"Without chocolate, life is a mistake" Part 1

-Juan, Owner of Ixcacao Maya Belizean Chocolate Farm

The first half of our inland trip has been amazing. Today was our chocolate farm excursion, but first let me brief you on prior events.

Monday was spent traveling from San Pedro to Punta Gorda, located in Belize's southern-most district. Sounds easy? Think again.

The day started off with a 90-minute water taxi ride I knew only too well (read The Best Day Ever if you don't know what I'm alluding to).

We made it to Belize City and took a cab to the bus station. After waiting an hour and a half, our bus arrived. 

So the Belize way of public transit is first come, first serve. We were aware of this and planned accordingly--all fourteen of us stood ready at Gate 1, waiting for the gate to be opened so we could board the bus. 

The man came to open the gate, and for one reason or another, he chose to open Gate 3 instead. A huge rush of people fled to the gate, and we had to push and shove through to stay in the fight for a seat. We needed fourteen seats on that bus, and we were gonna get them.

We finally made it through the gate, a little desperate now because of the large crowd trying to board the bus. Someone yelled that we could get on in the back too, so a bunch of us ran behind the bus. It was locked. We began walking back around, but the driver opened the back door for us. In the hype, there was a standstill moment where no one was boarding. I knew time was running out, so I said, "Alright, I'm getting on," and jumped aboard. The others in the group followed. Miraculously, all of us got a seat, which is good because those without seats had to get off and wait for the next bus. (Does this sound like musical chairs or what?)

Next came a six-hour bus ride down the coast. No AC, windows down, more and more passengers climbing aboard. I don't really have words to describe how it felt, but this picture of Dr. Catapano and me seems to sum it up:

My view from the back:

For the last bit, there was a group of soldiers, who managed to squeeze in the very back of the bus:

The views were amazing, though:

One more:

We finally made it to Punta Gorda, grabbed a bite to eat at a place called Grace's, and crashed for the night.

On Tuesday, we were hoping to go diving with whale sharks, but it didn't work out. Luckily, Molly found the opportunity to take Garifuna drum lessons for 25 Bz, so ten of us did that. Our Garifuna teacher, Ronald McDonald (seriously), was so kind. He and his wife were leaving that afternoon for Easter vacation, but he squeezed us into his schedule last minute.

Our one-hour lesson lasted well over an hour and a half. In addition to learning how to play the bass drums, we also learned a lot about the resilient Garifuna people and their culture.

Afterwards, a couple of the girls and I went kayaking in a creek right outside of town. It was only 10 Bz for an hour, and it  was definitely worth it! (Pictures to come.)