Sunday, me & Ed & Charlotte & Chris’s family (Chris is “our taxi driver”) went to Sarteneja. 

Sarteneja is a little seacoast town on the end of the peninsula that defines Corozal Bay.  It is about 30 minutes from Corozal by boat.  Chris assured us that it was about “45 minutes” drive.  Actually, it was about 45 miles of very bad road.

Going there took an hour and a half, including a short ferry ride across the New River.  When we came back, the ferry was closed.  (surprise!! It was after 7PM!!)  We went in Ed’s Dodge Dakota (tiny) pickup truck. Chris drove, with seven of us in the back, (fortunately) well padded by seat cushions from our camping trailer. 

We stopped at the Shipstern Butterfly Preserve, where they had a closed building full of very beautiful butterflies.  We vowed to return and view the entire preserve.   The butterflies here in Belize are not huge, but their colors are very well defined and very spectacular.  They also had a display of animal feces, and we had an opportunity to match the feces with the animal.  Once again, I had an opportunity to prove that “Rick don’t know s---“ since I missed 4 out of six choices.  After all, do you know what Boa Constrictor poop looks like?? Charlotte did better than I did. <grin>  They also have a tour of the bird sanctuary which is an all day tour that we will take some other day.   

Our destination, Sarteneja, is a typical little Belizean town, with a spectacular bay view.  The beach is lined with palms and fruit trees different than anything we’ve seen so far. Buses from Corozal and Orange Walk brought people out for the holiday. The PUP (political party now in power) had a rally in the morning, but it was all over by the time we got there. They had scheduled 3 bands to play; the Mexican-style band finished before we got there (darn) and the loud punta rock band cranked up and prepared to play for six or seven hours – at about 130 db – to accompany our visit.

Lots of mini-marts (open) , and a hotel/bar call “Diani’s” which was closed.  It had 8 rooms, I think, and is up for sale. Chris and Teresa brought along a typical Belizean picnic dinner for us -- rice & beans and chicken  & hot cheese dip. Of course we brought a cooler of Belikin Beer. The bayfront was very neat, and since it was a holiday, there were dozens of boats.  All of the sailboats (typically 30-foot) came out from Corozal & Belize City, and they had a race.  There were a dozen motor boats and we took a ride up the coast where the girls from our family (16 & 18) stripped and swam.  Sounds pretty racy, but actually, they took off their jeans and they had swim trunks on underneath.  They didn’t take off their tops.  The teenaged boys who took us on the ride were impressed tho – they all got in the bay (about 80 degrees) with their shirts on  and frolicked around and made us later than we wanted to be.  

Charlotte and I both wanted to get in the Bay with the kids but we didn’t have “Bath Suits” (Belizean term) so we sat in the boat and got sunburned.  We are both pretty red now, and rubbing each other regularly with Aloe & Lidocaine.  This is called “togetherness,” I think.

We got back after dark, and I suggested that the girls should follow Christ because otherwise, they might go to Hell.  “Hell,” I told them, “is where you spend a million years going back and forth to Sarteneja in the back of a pickup truck.” 

Sr. ric

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