5:45am
We walked to the end of the road to catch what we thought was the express bus (AC, nicer seats) to Belize City, but come to find out that bus was not running on that day so we took the next available "school bus" like bus. Well I forgot to mention that it had been raining a good bit overnight and well, the rain was apparently too much for the make-shift bridge crossing over one of the many rivers.
8:00am
We arrive at the bridge which is overrun with water. We along with half of Belize wait while they attempt to fix it and let the waters recede enough to cross.
9:00am
Still waiting...
10:00am
Still waiting...
11:00am
The waters have begun to recede and they have dumped a bunch of rocks onto the make-shift bridge. However, all of the sudden our bus decides it is heading back to Punta Gorda! So we had to make a quick choice, go back to PG or hop off and figure some alternate route of transportation... well we hopped off.
11:30am
We noticed a small boat down by the river bank with some military personnel on it so we trekked in ankle deep mud (in flip-flops mind you) to this boat. They were kind enough to take us across the river to yet another muddy bank where we trekked back up to the road. By this time a few 4-wheel drive vehicles had made it across the river so we hitched a ride with a dutch couple (I rode in the back and Hannah and the kids were able to ride inside).
12:00pm
We got out at a junction where they were going to be heading in the opposite direction of our destination. We thanked them and started walking to a near by gas station.
1:00pm
We were at least able to hose off our feet and go to the bathroom (it had been ~6 hours by now) and get some gas station food for lunch. We figured there would be a bus heading where we wanted to go, so we waited.
1:30pm
And waited... (oh by the way, it is pouring down rain by now)
2:00pm or so
And waited
2:30pm
I had noticed a very nice 4 door Ford F350 truck in the gas station parking lot (it kinda stuck out like a sore thumb among the many not so nice trucks). Anyways we were standing on the roadside across from the gas station and I see this gentleman get out of the truck and begin walking our way. I make eye contact with him and we meet near the road. He explains that his is heading to the western part of the country but he could take us to Belmopan (the capital) that is about an hour away where I figured we could surely catch a bus. We gratefully accepted and we were off. Yet another bridge had flooded out along the way but we were able to take detour around it. Come to find out he was returning home where he lives in Spanish Lookout from PG where he has a farm. He was a very nice Christian Mennonite and we had a great and interesting discussion about God during the drive. It sure was nice to ride in a comfortable a/c vehicle!
3:30pm
We arrive at the Belmopan bus terminal to only find out that the next bus to Belize City would not get us to the water taxi terminal in time to catch the last boat to Caye Caulker! So what do you do? You do what you have to do because by this time we were committed to getting to the island, so we charted a vehicle ($$) to take us directly to Belize City.
4:00pm
We get to the water taxi station in time to catch the next 45minute boat ride to Caye Caulker!!!
5:00pm
Finally there! A really long day but worth it once we got to the island!
After that all was absolutely wonderful! The weather was mostly overcast but nice all the same. We relaxed, ate some awesome food, relaxed some more, saw some beautiful sea life, swam, relaxed even more! We stayed in a house near the water. The kids enjoyed being able to watch some cartoons and Hannah and I loved the air-conditioning! It was great. Today was tough, trying to get back into the swing of things. I think I am still in "island mode."
Here are some pics of the trip:
Waiting, waiting....
This is the bridge we were supposed to cross
I had another pic with Hannah
in it but she did not look too happy.
This was certainly the low point
of the trip.
Trying to find a ride
At the water taxi station
Finally in Caye Caulker!
The kids enjoying some Saturday
morning cartoons while we enjoyed
some Saturday morning sleep!
Loving the sea life
Father's day breakfast- YUMMY!
A very special Father's day supper
We had a great time!
I posted a lot more pics of the trip in the sideshow at the top of the page.
1 comment:
WoW James what a horrible time you guys had trying to get to such a beautiful retreat! I kept reading and reading and reading and each time I was like OH I would have given up way back into the story LOL!! We are so lucky, so blessed! I can't imagine coming up on a make shift bridge and it being out too. You guys are sure troopers. I am so glad you finally got there and had such a great time. I BET the cartoons were the best they had ever seen at that point too LOL
Olivia was just asking today, after we had prayed... where yalls home was....she couldnt understand that you could sell your home lol
Well we love yall and I Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us with your blogs and photos. It really is an eye opener. I cant see me ever going to Belize but I am praying about the Mission Trip to Mexico with the Church.
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