Cycling The Globe

Distance: 123.4 km
Ride time: 7:00:22
Average: 17.6 km/h
Max speed: 46.6 km/h
Total: 37310 km

I left my campsite early in the morning and headed into the unknown countryside of Belize. The landscape was hilly and dark clouds were hanging over the small villages the whole day. We even got a few drops of rain.

The roads are a step down from Guatemala but nothing that my trusty Bianchi couldn’t handle 🙂

Belize is really very different from the rest of the countries in central America. I was listening to the news on the radio and after the local stuff the next section was regional news. I was expecting to hear about Guatemala and Mexico, but instead the news host talked about stuff happening in Jamaica and the other islands in the Caribbean. The preferred music seems to be reggae. I’m very happy to add this Caribbean angle to my bike – even without leaving mainland central America!

I knew finding a place to sleep would be a challenge. The last 50 km of the day I hadn’t passed any hotels, and asking around I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it to the next town before darkness. Belize is not among the safest countries on earth, so camping out was also not something I really wanted to do. I asked a couple of woman in a small supermarket if they knew a place to stay in the village. They made a couple of phone calls but without success. I continued on…

I thought I would have to wild camp, but at a gas station half an hour further down the road Daniel immediately invited me to stay on his couch in his apartment above the station. Isn’t it beautiful, hospitality when you most need it.

I was really happy to be staying inside tonight. Not only was there the safety to think about, but huge thunderstorms were forming and soon it was raining like crazy with lightning strikes all around. Thanks for saving my night Daniel!