Punta Gorda

On Saturday we were told to get up really early, we were split into 2 groups & were given a list of items that needed to be purchased in town. We had to either hitch hike or take a bus into to town just like the locals do. We chose to hitch hike in the back of a truck, hitch hiking there is nothing like here.

It was a mile long walk to the end of the road to find a ride to flag down.

It was neat to see different people's thatched roof homes & animals along the way.

The view from the truck we hitched a ride in. It was nice & cool as it was 6:30am and about to rain.

The entrance to the town of Punta Gorda

As we were driving in we could see the rain pouring down into the Caribbean Sea

We knew it was on it's way toward the town and about 15 minutes after we reached the town it down poured and was so nice & cool. All of the market vendors just instantly popped up huge beach sized umbrellas & everyone on the busy street found an umbrella or building to get under until it passed.

Part of our instructions were to buy each of the items from a different vendor. There were tons of veggies & fruit plus lots of herbs & spices. It was such a great way to talk with the locals & we also had to ask certain questions & for directions to get to our next destination.

The fish market & meat market were covered in flies, all the black dots in the photo are flies.

It really makes you appreciate the grocery store.

You can see a tire in the water, this along with lots of other trash was washed in to the Sea by the hurricane in Guatemala.

Both teams followed the instructions we were given & ended up at the home of one of Machaca's staff members & then 14 of us piled into an 8 person van. The only 2 people that have a seat belt in Belize is the driver & the front passenger. We then drove to our next destination...below are some pictures I took on our way out of town.

The Marina

The local children just walk around everywhere without parental supervision. There is no crime in Belize!