Boat Bound for BCE

Today, almost right after breakfast, we headed out on the boat, back to the mainland. We got to the mainland and had to wait for a taxi for about 15 minutes. The taxi drove us to the bank, so LuRue could get money out of the bank account to pay everyone she needed to. She had been told, from this bank, you could draw at most $800 out of it. So, LuRue tried to draw $800 out, and it seemed like it was working, but no money or receipt would come out. So, we went to get assistance, but no one could seem to find out what was going on. We were shown to almost every station at the bank, until, finally someone tried a dollar and it worked. It turned out that you could only draw $500 BZ from the bank, each day. Whoever told LuRue you could draw $800, was misleading.

The taxi driver had been patiently waiting outside and he drove us back to Blue Belize. We got in for, like, the third time. Right after we got in, we went into town again to look for a lunch. We went to the Snack Shack, but it was not as good as we were told, or remembered. We ordered a burrito, coleslaw as a side (only LuRue ordered that), an oreo milkshake and a mango smoothie. The coleslaw side was actually mixed in with the burrito, which made it look disgusting to Montana. The burrito tortilla was too spicy for LuRue and the mango smoothie was not at all what Montana had remembered. The only thing that was good was the oreo milkshake, which LuRue ordered and let Montana have a few sips.

After lunch, we walked over to the Belize tourist center. The real Mayan paddle was on display. We thought the paddle was pretty cool, and how similar the 3D replica was to the real paddle. The lady archeologist we had met before was there & told us exactly how she & her team had found it. A dedicated team who ducked into mucky waist-deep water time after time, holding their breaths so they could dig us posts.

This is the 3D replica

This is the real paddle

After looking at the paddle, we walked over to the nature center to figure out if we could do the “Ranger for a Day.” It turns out they had not planned for us, so a young woman got on the phone & LuRue talked to the head ranger. He said, No problem & that three other people are coming, too. So, we are all planned for tomorrow. We went to the grocery store and bought some snacks for tomorrow, before going back to the apartment.

When we got back to our condo, both of us took showers and LuRue tried to figure out how much cash she had left before going out for a birthday dinner. Montana got curried chicken with white rice and LuRue got fried chicken with white rice. We both got the pumpkin cake as a dessert, which, both thought was really good. We walked back to Blue Belize and got ready for the next day.

Now that we are posting the blog, we are frustrated that we forgot to take a picture during Montana's birthday dinner. Her camera was there, but apparently we were distracted by a large group of young people  who might have been Peace Corps volunteers. I guess posing next to a 1400-year-old Mayan paddle will have to do instead.