Munching in San Pedro, Belize

While researching for our Belize trip,I read a lot of blog posts and articles that compared Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye. In the end we chose Caye Caulker because it was quiet, chill, and easily traversed by foot. Still, we wanted to spend at least a little bit of time checking out the island that we decided not to stay on. Fortunately, it was only a water taxi ride away.

After spending a few days on laid back Caye Caulker, San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye, was a bit of a shock to the system. For starters, there were paved roads and cars.

A lot of cars. And there were even more golf carts. 

The streets were narrow, the traffic was congested, and there were few sidewalks. You had to be on alert as you meandered through the town. 

Now in all fairness, since we didn't have a car, San Pedro was all we saw of Ambergris Caye. The rest of the island may be lovely. 

It is a good island if you want a little bit more going on in the way of nightlife activities.

San Pedro had a nice beach area that was calm, quiet, and exhaust fume free. 

We spent a good amount of time walking and hanging out on the beach.  

Our favorite activity in San Pedro was eating.

Since it was still morning, we got a couple of to-go coffees, spiked with a little coconut rum cream. 

Next, we dropped by Neri's for some pre-lunch, 50 cent, tacos. 

We got three pork tacos, and two chicken tacos. 

I thought the chicken were the best, while Shannon preferred the pork. They were tasty, and it was fun watching locals chowing down on plates piled sky high with tacos. 

For lunch, we ate at Original #1 Pupuseria Salvadoreno (not to be confused with any other Pupuseria). 

I have to thank fellow travel blogger Vagabond Spirit for the recommendation. She was in San Pedro a few weeks before we were and spoke highly of the Pupuseria. 

We actually have a Pupuseria not far from our house, but have yet to visit, so this was our introduction to Pupusas. Pupusas are thick, homemade, corn tortillas that are stuffed with fillings. I got two bean and cheese pupusas. Shannon got one bean and cheese, and one chicken and cheese. 

The tortilla is light and fluffy, and the inside is gooey, in a good way. There was a condiment on the table. I have no idea what it was, but it made the pupusas extra good. We gave pupusas a thumbs up. 

Shannon was still hungry after eating his two pupusas, so he also got what he thought was going to be one tostada, but turned out to be four. 

If you are in San Pedro, I recommend checking this place out.

I saw it from a distance.

"What? Does that say....does that say....raspados?" I might have knocked over a few small children in my delighted delirium to get to the cart. We fell in love with raspados when we were in Panama. They are like a snow cone only ten times better. Saying that I was excited to find a raspados cart in Belize is an understatement. 

This cart was set up in front of a school. Outside for recess, kids and teachers were reaching through the school gate to get their hands on an icy, fruity, treat. 

Shannon went with strawberry, while I went with orange.

Now I can't say that they were as good as the ones we had in Panama. Some of that probably had to do with the fact that the raspados guy in Casco Viejo, Panama actually shaved the ice from a giant ice block, right in front of you. Our Belize raspados were still great, and in the blazing sun of San Pedro, they were a welcome refreshment. I was such a happy girl (I learned that one must lean forward for sipping pictures after the Butter Beer debacle).

We had a lot of fun eating our way around San Pedro, but we can say with certainty that we loved Caye Caulker more than we liked San Pedro. After a few hours of dodging traffic, and lots of people, we couldn't wait to get back to our tranquil, little island. Little did we know as we made our way to the water taxi, we were about to have one of the most memorable experiences of our travels thus far.