Mr. Joe's wild bike ride
Yesterday we rented bikes from "Joe's Bike Rentals". We went as far north on the island as it's possible to go without a boat. North of where we're staying there is a lot of construction going on. Almost everything is under construction up that way. There are a few already-completed resorts, but there are a lot more on the way. Many are condo developments (on the South side of the island locals try to get you to attend free lunches and time-share pitches).
The ride: we went North along the beach (in hard-packed sand) up until "The Split". The sea cuts all the way through the caye at one point and bridge connects the two sides. The bridge is a semi-recent development. On the North side of the bridge nothing is paved. We went over some pretty bumpy and puddle-y roads on our way to "Journey's End" resort. Journey's End resort is a little bit before the road ends (I'm using "road" generously here). I'll upload the picture later, but the path we were on descended into a swamp and just went under water. So we turned around and headed South...
On the way back South I took a picture of a couple of the completed houses on the beach. These things were beautiful. Like a scaled-down Pac Heights home, but on the beach. All the more opulent when compared to the "ritzy" neighborhood of Belize city which we saw the next day.
The locals, for the most part, live on the South side of the island. We ventured off of the (two) paved roads and into the "suburbs" of San Pedro. The houses there are mostly on stilts (sometimes just a couple cinder blocks high) and they're universally small. Our ride would've been noticeably different on a bike with shocks. We went through puddles that blocked the whole road, around (and through) big ruts and depressions and ultimately came to the path that leads to the water tower.
We didn't know it at the time, but the town crocodiles (there are five or six) live over by the water tower. The locals feed them every day around 4:30pm and bring tourists out to see them eat dead chickens. We missed the show, but got to ride through a bunch more mud!
When we finally got back, it had been about 2 1/2 hours of straight riding and we were covered in mud splatters from the paths and roads of the island. All smiles. Thanks, Joe!
Addendum: Angela wanted the record to state that we road over a fallen palm tree.
