One might think, after the comedy of occurrences in getting a rental car, everything else would go quite well.  We had been warned the roads in Belize might not be the greatest.  In fact, they were not bad, at all.  The main highway from Belize City to Corozal, located in the southernmost coastal area of Belize.  It was like driving on a country road in most any state in the U. S., except that it was not quite as smooth.  The speed limit was alternately posted in MPH and in KPH (kilometers per hour).  Our car had a speedometer that showed kilometers. 

We had inquired, at the car rental office, about the availability of restaurants and motels.  It was already a little after 5:00 p.m. and we were hoping to find a place to eat and a place to sleep, before we went too far.  "Oh, there are motels and restaurants all along the way," the lady had replied.  Armed with that information, we kept an eye out for the first restaurant.  It soon became apparent, there were no restaurants along the road.  Rather, there were little food stands located at distant intervals, which served up the native fare, but in driving by offered little appeal to newcomers.  Nor did we see any motels.  We managed to make it to Orange Walk, before it got dark.  As we drove into town, we saw places I would (at least from the perspective from the car) call flea bags.  Not interested in staying in a not at all attractive or inviting motel, we continued into town. 

Our first visual experience of a "city," in Belize, was not good and getting worse.  We have seen villages and towns in Mexico, which were filthy, poverty stricken, and undesirable, and that was the impression we were getting from Orange walk.  We didn't see the cardboard dwellings occupying vacant lots, but the people seemed to be homeless, or at least transients, just sitting on sidewalks, or leaning against the shops, which themselves were run down, unpainted, and had hand painted signs indicating what type of establishment was in that particular building.  It was intimidating enough that we decided to turn around and take the by-pass road around Orange Walk to head on toward Corozal. 

As mentioned, earlier, the road was their highway, but it was a simple and narrow two lane road.  It was getting darker and darker.  The people who lived there were either riding bicycles, walking, or just leading a cow or steer, along the road.  As it got darker, it got more difficult to see the people at the side of the road.  We marveled at their courage or lack of caution in putting themselves in danger of being hit by a passing car.  Since it had also become apparent there were few, if any, rules of conduct on the road (limited to aggressive speed bumps placed at various intervals along the highway to reduce the speed of the traffic), we were amazed at their lack of fear.  We were, naturally, becoming apprehensive about our prospects of finding a decent place to spend the night, much less finding a place to get a meal.  It was now dark.  We were wondering if we had been to cocky to have made this trip without having to find a place to reserve ahead of time, on line.  Just as we were thinking we would have to find a safe place to park and get some sleep in the car, we drove around a bend and saw a large sign that said "Tony's Inn at the Sea."  It came up so abruptly, I was past the road before I could stop.  I found a place to turn around and we went back.  Although the access road, to the Inn, was in poor condition, with deep pot holes, we found the driveway and pulled into the motel.  It was not only attractive, it was an answer to prayer.  We checked in, finding we were still in the "off season" and there was a special price of $60.00 per night, which would last for another two weeks.  The motel also had a nice restaurant and very good food.  Our room was large and comfortable and, although perhaps not as well appointed as we were accustomed to in America and some of the other countries we had visited, we were very comfortable in it.  We were, at long last (although the drive had only taken about two and a half hours, it seemed like an eternity), in Corozal.