Yes, I do know the dance we all used to do, especially around the campfire at summer camp. That is not what I am talking about today!

Here, the Hokey Pokey is the water taxi between Placencia, Belize where I am staying and Independence, Belize where one of the Immigration offices is located. Belize only grants 30 day entry – unlike Canada that grants 6 months on arrival. The first time I got a Visa Extension here in Belize I was at Sabal Beach and hired Jason and his boat and went down to Punta Gorda on a rainy day with high seas! It took about an hour to get the Visa Extension although it was a really expensive proposition given Jason’s cost as well as the $100 USD I had to fork over. The second time I rented a car and drove to the Dandriga Immigration office where I got the Visa Extension in 15 minutes but picked up a $50 BZ ($25 USD) traffic ticket, paid for the rental car and, once again, forked over the $100 USD. Very expensive …

When I got home from that trip and talked to Edwin, the caretaker here, he asked why I did not take the Hokey Pokey to Independence because it would be so much less expensive. I had looked at going to Independence rather than Dandriga but it is 75 km to drive which Google Maps says, optimistically, should take and hour and fifteen minutes but they do not factor in the number of “sleeping policemen” on route – I’ll bet it would take a lot longer!

So, this time I decided to try the Hokey Pokey Water Taxi service. I got up early and called Walter, my usual taxi guy but he was off to Belize City and trying Eddin, his #2, I found out he was also out of town. So, I sent a message to Edwin to see if he knew another taxi driver and got no response (turns out that he was out of town for his “day job” as I heard after I was back!). So, that being the case, I got ready and left here about 8:45, untied the boat (thankfully, no need to bail after yesterday’s few skiffs of rain), tied up on the dock on the other side of the canal and set off on foot to walk the mile and a half to the UNO dock where the Hokey Pokey is based on this side. Arriving at 9:15 I bought a ticket on the 10:00 am taxi for a mere $7.25 Belize and sat down to wait. Much like Tropic Air, the Hokey Pokey goes when full and we headed off about 9:40!

Heading out from Placencia.

Catamaran seen from the Hokey Pokey.

10 minutes later, we pulled into the Hokey Pokey HQ dock at Mango Creek, Independence. As one might expect, there were car taxis more than willing to take the offloading passengers and Pappy Dena seemed a good bet! An interesting character – he is thin as rail, tall and with dreadlocks to his waist!

In addition to me, he had two other passengers but they were quickly dropped off and we headed to the Immigration Office. As a good ploy (much appreciated) he had copies of the application form I had to fill in and while he drove, I wrote. He dropped me off at the Immigration office and said he would be back for me shortly. Unbeknownst to me, the rules have changed and one now must have one or more of the following: proof of sufficient funds, rental agreement and/or copy of your return ticket(s). Needless to say, I had none of the above altho’ I tried to see if I could access my back account (nope) or Air Canada booking (nope) on my cell phone but I did say I had a booking on 26 Feb, sufficient funds and had a rental agreement to 01 March. Guess I looked honest enough and did not come up in any database and they could see the previous entries/exits from Belize in my passport as well as the two previous Visa Extensions. 10 minutes later she was back with my passport including the new Visa extension and, like any good immigration officer, reminded me that the new rules were in effect (certainly weren’t on their website when I looked on Sunday) and I promised to be good in the future!

By this time Pappy was back and we headed back to the Hokey Pokey dock. The cost? Well, there was the $100 USD to fork over but Pappy? Well, he charged me $20 BZ ($10 USD) for all the pleasant service. I gather he regularly meets the hokey pokey looking for folk like me – wise move!

Having arrived about 10:25 am there was a significant wait until the next taxi was due to leave at 12:00 – still costing 7.25 BZ. So I asked where the toilet was and was given a key to the Jil of the Jack + Jil out back. Scored 8 on the Capper Toilet Scale – lacking only something to dry one’s hands after washing. As I came out I realized that boys will be boys everywhere in the world – one of the staff was watering the weeds beside the Jack + Jil!

So, I took a look around the dock, took a couple pictures and settled down to wait.

View from the dock in Mango Creek.

Clearly, car taxi drivers not welcome to harass Hokey Pokey passengers and all were waiting well behind the line!

See – it really is called the Hokey Pokey Water Taxi!

Between the two docks was this school of fish – looked like catfish about a foot long. I remember when I was in Osijek, Croatia, inviting a contact out to dinner that he recommended a restaurant in a curve on the Drava River where they had the “best smuć” as the local fish was called. Judging from the bones (and how very many of them there were) it was catfish by another name!

As before, the hokey pokey left when full – about 11:45 and 10 minutes later we arrived back in Placencia! Knowing my taxi drivers were out of town, I headed back to my rental on foot. Stopping at the grocery store where they had raisins and Welch’s Grape juice and Cranberry Juice (a treat I reward myself with when walking back from town on a hot day) and lucked out at one of the vegetable stands and got a red and a yellow pepper – and really lucked out acquiring three punnets of fresh raspberries.

As I got close to back to my dock, I saw this fella – about 2 feet nose to tail – out sunning himself beside the canal.

Then to the dock, paddle across the canal and back to the rental where I enjoyed my Grape juice as I put the rest of my groceries away!

All in all, not including the $100 USD that is standard cost for the Visa Extension, a very much, much less expensive day!