Traveling from San Pedro, Belize to Cayo & My Fabulous Destination

Yesterday, I departed San Pedro at 8:30am to head west.  From San Pedro to the Cayo District – the largest of them all and one that is so jam packed with things to do (caves, rivers, hiking, wildlife, Mayan sites), it’s almost too much.

Start point green, end point red. 105 miles by my route.highways-belize

This can be done quickly and with a higher cost via plane – Tropic Air flies from San Pedro to San Ignacio every few hours but I decided to “slow travel”.  Aka budget travel.  And I took the boat to the bus.  And it was even cheaper than usual.

Let me tell you how it all went down.  8am.  Taxi from my condo (south of town) to the San Pedro Belize Express water taxi dock – $7bzd.

There was already a decent size line waiting to board the 8:30 boat.  And they had the smallest boats waiting…the ones that are half covered and half open.  Tough for the hottest month of the year!

But any complaining that was about to tumble from my mouth was quickly stifled.  I went to the window with my “Membership Card” – the best thing $10bzd can buy – and found that my normal $48bzd RT ticket was free.  FREE!   Every 12th ride is free.   Membership DOES have its privileges.

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This card also insures you the “local” price when you are taking the water taxi.   Online the price from San Pedro to Belize City RT is listed as $35US or $70bzd.  There’s no reason to book online.  This card gets you the local rate of $48bzd.  TOTALLY worth it and good for one year.

So we PACKED on this boat.  I secured a spot in the partial shade…many squeezed up front.  30 mins to Caye Caulker, 90 and we were in Belize City.

Oh jeez…clumpy, sweaty white dreadlocks getting on in Caye Caulker.  Up wind.  Sigh…

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The sardine boat is off!

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Taxi time:  $7bzd from boat terminal to Belize City bus station.  I was just in time to catch the 10:15am express bus to Belmopan.

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And to grab a little snack and a drink.  MAN IT IS HOT!

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You exit the city pretty quickly and are soon crossing the savannah.  Usually wetlands, this area looks parched.  The grasses and the palmettos waiting for the rainy season to start.

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All windows and doors open – it’s like riding in the back seat of a convertible.  WINDY…but cool.  (Make sure to check out my Tips for Riding the Bus in Belize below.)

One hour and 15 minutes later, we were in Belmopan.  $5bzd.  The bus to Benque was waiting.

Benque is the town along the western border with Guatemala.  This bus stops whenever and where ever but the ride is so pretty.  Everything becomes greener, all the trees were flowering or dripping with mangos, such a beautiful area…another hour and 15 minutes and $3bzd, I was in San Ignacio.

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It was well into the mid 90s.  Mr. Pill was waving at me from across the street.  Kids!  Pills are A. Okay.

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Total time:  8:30 to 12:30 – 4 hours.  Total cost?  $70bzd IF I had paid for the boat.  But my total cost was $22bzd.

My pick up was waiting for beautiful, beautiful Ka’ana Resort – it is SO conveniently located just 10 minutes outside of lovely San Ignacio.   Sure it was hot but doesn’t this just make you feel cooler already?

It did me.

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