November 16, 2009
Old Belize Marina

Yesterday was an uneventful day with just more or less relaxing, reading and getting caught up with laundry and those other tasks that an RV needs.
We did have lunch at the marina restaurant across the way (you have to go to the other side of the waterway). It is more like a large restaurant, beach club with a swimming area, zip lines, volleyball courts, dance area and lots of lounge chairs more like a resort hotel. They seem to do quite a job also catering special events like weddings. It was nice to just sit by the water and have a leisurely lunch. My first hamburger in quite some time and we had an appetizer of a Belizean dish which was chicken and vegetables wrapped in a corn tortilla and then deep fried. The food here is not spicy as in hot like Mexico but more the spices of Jamaica. Bev had some shrimp with a local sauce on top again very caribe in the taste.
Later because I could not get on the wifi at the restaurant I went to the harbormasters office and he was kind to let me use his internet connection. Well the blogs got posted and I looked at my e-mail. Some documents they want Bev to sign just will not happen until we get back to CA. By the way this is also C.A. but here it means Central America.
I talked to Gabe momentarily on the harbormaster phone but not very long because I did not wish to run up a bill for him. Our Skype is blocked here and I did not understand the harbormaster to know whether it was just his computer system or the whole country. I think that it was the whole country.
Today is Monday so after 2:30 PM I will be at the DHL office to see if our parts have arrived. If so then we can leave for Tikal tomorrow. If not then we must stay another day. If they do not come before Wednesday then we must leave the country Thursday because that is when our visas expire. Ah well, there is always a backup plan I am sure.
It is now 6:00 PM and the parts did arrive today. Picking them up was a real experience in government bureaucracy. First I went to the DHL office downtown on New Rd. The truck coming from Guatemala did not arrive till 3:30 PM (estimated time of arrival was 2:00 PM) ah well roads and everything and it is a 6-8 hour drive. So then I was told that my package had arrived but I needed to pick it up out at the port because customs had it. But first you need to sign for it here. So after copying my driver’s license on the copy machine that they had to stand on stepstool to reach and having me signs some forms and then gave me about 6 forms to take with me to the port. This is on the other side of town. So off TT (Tiny Tigre the scooter) and I go to try to find the cargo office. Well the sign was about the size of a 3x5” postcard but we made it.
So then we wait and they finally usher me into the back and have me open my package. Yes, those are my parts inside. Now the customs officer estimates the duty to be paid. Yesss ssssir now you must go over to the Customs House to payyyyy the duty. Wel where is that? Just over there you can’t see it from here but it is near the green building about a block away. So TT and I head off to find this only getting lost once. Then inside the building to find the cashier and pay the duty and have about 4 forms looked at and a receipt in triplicate made out and the log book signed. Next back to the Cargo Office where they took the 6 r so copies I had and stamped about three of them and then you sign two of these and then they have to sign a couple of them and then log them into their log book. Finally, you get your package back and now all you have to do is figure out how to get back to the RV. Ah, the pleasures of dealing with all of this vacation stuff.
So tomorrow in the AM we head to Tikal and none too soon because our visas expire in two days and so does the insurance for Belize on the RV.