Day 4 Belize City

Belize City does not have piers for the big ass boats so five of them are parked a ways out and we take small boats – tenders – in to the docks. The trip is fifteen minutes long, across azure waters and I make two trips and so spend an hour on the water, in wind and spray, and that is a nice part of the day. The whole day is okay. I like the city. Formerly called British Honduras, Belize is still in the commonwealth and the Queen is on the coins and streets have names like Duke, Cork, Major.

In the morning I walk until there are no more tourists, but there are streets with homes and many schools and gaggles of kids on the streets, all in uniforms – some white, some plaid. Walking past open classrooms I hear them chanting numbers. Again hot hot hot, which forces one to walk slowly, in a slow rhythm. Thin dogs with balls or teats swinging avoid everyone but are on the hunt for food.

I find a street of bicycle shops and here is where Dave Nauss should retire to. They all have people working on bikes with eccentric home-made tools – Dave would love that. In two of the shops I buy valve covers for my bike – one pair in the shape of blue dice and the other pool balls. I am pleased.

I go back to the ship to cool off and then come right back out and walk in the bustle. In a bookstore I get a small volume of Belizean short stories which seems like a good way to spend money.

There is a great feeling of decaying elegance here. Large homes listing to port, dilapidated, needing paint. Vines growing over everything. Wooden shutters closed against the heat. Gardens thick with godnosewhat. All kinds of flowers and trees.

Out on a side road I am accosted by the most polite and educated man I have met in some time. He introduces himself as Prince Charles Paris. He is maybe 75, thin. The whiskers of his beard are snow white and lovely in contrast with his dark skin. He knows all about Canada building a big bridge in Belize and what CIDA has done. He’s the one who tells me Belize was British Honduras. Another charmer. By the end of our talk I am Princess Jane of Canada and I walk a bit taller through the streets and back to the water.