We did a whirlwind Belize City shopping tour on Wednesday, and by whirlwind I seriously mean it. 11 places in the span of about 5 hours – we really got around. In addition to 4 cabs, we still got our exercise in for the day; my movement tracker shows 3.97 miles walked.
I was planning to take the 8:00 AM flight and due to work and the 9:00 AM being full, I ended up on the 10 AM Tropic Air. That mean the race would be very close – Mary and Michael took the 8:30 boat and our plan was to meet at Brodie’s between 10:00 and 10:30 – they won by a couple of minutes.
My cab ride from Municipal airport to Brodie’s was $10 BZD, and I got the driver’s card for later use.
Belize travel tip – When doing mainland shopping trips, it can be very hot and staying hydrated is important. Drink extra water on the way to stops where you know you will have a bathroom option.
After hitting Brodie’s and a pharmacy we headed on over to The Angelus Press, our mini version Office Depot. They have all kinds of office furniture, supplies and do onsite printing. Unfortunately they were on back order for the easel and flip chart pads I was looking for, but thankfully had some red clipboards, which will be perfect for our San Pedro Red Cross Street Beat activity at the block party.
Next, Simon Quan, which is right around the corner. You never know what you will find at this well known shop. Clothing, bags, jewelry, watches, clocks, eyeglasses, arts & crafts, decorations, gifts, electronics, pool toys, games, footwear and so much more.
A bit of Belize History: Sponsored by his cousin Augusto Quan, Simon came to Belize from China in 1959. Quan was a two term President of the Belize-Chinese Association and was well known for his generous community contributions and scholarships. To read more about this interesting man, take a look at the full article on Channel 7 News Belize.
I decided since we were close enough we may as well hit food and beverage next. Located on New Rd, Belize City, this is the place to go to if you’re looking for bulk sizing, good prices and Asian products. The first 3 pictures show what I wanted to buy if we were not continuing on by foot. The last pic shows what I ended up choosing as that was the lightest of the items and a really good price for Belize Cheese 🙂
Mirab Home decor was next on our shopping list and we were happy to get inside and cool off for a bit. I was excited to find new bedroom curtains in the bathroom section. I was also glad to see they had a good selection of mattress pads, as I am getting around to bed shopping one of these days.
Mirab store carries an extensive variety of home goods, everything from curtains, sheets, pillows, tropical coffee mugs and more. More includes some beauty products, shoes, toys, electronics, and a pet section. They also have a different furniture store.
Mary and Michael decided they wanted to give the Riverside Tavern a try as they had heard good things about it. Run by the Bowen (aka Belikin beer) family, it is one of the city’s most popular restaurants. The Tavern is known for it’s burgers, although there are plenty of other options on the menu – I opted for seafood chowder and Caesar salad. Riverside also has a reputation for good service and a secure fenced in parking lot.
We considered sitting on the covered patio overlooking Haulover Creek, which is one of the 3 main canals running in Belize City, enjoying some air-condand people watching those there to see the soccer match won.
Our cab ride from Mirab to The Riverside Tavern was $10 BZD, and our driver was waiting right out front when we exited the store.
Since we were getting loaded down and not on a main drag, I decided to call Gilbert, my original taxi driver of the day. He was back at the airstrip and said he would be there in 5 minutes to pick us up.
From there it cost us $15 BZD for him to drop us off at the Health Store on Central American Blvd. I was on a quest for smoothie ingredients and ended up with Chia and Flax seeds. From there, it was a short walk back to “Save U” which is still my favorite shop. We did a good, slow pass through the store and were pretty restrained considering all the things we would have liked to buy. I ended up with some nice smoothie glasses that were $2.98 a piece, so I got 4 green and 4 blue.
We walked across the bridge to catch a cab to the other Brodie’s for our final shopping – the last of the heavy stuff. I added a large jar of Jiff peanut butter to my weight at a cost of $22 BZD, and they added 2 big bags of cat food. I never did ask if it was cheaper but I know their main issue was availability, as they have not been able to find the one they like on Ambergris Caye lately.
After this it was time to part ways, and Mary & Michael headed back to the water taxi dock. I had a bit of extra time on my hands so I decided to cross the road and do a quick pass through Benny’s Home Center. I always enjoy the large selection of choices compared to what we get on the island.
After that busy day, I was happy to just park myself in the outdoor lounge at Municipal and relax. As much as I wanted to go, I knew I would not make it to the “lobster crawl it” for Pedro’s All you can eat Lobster Pizza event.
