AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Trip Reports A trip report

While in San Pedro I ate snapper, the conch, jerk chicken, the deep fried fish stuffed with cheddar cheese (awful, but what does one expect) and the chow mein at Master Lee's (the best meal on the island). Nothing special, but adequate--certainly not "wonderful".

Florian -
I don't know what kind of food you like, but next time you're in NOLA, conatct us. We'll take you to the Bistro at Maison de Ville -- they cook their Foie Gras perfect, although, for the best flavor(in Jeanne's opinion) go to the Windsor Court.
we're staying at Cayo Espanto - gourmet chefs who send a four page questionnaire about your tastes. We like the best of both worlds.
This thread is beginning to sound like Idaho divers. Bill and I have never been to Belize, but Bill has been to Negril many, many times at Xtabe. He may not like it in Belize.
To each their own.

BTW - My 5 yr.old daughter likes Brittney Spears. My 2&1/2yr.old son likes Jaws and Ghostbusters themes.
Do I argue with them? Do I try to change their minds? To each their own.

Let me give my two cents worth on the food, I tried the 'real' local stuff that many of you boosted of, johnny cakes, meat pies, and from the street venders who peddel, tacos, tamales and such items, I found for me the stuff was worse than bad, when I got the tamales and ate them I spent most of my time picking or spitting out the bones, they seem to just chop up the whole chicken, bones and all, I question if they gut the damn thing before they cook it.

We did find a place or three that was to our liking, Jade Garden, Fido's, Jambel Jerkpit where the jerk conch was killer good, Estel's was another good place for a conch dinner.

I did eat at many of the 'real local' spots for lunch and got very tired of the rice, beans, chicken, and looking at fish that still had their heads on.

Now about that 'dirty little islands outhouse' I suffer from a super sensitive digestive system, where most anything outside of my normal diet tears me up, even eating 'lomotil' like candy does not help me.
If on that little island and you are eating your lunch and noticing some brownish liquid fluid squirting into the ocean, the one you just got out of and about to get into again.... just seems to make me sick.

As many have said 'to each their own' SO why can't a few of us post our trip report as we see it without a bunch of you 'rose colored' glass wearers trash us for our reports as we see it? We ALL go there for different reasons, don't we? But it seems to me MOST go for the party time, the socalled good local food, the wondering in town (more than likly staggering from the party effect)

Enough for now, as I don't want this to turn into another 'idaho diver' thread that will get pulled or locked for new entries.


[This message has been edited by Idaho_diver (edited 06-01-2001).]

haven't been on here in a few days!! LMAO!! ANYONE who goes to AC, and truly did not do their homework/research on the place before going...well, it truly sounds like a "spoiled American" to me....and i'm an 8th generation Texan...that place is PARADISE to me...I don't dive, Rick is certified, but hasn't dived in BZ. I couldn't believe it when after the hurricane last year, yes there was sewage problems then...but Americans that were visiting didn't know what the bucket of water was for that was sitting on the floor by the toilet!!! Am i being weird...do other people know, when the toilet don't flush and a bucket of water is sitting there, WHAT that bucket of water is for??? SPOILED Americans and it's a sad, sad shame!! No sewage problems now...and you DO have to look for the really poverty stricken places! As for the food...figured out the really good places...still prefer the "Smaller" independantly owned...Florian,,, I hope you never have to do WITHOUT....Angel Blessings!!! C

Idaho, did you go out to the Atolls and have lunch on a little island that had one of those outhouses on stilts?

I've only been to two of these little places (but more than once) and on none of those occasions was the outhouse in the line of sight during lunch. None of these little places are entertaining rafts of tourists all day long everyday. There's just not that much extra going into the ocean.

I don't want to belabor this point because I've already said in an earlier post that for Canadian's and American's, these little outhouses are disconcerting, at best. However, I must ask you just what you think you are diving in and around most of the time you are in the water, whereever you dive. I'm sure you really don't want an analysis.

Also, the outhouses were always on the opposite side of the little island from the dock and we did not dive off of the little islands. There was a lot of cleansing wave action for anything more substantial than a yellow stream. Man, there have got to be better things to worry about.

Did you see the sharks in the Blue Hole? Did you see any dolphins? Where do suppose theirs goes?

Seashell, I was on the same island as Idaho I think. Down at Turneffe. The fish underneath the outhouse waiting for a meal acutally did little for my appitite, and then the little momma dog with mange so bad she was scratched bloody behind the ears and such, well, it's true, I did not eat lucnch that day at all.

Look, I"m not all that squemish. I grew up on a farm, if you could call it that. I don't have a problem with mother nature or her animals or their passings. But even growing up without indoor plumbing (well, we got it when I was six), we knew to dig the outhouse away from the house and to move it now and then and fill the old one in and, well, I was pretty young but the folks did what had to be done to keep the place clean.

The difference between being exposed to cowdung and human excretment is the difference between washing it off and hoping you still don't stink too bad, and getting hepititus and/or about a million other diseases. I was in the airborne infantry back in the early 70's and I learned a thing or two about what exposure to dirty waters in strange lands can do to poor ol' Flo.

OK, Florian, what you are describing is different from what I experienced and the dog does sound pretty gross. Personally, I never looked down. I didn't want to know. :^)

One the other hand, I've had to go in a hole in Indonesia and there is no tissue either. You have to slop yourself clean with a scoop of water if you are lucky enough. The western style facilities in the shopping centre in Hong Kong was way worse than anything I've experienced anywhere. Well, so sorry folks, more than enough of this subject I guess. I'll stop now and again offer my apologies.

Hey Florian, email us I want to talk with you... [email protected].. This is Rick

Was going to stay out of this discussion but I too have to add my two cents regarding the outhouse over the water.
I worked for a year at the University of Belize in a project that developed a field station at one of the atolls and quickly became a member of every committee in Belize that has to do with research, conservation, development, ie any issue affecting the coastal zone.
One of the issues in developing the field station that we faced was how to deal with human waste. Any island (especially heavily populated ones like Ambergris Caye)have the capacity to have a major environmental impact due to improper and large scale development. Issues like waste disposal, sewer, water, etc if not properly addressed can wreak havoc with the very enirons that folks are coming to see.
The way that we dealt with human waste and the way that is recommended by the coastal zone management agency in Belize is to use composting toilets (that is what we used). However, it is not used widespread, only by govt. agencies and conservation minded folks
who have installed these little gems in their facilities. Although I am not suggesting that this is the only alternative, it does lead me into my next line of thought which is that the folks who visit the little caye for a toilet stop and the folks who utilize that little toilet stop could put together a concerted effort to "educate" the fisherman on the caye and put a composting toilet there. It does have to be maintained though...
BTW for laughs and grins only...Smithsonian has been doing research in Belize for over 20 years and prior to a fire in 97 their scientists had been using an over water toilet very near to the barrier reef (and many of their research sites) up until then. I was told that the impact was minimal. They do have a composting toilet now.


[This message has been edited by bzgial (edited 06-02-2001).]