We decided to rent a car for the day and take a look around the area. We picked up our Hyundai Elantra at 9:00 and we set off. We are in Placencia Village, which is at the bottom of Placencia peninsula. Further up the peninsula there are a few other villages. About 20 miles up we connected to mainland and went north on the Southern Highway. Belize only has a few major highway (major here means it’s a paved 2 lane road). We passed miles and miles of banana plantations, and orange grove and had stunning views of the Maya Mountain the entire time. They resemble the Smokies with the obvious exception of the monstrous Palms you can see bursting from the rest of the forest canopy all along the side of the mountains. We took a turn to Hopkins Village and after maybe 10 miles the road ended at the sea and Hopkins Village. This does not seem to be a place touched by tourism much, although we see several signs for hostels. The few Americans we do see here look to be backpackers (to whom the hostels cater). The roads were terribly bumpy. We wanted to walk out to the beach so we stopped in front of the town’s clinic. The beach and view of the Caribbean were beautiful but somehow I don’t think the beauty is really appreciated here among the small, simple, often run down homes. The towns police station is being repainted a bright yellow. We joked that we hoped their were no crimes today because the policemen were busy painting. We found one supermarket calls ‘Happy Shopping Center’. Is that true here? It’s hard to tell though on our drive through. We stop at a food stand near the beach and ask the owner, who is busy writing her lunch menu on a board which includes grilled lobster for only a few dollars, if there is a restroom somewhere we could use. She points us to a little outhouse that seems to be used by many surrounding houses because they have no plumbing. It has an old tile shower, a toilet, and a sink. Almost without fail we notice that the people we meet are friendly and willing to help in whatever way they can. They are often interested to know if this is our first time to Belize and if we like it. They are proud of their country, there’s no doubt about that. We made our way back to the Southern Highway and continued north to Dangriga. Dangriga is the biggest city in the district of Stann Creek and so is similar to what we would think of as the Capitol of a state. We were surprised by the conditions in Dangriga as well. But the houses appeared more solidly built than in Hopkins, and clearly with its roughly 10,000 inhabitants, it’s much larger. We were there around lunch time when the schools let the children out for the lunch break. And like in other towns we had seen, young children (some not more than 5 or 6) roam the streets of the town. Each group of children had on different colored uniforms supposedly to designate the school which they attend. It is somehow comforting to see a town where the children run aroun without adult supervision, it makes me think the people here must be good, no matter what my spoiled American perspective tells me when I see the living conditions. We found a small local restaurant for lunch. Most of the restaurants here consist of a very small building where the cooking is done and either a front porch or covered area with picnic tables or tables and chairs. The menu did not offer a lot of selection, we got the traditional stewed chicken with rice and beans and bottled water. The treat at this stand was that she had fresh baked desert, which most do not. We met a friendly man who works with the traffic dept. English being the national language here is invaluable. After we left Dangriga we decided on a whim to turn off the highway at the sign for the Cockscomb Basin Jaguar preserve. We bought our $5 tickets at the Mayan Women’s Center on the highway and asked if the 6 mile road back to the preserve would be too rough for our car. We were assured it would be fine. (That’s what they all say). To say the 6 mile dirt road was rough would be an absolute understatement! It literally took us more than 30 minutes to travel 6 miles on the most isolated road I’ve ever seen. (I’m pretty sure the car rental place would not approve) There were many times we really wondered if we would come out on the other side of a puddle. Once we made it to the visitors center and walked inside, we began to realize even more we were very unprepared for this. But after a 30 minute drive on a horrible road we were not ready to give up. We had long pants and decent shoes on, but no bug spray at all. In spite of this we decided to hike the trail to the waterfall. Well over an hour round trip through thick jungle (but a well marked trail). Much of the terrain was rocky and steep, but somehow we made it. We stepped into the clearing and saw this gorgeous waterfall. We were the only people around and it felt like we had just made our own private little discovery. (Of course I had the trail map in my pocket). We took pictures and waded in the water. If I should return here I will bring more clothes so I can swim in the lovely little spring below the waterfall. It was getting late, so we couldn’t stay a long time. We headed back the way we came. On our way out of Cockscomb, we saw a sign for a plane wreck that we had to check out. It was a tiny plane that had crashed here years before by a scientist who was studying the Jaguars in the area. He crashed just after taking off and was not injured seriously. We had to wade through a little mountain stream to get back to our car, and then we were off down the bumpy road again. After we finally made it back to Placencia Village, it was getting late and we were ready for dinner. We found a charming local place to eat. We had “crack conch” for appetizers (fried conch strips so good they’re addictive) and fried lobster and grilled fish for dinner. The sea food here is wonderful. It has usually been caught the very same day at these restaurants, we finished off with Baileys infused cheesecake. A perfect ending to a long but exciting day