Punta Gorda, Market Day

8 May 2013
Punta Gorda, Toledo, Belize

Our first day out the gate we wanted to explore! We commandeered some bikes from the cottages and rode them into town.

Punta Gorda is a small town that sits on the edge of the Gulf of Honduras.

Although Belize is in Central America, Punta Gorda (PG) has more Caribbean influence than Latin American. You can see this influence in the town, the buildings, and the people. You can hear it in the lilting, lyrical Kriol that you hear spoken by the people. English is the official language of Belize, and this makes it a very easy place for Americans to travel, however, Kriol is the language you hear spoken in the streets of PG.
The town is quite small and very charming. We were able to explore most of it by bicycle, but we also enjoyed parking the bikes for a bit and walking around because it was market day!

"May I take your picture?" Sure...but I won't look at you when you do! ;)

Today's Menu

My favorite kind of restroom--outdoors

PG Clock Tower in the middle of town

Fruits & Veggies on display

Hub makes a friend. He wanted to prepare us for the apocalypse. So thoughtful.

Turning the corner to find water

I chuckled at this tiny place when we drove into town, but I have to say, place was hopping come lunch time!

Punta Pizza & Cotton Tree Chocolate

PG Courthouse

One of the "must do" things in PG is take a tour of Cotton Tree Chocolate. It is a tiny little shop on Front street right at the town entrance across from the gas station. When you walk in the door the intense smell of chocolate hits you and your mouth will start to water! Here they make small batch chocolate for sale throughout the whole country! The girl working in the shop took us on a small tour of the operation from bean to bar. It is hard to believe that they produce so much chocolate out of that little shop, but they do.

Cacao Beans

Grinding the seeds with a modified drill. The blow dryer is for separating out the nibs.

2 Front Street...OPEN!

The set-up

Chocolate Paste

Pre-molding

 After chocolate, we were hungry. Upon recommendation of Ian, our host, we rode out past the bridge to a seafood restaurant for lunch. We ordered some weird looking juice which made us a little nervous at first, and soon after digging in, a truck drove up from the local health department, making us a tad more nervous! However, we were soon put at ease when he loaded up with take-out containers and off he went again. There's no recommendation like the local health department and we enjoyed that lunch as it was very delicious!

While riding back to the cottages, we were exhausted and sunburned and had had enough of being stared at by the locals. (PG doesn't seem to have caught on with the tourists yet, which makes it the ideal location to visit, just be prepared for some strange looks) In the middle of town is a brightly painted round building out of which a woman was walking and waving at us. We pulled over to the side and looked behind us to see to whom she was waving. Turns out she was waving at us! It was Kate, from Hickatee, in town for a meeting. It was so fun to see someone we knew there in the middle of PG. We chatted for a few at the gate and then went on our way again.  On the way back we got a little lost while looking for a store that clearly had shuttered. We stopped on the side of a dirt road and I pulled out a map from my pocket that I had cut out of our guidebook. Before we could get our bearings on it a large, brightly clothed woman rode up to us on a bike and asked us where we wanted to go, using that beautiful Kriol accent. She was smiling a big, friendly smile as she pointed us in the direction of Hickatee.
We arrived back a little tired, but enjoyed the scenery we had seen via bicycle much more than if we had hired a taxi.

Punta Gorda Flickr Set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96624310@N07/sets/72157633778627083/