The following is an article from Traveling Pat! Patricia is a regular contributor to Give Love Create Happiness.
We have been here for a week now and I think my pulse is as low as it can be and still keep me alive….
Xcalat is a tiny fishing village just a stone’s throw from the Belize border. Fishing, diving and snorkeling are the only things going on here. The village is tiny, (did I say that already?) no phones, banks, gas stations, ATMs, paved roads, and no credit cards are accepted anywhere. There are two
minuscule cubbyhole stores where you can get coke, chips etc., plus a couple of cafes. You need to take small bills because getting change is like winning the lottery. Nice to know all that BEFORE you get here…Some people think it is a paradise but I suspect Aaron is putting me through some kind of test.
To get to our villa (I use the term loosely) one must navigate craterlike
potholes on a dusty dirt road. Our place is on a sparsely populated beach that has a huge reef out front, and we can snorkel, or kayak to our hearts
content.
The grocery truck comes once a week. Occasionally there is a knock on your door, and it is kids selling fish empanaditos, hot off their Mom’s grill, or the lady flogging her cheesecakes or Aguosto selling us 7 lobster tails fresh out of the sea. Thursday, it was Lobster for lunch AND dinner. Aaron was even
eating lobster grilled cheese sandwiches the next day.
Xcalat is a tiny fishing village just a stone’s throw from the Belize border. Fishing, diving and snorkeling are the only things going on here. The village is tiny, (did I say that already?) no phones, banks, gas stations, ATMs, paved roads, and no credit cards are accepted anywhere. There are two
minuscule cubbyhole stores where you can get coke, chips etc., plus a couple of cafes. You need to take small bills because getting change is like winning the lottery. Nice to know all that BEFORE you get here…Some people think it is a paradise but I suspect Aaron is putting me through some kind of test.
To get to our villa (I use the term loosely) one must navigate craterlike
potholes on a dusty dirt road. Our place is on a sparsely populated beach that has a huge reef out front, and we can snorkel, or kayak to our hearts
content.
The grocery truck comes once a week. Occasionally there is a knock on your door, and it is kids selling fish empanaditos, hot off their Mom’s grill, or the lady flogging her cheesecakes or Aguosto selling us 7 lobster tails fresh out of the sea. Thursday, it was Lobster for lunch AND dinner. Aaron was even
eating lobster grilled cheese sandwiches the next day.
The place is run on solar, rainwater harvesting, wind power and generators so that means NO HAIRDRYERS, coffee makers or curling irons. Brush your teeth with bottled water, TP in a basket; gas fridge (which is code for cool, not cold beer) and the numerous ants are free. Very rustic. Because of the no Hair dryer rule, after I have a shower, I go outside and in no time flat, the hurricane force winds dry my hair and it looks, well...frankly... horrible…all the time.
Apparently the Columbian drug cartels cruise along the coast here and toss bags of cocaine into the water. They eventually float to shore and are marked with “if you find this, call ###. Recently there was $500,000.00 worth found just lying on the beach. The smart thing to do is not see it at all and no problema. It brings a whole new dimension to “Beach Combing”! But really, what would you do with this stuff even if you found it? Can you tell I’ve given this some thought?? If the military caught you it would be, oh
so very bad... The locals say they are trying to make mules of the young
people in the area. That would explain the big army presence here. The army, looks to me, like a bunch of serious little kids, dressed in camo carrying machine guns…
Late the other evening I heard men talking out back. I immediately kicked
into my paranoia mode. Naturally Aaron was sleeping like a baby (Dam
him). Because we are isolated here, and I have heard the drug and theft
stories I was sure they were stealing our car or getting ready to come up and rob the gringos. Of course it didn’t happen and I found out in the morning that the military patrols this road every night (compliments of Uncle Sam) and last night they were collecting crocodiles from the lagoon right behind our place and relocating them. Crocs…good grief!
By the way, I saw a HUGE snake on the road yesterday. It was road kill
though and was being pecked apart by some large bird. Yuck. Then I hear
that our caretaker saw 2 coral snakes in the property next door. Plus oh
yeah, the big cats come out at night… This really IS a test!!
Apparently the Columbian drug cartels cruise along the coast here and toss bags of cocaine into the water. They eventually float to shore and are marked with “if you find this, call ###. Recently there was $500,000.00 worth found just lying on the beach. The smart thing to do is not see it at all and no problema. It brings a whole new dimension to “Beach Combing”! But really, what would you do with this stuff even if you found it? Can you tell I’ve given this some thought?? If the military caught you it would be, oh
so very bad... The locals say they are trying to make mules of the young
people in the area. That would explain the big army presence here. The army, looks to me, like a bunch of serious little kids, dressed in camo carrying machine guns…
Late the other evening I heard men talking out back. I immediately kicked
into my paranoia mode. Naturally Aaron was sleeping like a baby (Dam
him). Because we are isolated here, and I have heard the drug and theft
stories I was sure they were stealing our car or getting ready to come up and rob the gringos. Of course it didn’t happen and I found out in the morning that the military patrols this road every night (compliments of Uncle Sam) and last night they were collecting crocodiles from the lagoon right behind our place and relocating them. Crocs…good grief!
By the way, I saw a HUGE snake on the road yesterday. It was road kill
though and was being pecked apart by some large bird. Yuck. Then I hear
that our caretaker saw 2 coral snakes in the property next door. Plus oh
yeah, the big cats come out at night… This really IS a test!!
Aaron snorkeling
Sunset at happy hour
The place
Our beach
