The last 4 days i decided to give beach life on the island Caye Caulker a break and went to Cayo district in Western Belize. The trip on the bus was easy as could be and buses travel frequently in either direction. You pay 5BZE (2.5USD) for the bus ride and it takes you about 2 hrs to get from Belize City to San Ignacio.
This time we (my friend Patrick and i) stopped about halfway between Belmopan and San Ignacio in Ontario Village to visit his family and spend some time with them. I knew before that Belizeans in general are very friendly people but i had not anticipated what i experienced the next four days.
When we got off the bus in front of the house (yes, you can get off anywhere, just holler and tell the driver to stop) we were greeted by three of Patrick’s cousins, his aunt and uncle. Joe and Marjorie Middleton greeted me like an old friend with big hugs and hellos although i had never met them before.
My first tries at making fresh tortillas
We spent the rest of the day meeting many cousins, aunts and uncles and got the impression this family must consist of about 100 people and that is only the maternal side. In the evening aunt Marjorie taught me how to make tortillas on a comal and we enjoyed a tasty dinner of chicken, home made flour tortillas and avocado.
Afterwards i settled into a comfortable bed in the nice little house and was soon after in a deep deep sleep.
The next day Patrick and i set out to go to San Ignacio. On the way we stopped to visit his Mom and Stepfather. It was very nice but brief since we had a lot on our agenda still. We had our mind set to go to Five Sister Falls and spend the night at Five Sisters Lodge (this trip i will feature in a separate blog post).
We spend the third day in San Ignacio itself and went to see Patrick’s 97 yearold grandmother! This old lady was amazing! Although she said age is finally getting the best of her and she doesn’t hear and see
Patrick's 97 yo grandmother and i
good anymore she was sitting on the porch pointing out birds in the trees to me and i had to smirk about that! It was a lovely time visiting with her and hearing her tell about how Cayo and San Ignacio have changed so much over the last few years.
At the end of the day we went back to Ontario Village and prepared dinner with aunt Marjorie, her 4 children, her husband and 2 grandchildren. I am still flabbergasted how such a small house can fit 10 people without feeling overly full. There was so much love and warmth in this home and i have NEVER in my life felt so welcome as a stranger ever before. It was instantly like i belonged to the family.
Of course the goodbyes in the morning were not easy. Especially the boys (age 8-10) had a lot of fun goofing around with Patrick, playing soccer with me and dancing funny dances to all kinds of music. I was impressed when 9yo Ivan showed me how to dance Punta!
But afterall our time in Cayo was coming to an end. We hugged everybody goodbye in the morning and stepped out to the roadside. We flagged down a bus going towards Belmopan/Belize City and started making our way back to Caye Caulker.
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