Today was just a day to sleep in, eat good food and wander the byways of Placencia. It's our last full "vacation" day in Belize, tomorrow we start the journey home. Breakfast in the
Maya Beach Bistro was excellent and before heading out to explore Placencia town, Phyllis decided to take advantage of the warm calm waters in front of the hotel and try standup paddle boarding. She had taken a lesson back on Maui several years ago and was eager to see if she remembered how to get back on the board after falling off in the water (or even how to stand up at all). Craig supervised from shore and she headed off for about a half hour, repeatedly falling to her knees on the board and finally
falling off backwards a couple of times. Maintaining balance was hard but she got a bit better as time went on. And she remembered to hold on to her paddle no matter what, and so deemed the outing a success.
Next, we went back to Placencia town to wander the narrow streets, absorb the local atmosphere, and maybe find a souvenir or two. It was a somewhat lazy Sunday but most businesses were open. Especially important was the Tutti Frutti Gelateria, where we
planned to have lunch. Craig would have no doubt discovered this on his own, but Phyllis had gotten a tip from a fellow snorkeler at Turneffe about this shop being the best (and among the few) homemade ice cream shops in all of Belize. Lunch was excellent. We then strolled along the sidewalks that lead off the main drag towards the beachfront, which is how numerous shops and residences are reached (no street in that narrow strip). Craig had been on the lookout for a carved wooden creature to add to his collection, and we found just the right shark at a small carver's shop.
After a bit more wandering, we drove back towards Maya Beach. We had already noticed a village named Seine Bight on our earlier drives, and this time had to take a brief detour off the main road through the village, which revealed it was probably the most disadvantaged population center we'd seen on our entire trip. Curious especially because the entire Placencia Peninsula otherwise seemed to be full of ex-pat high-end luxury mansions, most of which one expects will be washed out to
sea with the oceans rising, if not in the next major hurricane. A lot of money to be wasted one might think. However, Seine Bight had the best grocery store we'd seen, where Phyllis stopped to find some Sudafed-type pills for her ailing head. (Although she was a little taken aback by the pharmacist sign that said "Licensed to sell Drugs and Poisons".)
Once back at Maya Beach we celebrated the cocktail hour by drinking a Tommy Goff Belgian Tripel we'd picked up at the Barge on the way. Phyllis was interested yesterday but
couldn't drink that 10.5% ABV while driving, so this was perfect. If you're wondering who the heck is Tommy Goff, well, that turns out to be the Belizean name for the fer-de-lance. Guess that justifies the high ABV. Then it was time for a good dinner in the Bistro, both of which involved shrimp, and packing up for moving day tomorrow.
2025-02-07