We are early risers, normally 5 to 5:30 am, even in the states. We are rewarded with a beautiful sunsise over the sea.
In between the house and the sea is the "beach trail." A trail of very hard, compacted sand due to heavy use. Locals, migrant workers, tourists, and ex pats walk or ride by on their bikes all day long. There is nearly always a wave and a friendly hello.
The shower needs a better cleaning job than the maid provided. Found some comment and a scrub brush under the kitchen sink. I also purchased a small bottle of bleach at the store yesterday. I decide to clean the whole bath - it needs it. I am done in about an hour, and Roy gives me an impatient look. He is having a hard time winding down and is ready to go do something. We decide to make the most of having the golf cart, and set about exploring the island. We head north first. The roads here are purposefully not maintained, the locals don't like the tourtist traffic.
There is a lot of construction going on up here, huge timeshare resorts.
I have a feeling the road will be improved before too long. Although the most frequent mode of transportation from the north end to town is by boat. At times the road comes precariously close to the mangroves in the lagoon, and there is the feeling a crocodile could jump out at you any minute! Roy says he's keeping one eye on the swamp and the other on the road.
We stop by the house, and notice a new tenant... an iguana lives under the house!
All puffed up to impress...
Back in town, driving along the narrow streets. There are banners up from the elections. The streets are uncrowded, it's about 10 am. Most shops are small and there are a lot of vacancies - shops that have gone out of business.
After a couple of wrong turns we are in a part of town most tourists don't venture into as we're starred at as we go by. It's where the locals live. The homes are delapitated, some seem to be barely standing. There are dogs running about and garbage everywhere and my heart breaks for these people. We are so spoiled in the US! 
We head south of town. The older resorts are here, and they block the view of the beach. The paved road goes for quite a ways before we are back on sand. There are mangroves to the west and a few scattered houses to the east. There was tons of construction garbage just dumped in the mangroves, and some of it smelled bad. We found a road that led out to a bay. There was a dock and we walked to the end of it. We're totally isolated now. Lots of conch shells lay about.
Back in town we had a hard time finding the place to return the cart, but finally spot it. We had driven past it 2 or 3 times. Turns out it was a small shop no bigger than your average bathroom. They couldn't find our paperwork, but promised to ensure we didn't accrue further charges.
We walk back toward the beach, it's amazingly picturesque with colorful dives shops built on top of the docks. Little shacks, really. We pick a spot on the beach and watch the pelicans anticipating scraps as the local fisherman clean their catch of the day.
Stopped at Caliente's and had a few beers and the best ceviche ever. It was a long walk in the hot sun, not much of a breeze in town.
Back over the bridge a few raindrops fell. I had been nervous about the weather as the forecast for Belize City before we left said rain all week. But the weather is different out here near the atolls... We get back to the house around 5, Roy took a siesta. A storm rolled in just as the sun was setting. The wind picked up and started blowing everything around in the house. I had a hard time shutting the doors without having it blow out of my hand or slamming shut before I moved everything inside. All the commotion woke Roy up. The rains came - the drops were the size of quarters and coming down in sheets. One could have showered out there easily!
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