La isla...bonita?

San Pedro was....interesting to say the least. We went to Chetumal (the capital of the state of Quintana Roo) and from there proceeded to take the boat "the Belize Express" to San Pedro. The Belize Express was nowhere near as glamorous or speedy as it sounds. It took us just over 2 hours of turbulent wind and waves to reach San Pedro. Despite being a frazzled, windblown mess, the positive side to the boat ride was one hell of an amazing view. I couldn't believe that the water ACTUALLY has a visible line from where the water transforms from a dull grey to turquoise blue. I always assumed it was a gradual change but nope. It is actually pretty amazing.

Other then that, San Pedro was nothing i imagined it to be. I imagined well, what Madonna sang about. A beautiful, luxurious island bursting with equally beautiful people. Maybe that was a little farfetched, but that's the impression that is given about San Pedro. Reality: a quiet, quaint and overpriced little beach town with golf carts instead of cars, and american prices instead of pesos. To sum San Pedro up in one word is: ghetto. It is, surprisingly, extremely ghetto. There is absolutely ZERO nightlife. Being there on a Friday and Saturday night we expected to party it up at least a little bit, but there no was no party in sight. Of the two night clubs that exist in San Pedro, one is drug and violence filled, while the other has heavy 90's rap music with thrashy girls and boys that don't know that your waist is at your hips, not your knees. Obviously we didn't find the party we were looking for and disappointingly headed back to our hotel room.

 Our hotel room on the other hand was a pretty great place to be. An apartment style suite with 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, a kitchen, living room and small balcony overlooking the pool with the sea just a few feet away = perfection. Another downside to San Pedro is that yes there ARE many wonderful activities to partake in, but like with everything else in San Pedro, it comes at a (ridiculous) price. Any type of activity (scuba, snorkel, tour etc) begins at about 60$ US and goes all the way up to 200$+ (per person!!).  Needless to say we opted for driving our golf cart around all day and the free kayaks that were offered at the hotel. Another larger plus for San Pedro (well Belize in general) is that it is English speaking. Score!!! Never did i ever think that i would be able to speak English (and not be judged for it) in central-south america, but lo and behold Belize is an English speaking country, thank god! Enough struggling in Spanish, finally someone can understand me perfectly.

In all of this, OF COURSE i managed to find some time for shopping! In this land of overpriced products, i did manage to snag 2 pretty cute dresses. One blue-green colour dress with pockets and a white one with lace detail for about 50$ US in total. (25$ each)

Next we travelled to Bacalar, about 30 minutes outside the city of Chetumal. Now THIS was amazing! Think Canadian cottage country meets Mexico. It is actually situated around a lagoon that is called "la laguna de los siete colores" which translates to "the lagoon of seven colours" and does it ever live up to its name. Many people from Chetumal own houses overlooking the lagoon, much like cottages in Canada, but about 100 times more picturesque. Turquoise, green and baby blue water that is as warm as a bath tub with sunshine for days. Absolute paradise. I don't know when, where or how, but i am stating here and now that i WILL own a house there one day. Let's hope its not just a pipe dream.  Here a few pictures that don't even BEGIN to do justice to the beauty there. Enjoy!