We in Ahrangewok mon (Orangewalk, Belize)

First border crossing, originally uploaded by sanuzbord.

Ok, so no luck with my ATM card, luckily Leah's will cover us, enough about that.

Back to the story...

We arrived in Chetumal and stayed the night talking with Luis and learning spanish sayings. We had a lot of fun with him and he was a great host.

The next morning we headed for the fishing terminal in downtown Chetumal to catch a boat to Sarteneja, Belize. After we had arranged a ride we headed to the migracion office to get our passports stamped for exit. As we pulled up in front of the office a "real" biker pulled up next to us and said hola. From the first glance we could tell that he was a bike tourist, even without his panniers on (the front rack is a dead giveaway). We tried our Spanish on him and it was clear that he was a foreigner because he didn't understand us. We soon found out that he was actually Mexican from Guadalajara and had ridden from Chicago. He is doing his ride to Tierra del Fuego to raise money and awareness for the Jesus Guadalupe Foundation (an organization that assists illegal immigrants in the US with funding college). He invited us to stay in the village he was staying in while he was volunteering with a local university. We gladly accepted and headed out to Laguna Guerrero which also happens to be the home of Daniel, the friendly manatee (so friendly that if you are lucky enough to get in the water with him he hugs you - as much as a manatee can). Well, as we have seen happen in the past, one night turned into one week and we so enjoyed our time with Isai, the bike tourist, that we now have a new travelling companion for a bit, he even doubles as a Spanish tutor!

We headed out to Orangewalk, Belize from Laguna Guerrero and made it as far as San Jose where I got a flat tire at dusk. We needed a place to stay in this town of a few hundred so we asked some folks with a large yard if we could camp there. Benita Pat was the matriarch of the family and hosted us ever so graciously with garnaches and conversation (in Spanish with a Kriol accent and lots of "ahhuhs, verdads and siiiiii's".

Internet's closing, time to go.
Peace out.