We made one wrong turn on our way out and then found the Hummingbird Highway and headed south again. What a beautiful trip! Up through the hills and jungle. Acres and acres of citrus and banana plantations woven together with a network of rivers. Mayan villages dotted the sides of the roads with Beliken Beer signs slung on the sides of the huts. The air temperature was cool - well, relatively cool - probably about 75 Fahrenheit and very pleasant.

We were headed for Placentia, a small village on a peninsula that we had heard was delightful and as we drove down the road we were surprised to see For Sale/Sold signs all along the beach. Tiny lots lined up for miles. The developers are there and although not many have any development on them, it appears that you would need at least four lots to make it worthwhile.

Our stay in Placentia was rather disappointing but I think we got it on an off night. But last night it just didn't feel right and it was probably because it was a Friday night with a lot of out-of-towners and spring break kids.

Our guesthouse, Julia and Lawrence's Guest house was very pleasant, everything was brand new; new crisp sheets, towels that smelled like they had just been unwrapped, new beds. We paid $65 BZ that works out to $32.50 US for the night. Not bad.

We also had our first experience of a local trying to pick us up! Being 50 and 51 respectively, on one hand we were flattered and on the other, it's a little un-nerving to have the hard press put on you by some guy called Rufus! When Susan went back out on the verandah where he had been, she took her Swiss Army knife for protection. She should have taken her alert whistle with her as well!

Our attempt to eat at Cozy' was aborted after we waited and waited for our food and I was so looking forward to conch fritters! Somehow the order must have got lost in the shuffle and it never appeared. But we actually were ready to leave after being regaled with political stories by Mr. Watler, Belize poet laureate. He is a highly intelligent man, but no one else can get a word in. Even his girlfriend left! So we went to Daisy's instead, and I had conch fritters there. But even there, the young men were loud and obnoxious, and the language flying around was turning the air blue.