a low growl. Belize required no extra fees or hassle for the Pen Dog. We soon found out San Pedro is the most dog friendly place we have been to yet.
After checking in to the country, we checked out the town. The town is small and friendly, full of little shops, deli’s, restaurants, and beach bars. Most of the bars have at least one side on the beach, overlooking the crystal clear water. There are street vendors here selling tapestries, jewelry, and wood carvings but they seem more interested in saying hello and welcoming you to Belize than selling you any of their items. We have found some good, not too expensive little places to grab a taco/burrito/wrap type food. Penny usually comes with us into town which she loves. Bringing her is the easiest it has been so far. She is allowed in almost all the bars/restaurants and if she gets hot walking around town with us, no matter where we are on the island is less than a five minute walk to the beach where she swims, cools offs, and gets her picture taken by tourists that miss their dogs at home.
We are starting to acquire a small fan club in San Pedro. We beach our canoes at the same spot in town, which is usually at least a daily occurrence, and a crew of local kids have taken a liking to us. The braver ones like to throw the coconuts for Penny and the shyer ones love on Gimpy. They all scream and run when Penny shakes off near them. One of the boys calls it “the sprinkler.” The kids tell us they keep an eye on our boats for us when we‘re gone. Usually when we get back from our errands in town, our paddles are in different places in the canoes and there seems to be an extra amount of sand on the seats but with mischievous smiles on their faces they claim they don’t know how that happened.
M.
The check in process was no big deal. The offices were a little hard to find but immigration, customs, and the port captain were all very friendly and excited that we were visiting their country. We paid $140USD to the port captain and had to bring the custom guy out to our boat to be fully cleared into the country. He was a nice guy but was strangely concerned with not getting splashed in the dingy ride out. So much that he stood up in the dingy so the seat of his pants would not get wet. Ted was nice enough to dingy the officer to our boat. I don’t know how it would have gone over handing him a paddle and pointed to our canoe as our means to get him to Gualby. All the officers we encountered barely acknowledged Penny, even though she had her scowl face on, accompanied by a low growl. Belize required no extra fees or hassle for the Pen Dog. We soon found out San Pedro is the most dog friendly place we have been to yet.
After checking in to the country, we checked out the town. The town is small and friendly, full of little shops, deli’s, restaurants, and beach bars. Most of the bars have at least one side on the beach, overlooking the crystal clear water. There are street vendors here selling tapestries, jewelry, and wood carvings but they seem more interested in saying hello and welcoming you to Belize than selling you any of their items. We have found some good, not too expensive little places to grab a taco/burrito/wrap type food. Penny usually comes with us into town which she loves. Bringing her is the easiest it has been so far. She is allowed in almost all the bars/restaurants and if she gets hot walking around town with us, no matter where we are on the island is less than a five minute walk to the beach where she swims, cools offs, and gets her picture taken by tourists that miss their dogs at home.
We are starting to acquire a small fan club in San Pedro. We beach our canoes at the same spot in town, which is usually at least a daily occurrence, and a crew of local kids have taken a liking to us. The braver ones like to throw the coconuts for Penny and the shyer ones love on Gimpy. They all scream and run when Penny shakes off near them. One of the boys calls it “the sprinkler.” The kids tell us they keep an eye on our boats for us when we‘re gone. Usually when we get back from our errands in town, our paddles are in different places in the canoes and there seems to be an extra amount of sand on the seats but with mischievous smiles on their faces they claim they don’t know how that happened.
M.
 |
| Penny being a good girl while we shop inside |
 |
| Penny cooling off as we enjoyed some juicy watermelon |
 |
| Pen Dog keeping an eye on Mike paddling back to the boat |
 |
| Two of the braver members of the fan club |
Beautiful! Hi Penny!
ReplyDeleteCan I make a request? Can you put something on your blog like a map of where you have been? Or, if that is too hard, what about just a list of dates and cities/countries? It is tricky to figure it out when you have been when I read a bunch of posts at once.
But, good updates! Miss you!
Wow Con Johnson and the Amazing Meg! The trip looks freaking awesome. I hope to see some videos of the Con Man singing redemption song soon. I have been mesmerized by your blog for two days now. I look forward to your posts.
ReplyDeleteBrian, Kourtney, Miles, and unborn and yet to named baby LaPlant