Punta Gorda

If it’s meant to be we will stop I said. Kevin was asking to stop off at one of the temples on our way to Punta Gorda and well just 20 minutes down the road we saw the sign and pulled off the road and started pushing our bikes uphill. A dirt and rock steep .5 mile incline which pained my legs because it had now been almost two full weeks of biking without a full days rest and we had been pushing through Belize. Nam ti Lin was right before us and although small it was a scenic beauty to finally see a Mayan temple

It was good break before the rolling hills started. Mentally I was not prepared to be pushing my bicycle uphills yet. I thought it wouldn’t come till Guatemala and again I was wrong. We stopped for soup and some drunk guy fell over and slept on the ground of the bar in front of the restaurant. As we waited a guy proceeded to push past my likes of boundaries and I had to tell Kevin in German everything. We typically speak Swiss German daily unless with others. It has come in hand when discussing prices and plans rather than using English and people being able to slight or fully understand. We ate soup and almost bought food coloring $0.50 ice cream but decided against it and got back on our bikes only to get right back off at the next uphill. Although it’s slow and boring as we go up, the down is children’s play and we hoot and holler on the way down. At 14:00 we got to a church college and sat under their shelter to eat the last two oranges we stole from trees we rode past and to stretch and lay down. Their grass was so neatly cut we decided it looked like a lovely place to set up our tent and camp. We got rejected only to be offered a seafront camping spot at Julio’s house 9 miles down the road right in town. We accepted and began biking the rolling hills. I was weak and tired and told Kevin to just power on without me until a guy yelled you only got 5 miles till town and then my perspective changed and all was well except we didn’t have money and it was Sunday do everything would be closed. Julio gave stellar directions we found his house and a vegan, vegetarian/seafood place open to eat. They guy was amazing and let us share a tasty fish dish (best I’d had in Belize) and offered us two coconuts to restore our electrolytes after our ride even though we told him we didn’t have money and would need to pay after finding an ATM. He mentioned how trustworthy he was and I could feel it. He gave off such natural kind hearted energy that we ended up spending the evening at his restaurant till 21:00 with a Canadian couple talking life stories, health is wealth, and conservation. Kevin’s stomach was uneasy as it had been up and down recently, really a bummer for him and I feel bad he has to suffer at times while ai enjoy all the foods and drinks without hesitation. So Gomier, the owner of the restaurant made Kevin an herbal concoction and it helped him enough that he ordered a smoothie and burrito while I was in the bathroom. We had some words exchanged in Swiss German ad the couple with us laughed knowing what had happened. All was well we spent way too much money that day and in return at 20:30 Kevin had to go confirm we had a free camping spot still.

Good news, the next morning the boat worked out we paid our exit fee and before mid day we were in Guatemala at Puerto Barrios for a much needed rest and recovery day.