Sarteneja- Day 2 in Belize

We awoke early on our second day in Belize to catch the Thunderbolt, a motor boat that carries people between Corozal Town, Sarteneja, and San Pedro.

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It costs BZ$25 between Corozal Town and Sarteneja, and BZ$45 to San Pedro (which is about $13 and $23 respectively). The boat is punctual and fairly comfortable, but don’t expect pleasantries from the men who run it as they are rather stand-offish.

We arrived in Sarteneja and started what turned into a ridiculously long walk (considering the town is a tiny fishing village) to our hostel. We stayed at the Backpackers Paradise in a Cabana for about $22. It was small but it did the trick!

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Backpackers is owned by a young French couple, Nathalie and Edward.
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Meet Nathalie and Kiki
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Kiki is a baby Coati. Natalie and Edward found her sick and alone and nursed her back to health. She now lives at the hostel, but as she grows is starting to get into trouble!
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We rented bikes from Backpackers and went for a ride to the Shipstern Nature Reserve. We went through their butterfly conservatory, took a nature hike, and walked up to the top of an observation tower. It cost about $3 each. The reserve was full of chicle trees, which used to be farmed for gum! Interesting fact: the area used to belong to Wrigley before they started using artificial gum in their products.
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The second from the left shot out poop that landed inches from Jay’s hand!

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Gum used to be farmed in this jungle!

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Not a very comforting sign…..

View from top!

After the reserve we took a walk around town. It was definitely different than home or Cancun.

Why did the chicken cross the street?

This well was actually in use by a family here

Sarteneja is famous for building wooden boats!

We also had time for a dip in the bay. The water here was clearer than in Corozal Town, but the sand was still slimy.
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Overall we liked Sarteneja, but you wouldn’t want to stay there too long- there isn’t a whole lot to do. Backpackers Paradise was a neat place to stay though. It had a common room, a restaurant, a farm area and an overall hippie feel.
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