Ambergris Caye

Ambergris Caye was named after the stuff whales expel after they have digested their food. Apparently it was used for perfume for many years and was a valuable commodity until being replaced by synthetic products. But the long and short of it is the place was named after whale ......

You can get here by puddle jumpers, but the vast majority of people use water taxis and private boats, and there are wharves about every hundred feet or so. This is a Mecca for sports fisherman, scuba diving and snorkeling, and marine  activity of all kinds, and the vibe the place gave me varied from run down to spectacular depending on where I am.

Water taxi from Caye Caulker is about half an hour in a large  hulled power boat run by one of two companies that have moving people and goods down to a science. Inexpensive and effective. Once on the Caye ( pronounced Key ) you are greeted by a mass of people either offering you a taxi ride or a golf cart rental. There are hundreds of golf carts here, with nary a golf club to be seen.

For the week I am staying at Belize Hutz, which is a quaint spot at the south end owned by James Ward, a friend  I grew up with in Nashwaaksis. James renovated the place earlier this year and has done a nice job of it. The rooms are Cabana style, with a small pool and bar as the focal point. Although it is quite away out of town, a five dollar cab ride or a half hour walk will get you there. I walked in and out of town to help get my bearings.

The walk into town along the beach is varied, ranging from abandoned buildings and development lots, to high end condominiums and hotel developments, and a series of beach bars and restaurants. For some reason Tuesday is a day where various businesses close. As usual in the southern climates, you cross paths with a series of beach hustlers offering anything from bike rentals to women and weed. They always seem surprised when I am not interested, but are always friendly about it. I was told later in the day that half of them are informants for the police, and this is used as entrapment. Kinda smart if you think about it.

This place is full of Canadian expats. The first person I talked to was an Edmontonian who owns a Mailbox etc franchise, and is looking to go back home to be with the grand kids, so his business is up for sale. Offer no 1. With Skype being blocked, I went looking for a cell phone rental so I could be contacted by the office on a number of project related issues. This resulted in a very interesting connection.

The lady who answered the phone arranged to meet me at BC Beach Bar to distribute the phone. So......this is a mobile, mobile phone service. She arrived right on time and I'll have to say, was not what I was expecting. Diane is now a Belizian, originally from Vancouver and has a PhD in education. After finalizing her doctorate, she hit  the road for sixteen years and lived the life of a traveller. Six years ago she ended up here on Ambergris, started three separate businesses, and considers this as home. Had a nice long talk with her and got all kinds of tips on doing business in the Caye, as well as tips on travel. It was interesting how many of her comments mirrored my thoughts from yesterday. And of course, the mobile cell business was for sale.

I finished the night off at the pool bar with a group of very nice young people, some of which are employees of James. They were quite engaging in conversation and I ended up sharing a pizza with them, which incidentally was excellent.

Guess that sums up the day nicely, and pictures are on the way.

Week One Almost In the Books

Today marks the end of the first week of  my adventure. In  normal times I would be getting ready to head home,  but now there are still seven weeks to go. Yahoo.

Made it to Ambergis Caye safe and sound and will be settling in here for a week. Meeting the real estate agent tomorrow to see what's up, but after a walk around, I will be very fussy about opportunities.

I have learned quite a bit in my first week of travel. Observations to date are:

• What took me so long to do this. I am like a babe in the woods compared to the people. Many have been traveling like this for years, and can't imagine  living the normal routine.
• The success of any travel is not so much where you go, it is in the people you meet and the honest interest and engagement in who they are. You meet people for such a short time, but they feel like friends. Kate, Darcy, Theresa and Brian made real and lasting impressions on me, and I would be proud to call any of them friend .
• This iPad is a great little rig, but it has many limitations, and I have called it a few choice names along the way. Contrary to the way it looks in this blog, I can write, spell and put together coherent sentences. The iPad quite often has a mind of its own, and it is almost illiterate.

•  If you want to truly know yourself, then you need to spend time with yourself. Always  felt that I have had my stuff together, and while I am not going off the deep end or anything, all the thinking time shows me there is some work to do. Fortunately, There is lots of time. 

And last but not least, I know what I have known since 14,  I Love Beer.

It's Been Nice Knowing Ya

OK. Not quite there yet, but the longer I stay here, the longer I want to stay here. They even knew I was coming and had a note on the board for me.


Saturday night was one of the most special nights I have had for awhile. Caye Caulker played Belize City in a basketball game, that the whole community came out to see. I went down with my new friends Kate, Darcy and Theresa to watch and it was a blast. We get so tied up in  our big city stuff that we miss the finer points in life. Two feet from the action with the entire crowd involved . I am not a basketball fan but I enjoyed every  minute. If these guys could shoot they would be pros. Fantastic athletes.

 Early mornings consist of getting up with the sun and going to the end of the dock to fall back to sleep on the hammocks. I pretty much have the place to myself at that time, other than the seabirds.

Yesterday was another dandy. We were going to head out canoeing around the Caye but the weather did not cooperate, so we ended up going to the only Sports bar on the island. All three of them are into sports big time, and know more about football than I do. It turns out that the guy who owns the bar, came down here a few years ago with his guitar and settled into island life. He got to know the owner at the time , who incidentally is a big Toronto Maple Leaf fan, and they worked out a deal for the sale. While there are lots of other bars around, he is the only one of this type where you can watch all NFL,MLB and NHL games. Business is good and he now has a little one (never caught if it was on the way, or an infant)

Ode to Midge

I got the sad news that our old friend Midge passed away on Wednesday. We met Midge twenty odd years ago, through Cathy and Wade Smith, who have been lifelong friends. Midge was a character, sharp, sharp, sharp; overtly friendly and was stunning  in her younger years. We became close since moving back to Toronto, and ML and Midge shared a special bond.

Midge was a fixture on our balcony during the Beaches International Jazz Festival, and used to crack me up by playing the cougar to the band members below. She was a low talker and sometimes hard to understand, but I remember when I clued into the fact that she was very smart, and kept on top of current issues. We hopped a few fences together when others took the long walk around.

I saw Midge the Tuesday night before leaving for Mexico, and we both knew it would be the last time we met. Had a chance to tell her how I felt about her, and give a kiss goodbye. That hasn't been the case for he last few friends I lost.

Midge was all set to come to Belize and help my sister run Old Girls Gone Wild Night. She won't make it, but Midge, your picture all be right there beside us. 

Road to Belize

Everybody has their own idea of what paradise is. This morning sitting on a hammock on the end of a dock watching the sun come up in the Caribbean happens to be mine.

Yesterday was travel for most of it, but it still turned out to be gem. Met lots of people, from a wide and varied background, and everything went off without a hitch.

The four hour morning bus ride was in a modern coach, although I will say the temperature was as cold as our house when we let our friends the "hot flash girls" take control of the air conditioning. We arrived in Chetumal, the furthest point south in Mexico mainland on the Yucatan peninsula, three hours before the boat left, which left lots of time to practice my commitment to engage people throughout my escape.

The British kid in front of me at customs had walked through the Mexican border in Tijuana without  getting a stamp on his passport. I knew that was trouble. Afterwards he described the situation; they declared him an illegal immigrant and were going to detain him, however, he was able to get away with a 700 peso " fee". Been there, paid that bribe in Mexico before.

Two thirty something boys from St James BC, were making their way through Central America to Rio de Janeiro to spend New Years Eve with a million other " drunken revelers". They had been back home working for four months to get some money to fund the trip, after spending the previous six months in Thailand. " you should go man". Maybe I will.

Young Brian from Caye Caulker was taking his first water taxi, which surprised me as he has lived his entire life there. I asked him " what took you to Phoenix" and he responded " a girl I met on the island". Yep, that will do it. The pic to the left is his tatoo.

It was time to go when the army showed up with the drug sniffing dogs. All the bags were lined up, as were we, while they walked through all the bags. I was thinking "hope the dog can't smell Adalat, or I'd have some documents to show "( I have copies of everything). The one place the dog got excited was the stroller and baby bag. The mother was horrified, but all was well. Drug sniffing dog or not, they still sniff each others butts, and I expect diapers were in the air.

When it was time to board,  I waited until the end so not to take up a seat that would prevent people traveling together from sitting together. When I finally stepped down, there were no seats left, and they told me I would have to sit up top with the Captain, to which I replied " and the three good looking women and beer cooler". He smiled and said "si".

The boat trip was about two hours on open water without a life jacket, passing along the coasts of Mexico and Belize. The three women were from Colorado and California, though I didn't get a chance to talk to them on the boat as it was too noisy up top. The picture is of Theresa and Darcy, with Kate in the background. The boat pulled into San Pedro at dusk, where we cleared customs. The agent was not impressed that I could not remember the names of the hotels we stayed at when ML and I traveled through Belize in 2010. Hey " I'm 56 and that was two years ago". He was not amused.

So back on a smaller but faster boat, and I mean fast, for a twenty + minute drive in the dark. We all arrived alive and happy to be in Caye Caulker. There will be three days of rest before heading to San Pedro to find that bar. Unfortunately, my primary target was sold yesterday, so the agent will show me other options.

The final losses for this day included leaving my iPod charger in Mexico, and sitting on my second pair of glasses. At this rate, I'll have nothing left by the end of the month.

The Beginning

Woke up this morning early with the sun, and the first thing that came to mind is " so, now what do I do". That in fact is THE question.

The trip down yesterday was a breeze from Limo, to flight to the bus ride on public transit. Only two things that stood out; the first losing a pair of my reading glasses going through security????? , and the second was the man behind me on the plane that I am guessing fell asleep and didn't have complete control of his faculties, as he passed gas every hour  or so. Now normally I don't really worry about what others think, but I made sure the woman sitting beside me knew it wasn't me.

From the bus it was a ten or so min walk to the Hotel Colorado. I couldn't stop singing " welcome to the Hotel Colorado", ala the Eagles. More than one person thought I had a few screws loose, and, maybe I do. This place is a fantastic deal, a huge but basic room, in a brightly colored motif, with a fridge, hot plate and large bathroom, and a deck perfect for playing the guitar and drinking Sol. Total for two nights  720 pesos. 

Went into the main part of town, and as it was Halloween, the street was full of kids and adults in costumes. I stopped at a place called Karens, and had the best tacos ever, made from flank steak. Great night as it was two for one Sol, and a two man band playing panpipes and flamenco guitar were in the words of Randy Jackson, " dope man". Entire night cost me 220 pesos. Deal it was. There was a movie being shot on the beach, and it was quite interesting as they let people get right up beside the action. Not like at home where they detour everyone around the area.

It still surprises me how open dope selling is.  Was stopped five times and asked if " you want to get high man". One guy referred to me as Mr Giant. However I answered the same every time   " I'm already high on life man". 

So far it has been uneventful, but that is about to change. Head by bus to Chetumal in the morning, then take a two and a half hour water Taxi to Caye Caulker. But for the rest of the day, I have rented a chair on the beach and will read, chat, swim and sip Sol. That is perfect.

Can't seem to load pictures onto the blog with the iPad. So  I will add a bunch when I get to an Internet cafe in Belize. They have one around the corner here, but it is just to beautiful out to take the time. If anyone knows how to load piscs with the iPad I'd appreciate a note.

A few people have tried to get ahold of me by phone, but since it is 1.50 a min and .60 a text, it is turned off most of the time. My Rogers email is the best way, as I check them several times a day.

Here She Goes

Well. Not sure that I actually believed myself that this adventure would happen. And probably without the encouragement of a few friends, it likely would still be on the drawing board. But here it is. Last Friday I walked out of the office, and for the first time since 1980, I am not on the payroll.

Reaction to my "leave" has varied from "wish I was going with you" to " are you friggin nuts". But in the end, that doesn't really matter. It feels right, therfore it is.

After three or four tries at packing and repacking, trying to get the weight down, I am finally finished and ready to go. The knapsack is still heavy, but unless I leave behing the electronics and camera stuff, not much I can do. So I will carry it with a smile.

First leg is a flight to Cancun and a bus ride to Playa del Carmen, where I will relax a couple of days before making my way to Belize. The Month of November will be spent working my way down the Cayes and the coast before ending back up in Mexico the first week of December with Mary Lou , Larry and Karen. What I do with the rest of the time before Christmas will depend on the success of my search in November.

So what exactly am I trying to accomplish is the main question asked. Everything and nothing really but here is the list anyway:

• rest and recharge. No explanation required here.
• finish a few of the dozen or more songs I have started, unencumbered by the demands of work and life in general.
• talk to strangers, listen to their journeys, and maybe even find a few good stories to write about, and
• most importantly, find that little bar on the beach that has my name on it, and buy it.

Wherever it goes, it will be what it was supposed to be.

For those of you who are interested I will provide updates on this blog, Facebook and through Twitter dependent on where and when I stumble on wireless. So, here she goes.


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