We decided yesterday to rent a golf cart to explore the island on our own. The cart does a neckbreaking 5mph, but I think some carts do go faster. Island Adventures probably stock the slower ones for the tourists. Once all the paperwork was signed, and handed the keys, we headed to the north island for the new butterfly jungle exhibit located at the lush Rendez-vous Resort. The north island is where all the swanky joints are, but you’d never have guessed that was the case at first glance. After we paid the BZE$5 toll to cross the bridge, it was nothing but constuction sites, ditches, and mosquito breeding grounds. Bettina wisely applied an extra coat of deet. Once we passed all this, the mansions and the luxury condos, and new resorts start coming in view. It looks like a building craze up there with all the construction sites. The resorts, though, do seem out of place. Behind all their beachviews is the lagoon that resembles swampland. Stillwater is everywhere, and with that mosquitoes.
Bettina was driving, so I got to be chauffered around in the reversed backseat taking photos of all the decrepit buildings. I also got splashed with mud from all those ditches in the road. The speed demon cart did get stuck a couple of times. Being the lone male in the group, I had to jump in the sludge and push the cart out while Bettina put the pedal to the metal. The carts were so light that I can push with one arm. My herculean strength came in handy one night when we had to squeeze in a tight space. I got out of the cart and pushed the cart behind us out of the way. Voila… instant parking. Too bad I can’t do that back home with cars.
The butterfly exhibit was pretty neat. We didn’t stay for the butterfly dance because we had a free wine tasting to attend. I’m not a wine connoisseur, nor am I a big fan of wine, so can’t really tell if they were any good. Afterwards, we zoomed back down the muddy road of the north island back to San Pedro, stopped at DandE’S for custard, then gassed the cart over to the area of the lagoon where some local 14 year old boy feed, pets, and kisses an old lady crocodile. He’s a legend we hear, but the secret is that he actually raised the croc.
After declining the offer to kiss the croc, I took the keys and headed further south to see more of Ambergris. Like the north, new resorts and condos are all under construction. I came across a fork in the road with a sign pointing straight for Dump or left for Beach. Left was definitely the option as it allowed us to drive along the coast. The sun was setting and stomachs were growling so we turned around to head back to our cabanas. On the way back, we saw two cute dogs hanging out and I whistled to call them over. One immediately barked at us and began to chase after us in the speedster. Mind you, we were close to the ground, and there are no doors on golf carts. I floored the accelerator to the max 5mph with Cujo foaming at the mouth, and showing his chompers, running about 3 feet from the cart. I figured if he was going to try to get even close, I would have no choice but to slam the cart against the rabid dog and send him to doggie hell.
