Sweet Spots
24 March 2012 | Placencia, Belize
Beth / 80's and 90's - good breeze at night
With the laundry delivered to Ther on Saturday morning, Jim and I headed off to explore this pretty town, and it is so nice to have a place to stretch our legs. As much as Cucumber Beach Marina in Old Belize filled our need for a safe place to tie up the boat while we fetched and delivered visitors and made land trips, it offered no walking opportunities and we've missed that. (With hindsight, we surely do wish we had arranged for visitors to fly in here!)
In contrast, Placencia boasts not only lots of crisscrossing sandy paths to roam, but also a mile-long concrete footpath running past gift shops and restaurants, tour companies and inns, bordered by brilliant flowering shrubs, raked sand yards and friendly artisans.
We got in a good walk and then headed for Above Grounds, the coffee shop that feels like a tree house. It's a sweet little place with stools and bars on different levels, a jungly view, good coffee and free wifi. How can you beat that?
We chatted with a Mayan woman who gets up at 4 am to catch a bus in Punta Gorda and bring her baskets and jewellery up here where there is more opportunity to reach the tourists. These folks work hard at both creating their wares and marketing them. Along the footpath we met a woman who asked if we might be interested in a tour to the Monkey River. She had one leaving on Sunday and told us her shop was just up the way if we wanted to stop by. (Good thinking on her part because we went back later and booked it.) Another encounter was with a group of dreadlocked guys who gave us a little piece of paper that set us up for the evening, and you'll hear about that in the next post. At the Paradise Resort next to Yoli's, we joined Carol and Roger (Androsian) as we set up computers, enjoyed frosty drinks and bought homemade cinnamon bread from a couple of passing boys.
And of course, before we headed back to our own sweet spot for a swim and a nap, we had to make one more stop at Tutti Fruitti's!