We reported back in August about the Belize Hot Card, a discount card one can purchase for US$50 and use for discounts and perks at numerous locations throughout Ambergris Caye and a few places in Belize City.

Liz and I took our Hot Card into San Pedro each day and took advantage of a number of opportunities to save money. From restaurants to diving and snorkeling, we were able to get a lot for a little bit less than advertised thanks to this discount card.

About the only challenge we had was remembering to use the card. The card comes with a nice little printout of all the places where the card is honored. We checked that frequently when looking for a place to eat, such as at the Jambal Jerk Pit and Palapa Bar and Gill and let it often help us decide where to go. It never steered us wrong, but if we forgot to give the card to the server, or mention the card to the clerk, it was our own fault!

There were many discounts we weren’t able to capitalize on, such as hotel and golf cart/bike rentals simply because we either had prior reservations or simply weren’t on the island long enough. The cart rental would have been great had Cocotal not offered free use of their bikes and we were staying on the island longer.

We did, however score BIG with the card at Ecologic Divers! The 15% discount offered when one pays cash helped us to do much more than we’d originally budgeted for. We did a grand total of four dives and three snorkeling trips between the two of us. We saved much more than the cost of the card; and had we stuck around in Ambergris Caye longer, would have dove and snorkeled enough to save much, much more!

About the only downside to the trip to ATM was the tour group. Mayawalk is not a tour company I’d recommend to any potential tourists. I hate to say this, because their prices are cheaper than the competition, but the experience could have been far better with a better company. “Why,” might you ask? There were a number of shortcomings:
Liz was ill so she couldn’t go. They charged me a 50% cancelation fee, explaining that they’d already purchased a lunch for her, etc. The lunch, while tasty, cost $4US. I know this because I bought lunch from the same place they did the day before. No other sacrifices were made on their part. They definitely didn’t turn any potential guests away. I realize a cancelation fee is almost always applied, but this was unbelievable; especially because of their next ding.

To the guides credit, he did tell a great story, and I did thoroughly enjoy the experience, despite the constant grumblings of one of the other guests. He still shared some interesting stories and described how the Maya may have interpreted different features of the cave, such as the sacrifice victims and the rock formations. I really wish I’d been able to make the POV function for that trip. Sans video, it was still an excellent narration and I can’t for the life of me, remember all of the details.

Belize is a poor country. There is little industry, technology, and/or big business in general. From the perspective of the local nationals, Americans are infinitely more wealthy. Whereas they might have enough money to go grab a Coke or Coke Light one day, we seem to have bags of money that allow us to fly across the globe and stay in foreign lands for weeks at a time.

This circumstance leads to interesting interactions in Belize. Recall the car rental place from a few posts back. Liz and I were immediately “assisted” by a scruffy looking man with a thick accent who practically grabbed our bags out of our hands and tried to recruit us into one of the other rental car shops. He wouldn’t leave us alone; he kept leaving and coming back to the shop with status reports and commenting on how bad Belize Auto Rental was.

I pretty much knew that I was going to have to tip this guy. I didn’t want to and I didn’t think he deserved one considering he forced his services upon us. But he’s broke and this is clearly the way he made his money. And, lets not forget that I am the rich American with tons of excess cash.

Tipping became a source of frustration for Liz and I. We received very good service from Beulah and Robbie and Jen and Chris at the hotels. And we felt they should get tipped, beyond the service charge added to our hotel bill. And the guys at Ecologic Divers were great! But as Liz had mentioned before, it wasn’t something we’d fully budgeted for, and we made some generous tips that were larger than our pocket change could sustain.

This challenge and frustration hit its peak when we were at the Belcove restaurant on our last night in Belize. Jules is the son of the owner of Belcove. He was visiting at he time of our stay. He welcomed us and was very friendly and declared that he would help us with our bags. He clarified “this is my family’s hotel. It won’t cost you anything.” But I was so distressed and programmed at that point, that I didn’t know what to do. So I tried to tip him.

He refused and repeated his connection to the hotel. I never felt more like an ugly American than at that point. Granted, I might not have looked like it, but I felt that way. We were so razzled by the tipping that we no longer knew what to do.

Our lesson learned and the corresponding travel tip is:

I don’t know that Liz and I will make it a habit to post every morning, but on this day, we just so happened to be awake before everyone else is and have the luxury of a few minutes to relax and gather our wits about us. Much of this may have to do with the 8:30 bedtime last night! We were so exhausted by the end of our journey yesterday (OK after we kayaked out to the reef, climbed a tree, drank coconut rum punch and ate a wonderful dinner), that we simply couldn’t stay awake any longer.

But going to bed at 8:30 leads to an early rise, even after ten hours sleep! So we got up, walked to the dock, laid in the hammocks for a couple of minutes and are now prepping or a trip to forage for food.

One new travel tip: ALWAYS stick to your plan. Liz and I got too excited to stop and grab groceries on our way to Cocotal yesterday. We were indecisive on what we should do and ultimately skipped it. Would have been easy to cook up some grub and roll out the kayaks first thing this morning. Lesson learned.

Old Travel Tip: Pack a few clothes into carry on items! A nice couple from Birmingham shared our flights but not our fortune as their luggage didn’t arrive. They are staying at a private island with the clothes on their backs and a tank top Liz insisted the lady borrow. I feel bad for them, but on the bright side, they do have all the privacy in the world on that little island!

Back in June Courtney and I went to the ShareASale Cocktail reception at the Internet Retailer conference that was in Boston (Thanks to Carolyn Tang!). While there, we met many people with good advice for our blog and internet businesses. Many of the people we spoke with there had actually already been to Belize and had not only internet retailer tips to offer us, but also Belize tips to offer us. A girl named Madeleine had been to Belize and recommend us to check out a palapa bar in Ambergris Caye. While she did not mention which one, I have gone ahead and researched a few of the palapa style bars in Belize.

To get started, a palapa is an open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves. Victoria House has a palapa bar. But the best searched palapa bar I could find is a bar just North (1 1/2 miles North of the bridge) of San Pedro called Palapa Bar and Grill. I would assume this is what Madeleine was referring to. This palapa is cool because it is located right on the water and allows for the cool carribean breeze to brush across your face ad you enjoy an ice cold cocktail. The bar is stocked well with both American liquors as well as the local brews and serves food specializing in BBQ, Slow Smoked, Pork Sandwich or Fresh Caught Fish Tacos.

You can also try to Palapa Plunge: a jump off the railings off the side of the palapa into the Caribbean waters below. (This is something I want to try!)

Since it was recommended to visit a palapa bar and it looks cool, I hope Courtney and I can add this to our list of places to visit while in Belize.