"COME RUNNING, EARTHRUNNINS CAFE AND BUKUT BAR, PUNTA GORDA"
Written: Jan 09 '02 (Updated May 09 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Warm friendly place with great food.
Cons: Really, really slow Internet connection.
The Bottom Line: Have a cold Belikin on me here.
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| JAMES23's Full Review: Belize |
"Any Canadian's here?"
The minute I called that out a knew I'd made a mistake. Of the dozen odd people grouped around the small thatched roof bar, about half put their hands up. I wasn't in a bar in Punta Gorda Belize but the Canadian Consulate or so it seemed.
After checking into my hotel and letting certain parts of my anatomy recover from the eight hour bus ride, Belize buses are not known for their shock absorbers, I'd gone out to explore the town. My main goal was to find a store and pick up a few essentials that I'd forgotten to bring with or hadn't survived the trip down. The night before in Belize City I'd discovered I was shy of bug spray . A minor oversight since I was now on the verge of a region possibly rife with Mosquitoes, Malaria and Dengue Fever.
I also needed an Internet café if there was one in town. There hadn't been a working connection the night before, and I wanted to send the standard arrived safe and sound messages before someone started dispatching the cavalry, (or at least Thom413 and a supply of dental floss and coconut shells. After all that was dealt with supper and a cold beer or two wouldn't hurt either.
During my wanderings, in which incidentally I found a good general store Mels Mart that had everything I needed, I bumped into another tourist who I'd met briefly on the bus. He was staying at another hotel and we hadn't chatted much on the way down as he was absorbed in a book. How he could concentrate on the printed page with the bus bouncing around though was beyond me.
I knew he was a little bit ticked off. He'd hoped to catch the last ferry of the day over to Livingston in Guatemala that afternoon. We'd just missed it and he'd be going out same as me in the morning. Unfortunately he was supposed to meet up with some friends there and attend some big Garifuna festival.
He seemed in good spirits though and we stood on the corner exchanging information. I told him I'd found a store that was open late. Most places appear to close early in Punta Gorda on a Monday night.
He in turn told me he'd noticed a sign advertising Internet service just down the road. It was closed now but the sign said it would reopen in a couple of hours for the evening. That was how I came to find Earthrunnins Café and Bukut Bar and incidentally make my little social faux pas.
Earthrunnins Café and Bukut Bar does have Internet service as I found out later. There is one terminal, and to be honest it's pretty slow. It's not their fault though.
All of the Internet service in Belize is provided by BLT the Belize telephone company. It's not the fastest ISP around, at least by someone who is used to high speed cable service standards. In comparison to what I would later encounter in Honduras and Guatemala it's positively lightening fast.
I just used it to for a half an hour to send and respond to a couple of e-mails. Incidentally I discovered an occupational hazard for computer operators in the tropics. The humidity or something had worn off almost all the letters from the keys.
This presented a little bit of a problem to a two fingered touch typist like myself. Fortunately there was a spare keyboard lying nearby that I could glance at. Costs were $5.00 Belize, $2.50 US for a half an hour which I thought was more than reasonable.
Slow ISP aside I highly recommend this place. The beer is ice cold and the food, well lets say I enjoyed one of the best meals I ate on the trip there. It's inexpensive and the service is both fast and friendly.
I recommend the BBQ chicken, with the special house sauce, tangy and hot. Piping hot fresh whole wheat tortillas and fresh greens are served as a side. Dinner ran about $15.00 Belize/$7.50 US including a couple of cold ones. Again a reasonable price.
There was a reason for the rather large number of my fellow countrymen sitting around enjoying a cold one the night I popped in. The place is a gathering point or so it seems for many of the foreigners Canadians, British, and Americans who live and work in and around Punta Gorda. They're for the most part a friendly and youngish crowd. I was even given an invitation and a map to a party the next night for being thrown for a volunteer who was heading back to the US at the end of her assignment. Too bad I was leaving first thing in the morning.
From what I could gather as we sat about the bar sipping cold beers they work for a variety of non profit and NGO (Non Government Organisation) agencies (CUSO Peace Corps etc.) In the area. Several are also involved in some aspects of the local eco tourism industry.
This makes Earthrunnins Café and Bukut Bar more than a place to grab a bite to eat and a cold one or two. It's a good place to come and gather information on the region. The place itself is more than a restaurant and bar. There's a gift shop, the aforementioned Internet, cabanas and a lot of in house tourist info.
Those heading to Punta Gorda and the Toledo District might want to check out their web site. I'd do it before I got to Belize though. It'll take less time that way.
Earthrunnins Café and Bukut Bar, 11 Main Middle Street Punta Gorda Toledo Belize
http://www.belizehome.com/jahro/
e-mail: mailbukutbar@hotmail.com
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Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Students
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Member: James Smith
Location: Toronto Ontario CANADA
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