La isla bonita

Tropical the island breeze. All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be. La isla bonita
And when the samba played
The sun would set so high
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes
Your Spanish lullaby

On one of our last days Andrea and I decide to go shopping. It didn't turn out the way we liked. So with all that energy spent and disappointment looming over us, we decided it was time to give the bar/club scene one more try. Our objective of the night was.....to just blow the rest of our money on beer and hopefully party it up.


We started off with a chill dinner. We ate slowly, very slowly. It was only about 7 or 8 pm and we learned from last time that the party people don't come out till around 11 pm. We had been told by some locals that it was ladies night at Wet Willy's, so thats where we started. This bar was located at the end of a dock. We got in free and took our seats on the water with a Belikin beer.

For the longest time we were wondering if "Ladies Night" meant that there were nothing but females coming. We sat back and watched all the older white ladies dance, continued to be bored out of our minds, and then realize that the swimming fish were more entertaining. One of the bartenders saw our boredom and came to talk. As we talked he soon learned we were the girls he was waving at/hitting on from afar on the dock over earlier that day and he became embarrassed. We gave him a hard time and then he bought us drinks. He seemed to be the first guy we had met that had a good head on his shoulders. He soon had to go back to work so he introduced us to his friend Tino to make sure we weren't left alone and continued having a good time.

For some reason I told myself to just roll with it and really get to know this person instead of just brushing him off. We ended up completely hitting it off and had a conversation for a good couple of hours. Yes! Another guy with a great head on his shoulders and we had tons in common! He was on a Belize soccer team and I guess very good b/c he was offered a full ride scholarship to a college in Virgina but he turned it down to continue living in paradise. Can't blame him. He also speaks 3 different languages and also looked very much like Usher (I guess he hears that alot). So of course he knew every Usher song. Boy do I love Usher. Andrea had left us alone and talked to the bartender and Tino's cousin instead (who liked to highfive and say "ya man" a whole lot).


The bar was closing at midnight and Tino offered to take us to a club down the beach and the bartender would follow later. The club was about 3-4 levels and it was pitch black with glowing lights all around. Everyone from the bars soon followed and the place became packed! All the guys wore white shirts ( I can only presume so they stand out with the black lights) and Andrea and I were the only non locals in the joint. The free drinks continued to flow and Tino was finally able to convince me to go out and dance. It soon became a scene straight out of Havana Nights.

At the club Andrea got stuck with another one of Tino's friends...this time it was Sunny. (Above on right) He was just a goofy crazy kid. Not even sure. The bartender even caught up with us and tried a couple of times to cut in with Andrea but failed against Sunny. I find that funny. Tino and I continued to talk, hang out and have a good time. I was thoroughly enjoying myself.




Afterwards we walked down the beach and the guys helped take our bikes back to the hotel. Sunny gave Andrea a ride on the handle bars and she screamed all the way down the street. After some more talking on the dock Tino decided to show us the bridge up in the neighborhood area. Going under that bridge is a large canal. Sunny thought it would showcase his manliness for Andrea if he swam across the canal. By then she was way annoyed and could care less. He scratched himself up on the coral and gave Andrea a wet cold hug afterwards. Meanwhile a boat was getting stuck in the coral a few yards out while trying to come through that canal and filling the silent night air with jammed motor noises.

We hung out till 6:30 am and had to get up at 8 (still drunk) to leave for the airport. We all agreed it wasn't fair that we had to meet on the last day. Tino had a whole list of activities he would have gone and done with us. He even admitted seeing us walking around the island earlier that week.Dang.

In the end, our club hopping night was successful, I'm glad we made some new friends and it definitely topped off our trip. I'm sure if Tino were to live near me, I'd have a good friend on my hands. From the small time I was with him I saw that he was a person that loved adventure and life yet was very simple and had a kind heart. We agreed to stay in contact.

I fell in love with San Pedro
Warm wind carried on the sea, he called to me
Te dijo te amo
I prayed that the days would last
They went so fast

- Madonna "La isla bonita"