Dec. 24 2005
Leave Ottawa at 11pm. Headed for Montreal and Trudeau Airport. The highway sucks - it has been snowing most of the night and the snowplows have not been able to keep up. Pass 5 cars in the ditch. 50km/h, but I get there. Plane leaves Montreal at 5:30am. Sleep. Arrive Atlanta, change planes.... I am asleep again before we leave the runway. Arrive Belize City at 2pm local. Total travel time about 17 hours. First stop is customs - no problem. Then the Biltmore hotel. Very nice place. Not too many other people around. The pool and garden is nice to sit beside. Will stay here all day 'til tomorrow afternoon. Weather is sunny, warm and great. Shorts and T-shirt!Dec. 25 2005
Merry Christmas in Belize!! It is sunny and warm again. Nothing scheduled til late afternoon. Gladiator is on TV this morning - I always cry when Maximus dies. Being a former British colony, Christmas here in Belize is similar to home. Decorated pine trees, lights and balls. But the hotel is pretty quiet. I see a few other guests but mostly sit alone, reading by the pool.
Belize has their own money but US$ are used just as much. $2BZ = $1US. Dinner last night was $22.50US with Belikin... not bad. The hotel is much quieter than I expected for Christmas holidays. I hang out by the pool reading Even Cowgirls Get The Blues til Juan-Carlos from Island Expeditions arrives...... time for the real trip to begin.
Dec. 25 2005 - Night
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| Cabana at TEC |
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| Juan-Carlos |
Dinner was cooked by a very nice Mayan family. Christmas dinner was chicken, rice and beans, and pasta. Belikin beer for $1US a bottle. Very tasty.
We visited the zoo at night, so photos of the residents were limited. Most of them were in their cages. The howler monkeys were high in the trees, and have black fur so are hard to see. They sound like a sick dog howling.... creepy. We could hear them around our cabanas too. The jaguars were not real happy to see us. One of them batted at the cage when we looked at him. Yes the cage was strong enough, but still creepy. And one of the tapir, which is the National animal of belize, peed on Christian. The rest of our group thought it was hilarious. Christian thought otherwise. One of the spider monkeys held his tail out of his cage for people to touch - felt like fine leather.
The Harpy Eagle in the zoo is one of only seven in the country. Very large, about 5ft. wing span with horned feather tufts on his head.
Following the zoo we returned to the TEC. It was dark - so dark that you could not see your hand in front of you. Sleeping was very good. Many people in the group had travelled that day and were exhausted. Except for the sounds of animals, in particular the Howler Monkeys, it was quiet. Sleep was goooooood.
Dec. 26
Dawn comes around 6:00 am. Without the normal city stuff I am awake at the crack of it. The rest of our tour group had met us at the TEC the night before. The Hansons from Edmonton(Dave, Jillian, Nick and Matt) and the Barnhills from Calgary (Wayne, Anne-Marie, Marina and Chloe). Being more awake we are more social with each other. But not everybody knows each other yet and people were still pretty quiet. Breakfast is eggs, sausage, beans and fresh bread.Before breakfast I went for a walk to see some of the birds. And to see if I would be able to see the resident crocodiles - no luck.
The TEC has a common washroom with real showers and a separate dining area. It was very comfortable. Last night actually got cold (at least by jungle standards). I had to pull out my own fleece blanket. But it was never not humid. The clothes that were wet or damp never dried. The cabana was great though.... definitely a good place to stay.
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| Hiking to the drop-in |
The tubing itself was great. The water was warm, and all we had to do was sit and float. The caves were at times very low and narrow, maybe 10' across and 4' high, at other times huge, like the inside of a cathedral. It was too dark for photos, so I bought the postcard. We saw a boa constrictor waiting for dinner inside the caves... not me luckily. Juan-carlos said he was a baby, only 6' long. My tube eventually went flat before reaching the end of the river....good thing I can swim well.
Dec. 26 - night
After leaving the Caves Branch tubing we drove through the countryside to a lodge called Banana Bank. Near as I can figure out, this is a combination Teak tree plantation and horse ranch, with guest houses for visitors. I went on a two hour horse ride through the Teak forest. Saw some animals that are a cousin of the racoon - but I can't remember what they are called. Other group members went on a river cruise and saw all kinds of things - birds, crocodiles... I lose.
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| Room for the night at Banana Bank |
The afternoon was spent hanging out at the lodge. There was a caged area that had lots of birds - toucans, parrots, macaws and a large peacock. One of the white parrots would say "Hello!" as people walked by. There was also a jaguar. And two monkeys tied up. I have mixed feelings about this place. It was a beautiful setting, and nice to see animals that I would not have seen anywhere else. The birds were lovely. But they did not look real happy. Yes these animals were saved from somewhere else, so the intention is good. But other guests at the lodge (not from our tour) just treated the animals like they were a show. This was very unsettling to watch.
The rest of the afternoon was more enjoyable. We played cards, drank beer and socialized on the patio overlooking the rivershore. Beautiful setting, large bushy trees. Parrots flying by.... People on our group were starting to get to know each other now. Our guide Troy taught us a local game called Pitti-Pat. Marina, who is 10, figured it out pretty fast! We taught Matt how to bet and drink beer when his dad Dave wasn't looking. But we never told Dave.....
Dinner was amazing. The best chicken enchiladas ever! So much for not eating much on the trip. Troy tried to get the girls working at the lodge to go with him and us to a local club - club might be a strong word, think Juke Joint...I was up for it but the girls weren't. Poor Troy. He never stopped trying though.... So instead a couple of us went next door to the Belize Jungle Dome. This is another lodge where I met Karen, a Canadian girl from Prince Rupert BC who has escaped the rat race to work here. Karen used to have a Blog,but no more. It was a good read on what life is like in Belize.
Accomdation for the night is inside a thatched roof cabin. Very comfortable. Full size bed, private room. And again it got cold. There are no windows in the bedrooms, just screens. The sounds of the jungle at night are nice to fall asleep with.
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| Morning bird watching. |
Dec.27 2005
Morning at Banana Bank was special. More birds than you can imagine. It was a bit foggy, which made for some nice views on the river. The sunlight on the trees was spectacular. A bunch of us wandered around the grounds looking for birds. It was a bit cool, but we could tell the heat was coming. Breakfast was eggs and bacon, and beans. With Marie Sharp hot habanero pepper sauce of course!
We loaded up the vans after breakfast to start our drive to Dangriga which is where we get in the boat to head out to Glover's Reef. So this was the last day in the jungle. The drive took us through the outskirts of Belmopan, the capital city, then down the Hummingbird Highway to the coast. Very scenic. Twisty, windy road. Not too hilly, but as we went further south-west we were getting into the bottom slopes of the mountains. Troy pointed out the sleeping Mayan mountain. The highway is only two lanes, and not too busy. Passed a lot of small villages. The houses are all similar... usually wood, on stilts. By North American standards they don't look good. But they are solid and the people seem to keep them in good condition. Every once in a while there is a larger, stucco house. The entire country side reminded me a lot of the American south in terms of how it looked, the condition of the buildings and villages etc.
People waiting for a bus just wait by the roadway at the end of their laneways. The national bus line uses old American school buses. I found out later it costs $10BZ to go from Dangriga to Belize City (about 100 miles by road).The Hummingbird Highway passes through citrus groves along most of its route. Oranges, Grapefruit and others are grown here. Dangriga has two canning plants. A lot people in Dangriga work in the citrus fields.
Dec. 27 - night
We arrived in Dangriga just before lunch time. Stopped at the Chinese Grocery to pick up supplies (cheap wine and snacks). I found out later that every grocery store in town is run by a Chinese family. At the traffic circle marking the intersection of two main roads in Dangriga there is a large monument to the Garifuna drummers of Dangriga called "The Drums of our Fathers". The Garifuna are descendants of the original inhabitants of the region and the drums are a large part of their tradition. The town itself is not that large, about 7000 people. The streets are narrow, the gutters are open concrete channels on the side of the roads. Many of the local ride bikes - all of them have the same bike that are called beachcruisers. Heavy steel frames with big tires and one gear. They looked fun. The highest building in town is four stories, most are two. All the buildings have the main living soace on the second floor. Here almost all the buildings are concrete framed. This is for hurricane survival, and to protect against termites. It is also because there is not enough cheap wood in Belize to build with.We went straight from the grocery to the dock. Here our jungle guides left us. Goodbye Juan-Carlos, Rudy and Troy. And hello Jack, Alex, Abe and Rock. All except Jack are Garifuna. We loaded up the boat and offwe went - with a short stop so some of our passengers could get out and push the boat over the sand bar at the entrance to the town harbour.
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| Glover's Reef: IE basecamp |
Palm trees and hammocks abound. Paradise. Quiet. Lots of shade actually. There is a second island to the west of ours separated by a narrow channel that a hurricane carved out one year. The second island is barely a beach in places. At the South end of our island is a steel frame lighthouse. The only thing visible in any direction is Middle Caye, an island smaller than the one we are one, about 3 mile NE. Long Caye, directly behind Middle Caye from our persepective and so not visible, is about another 3 miles further. Besides that, there is NOTHING on the hroizon. Paradise found.
Our group's lead guide is Jack Wilde. An ex-pat Canadian and the only non-local guide in the group. Alex is the lead local guide. There is also Rock, Abe and Javier. Our cook is Joy. A fantastic cook too....
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| Jack Wilde. Guide extraordinaire... |
Our first afternoon on the island is spent settling in. Getting our tents comfortable. Then we have a quick get together to talk about how to do things on the island. I.E - it is ok to pee anywhere as the sea will take care of things. Following our meeting we went for an introductory kayak. We all had to tip over then get back in, just in case it happened on one of our day trips out on the sea. We return to the camp and get together for dinner and socializing. The first night after dinner on the island was spectacular. Black. And no moon, so the stars were out like we never see at home. We look through a telescope at Jupiter and can see the planet's moons. Amazing.
Dec. 28
First full day on Glovers. I am up at dawn. We are operating on what Jack calls Island Standard Hours (ISH). Dawn is at 6:30ish. Breakfast is at 7ish. Lunch is at noonish.... This works well for me.The sea is very calm this morning. No wind at all. Some birds are singing in the palm trees. Sleep was very good. Quiet. With the exception of Middle Caye, there is NOTHING on the horizon. We are in the middle of nowhere. It is a great feeling. Morning is spent sitting on a log on the beach drinking really good Belizean coffe and writing. Tracy joins me. This becomes routine for us. Everybody else develops their own routines, and picks their own favourite spots too.
The first day we split into two groups and each group heads to a different spot by kayak to snorkel. On our first dive we saw a Nurse Shark. Not a bad start. The corals are amazing. Very colourful and lots of different styles. Kayaking was easy. We went to the opposite side of the island and beached. Swam out from shore. Walking along the beach was a bit disheartening because of the amount of garbage that was there. You name it, it's there on a beach somewhere. Pop bottles, pill bottles, oil bottles, plastic bags. Toys. Boat stuff. You name it and it was on the beach somewhere. I was shocked to see just how much there was. When we first arrived on the island everyone in our group walked around and picked up some garbage. That is the kind of people we all are. But seeing this second beach it is clear that no person or group of people could possibly gather all the garbage around us. Sad.
To make the best of it, I mounted a plastic doll I found on the beach to the front of my kayak, just like a ship's figurehead. This was a big hit with everybody. Glover's Reef is named after John Glover, an English Buccaneer (read: pirate) who used these islands as his base for capturing the Spanish galleons taking gold home. Arrrr.
To make the best of it, I mounted a plastic doll I found on the beach to the front of my kayak, just like a ship's figurehead. This was a big hit with everybody. Glover's Reef is named after John Glover, an English Buccaneer (read: pirate) who used these islands as his base for capturing the Spanish galleons taking gold home. Arrrr.
Dec. 28 - night
It's late. But no one is really sure how late. ISH has already taken over our bodies. We get up at dawn and go to bed when we are ready. I think that means around 9pm but who cares. We spent the lunch hour lazing around, mostly in the hammocks, snoozing or chatting or reading. Just staying out of the direct sun. As long as one is not in the direct sunlight the heat is not too bad. No shirt, no shoes needed though. It's good. Mid afternoon we went out kayaking and snorkelling again. This time we just went to a shallow spot on the reef and anchored the kayaks and jumped in. The variety of fish is indescribable. We tried keeping track on our fish cards but we saw so many it was impossible.
Pre dinner was just like pre-lunch. Relaxing, lazing, socializing. All of the kids and teenagers in the group are hanging out and looking after each other. The grown-ups are doing the same. Tracy and I, as the only two people here without family, are amazed at how well everybody in the group is getting along. It is great. We both want to become part of one of the families. Someone blows the conch shell to tell us dinner is ready. As with all the meals we have had, it is delicious. Post dinner we play cards, talk, drink some wine.... just plain old socialize. Most of the guides pack it in earlier than us - Javier was actually sleeping leaning against the counter in the dining room. Those guys work hard. But Jack sticks it out with us. He is an amazing guide . Very knowledgeable. Very down to earth. A sweetheart with the kids, but able to tell the dirtiest jokes you can think of. They cannot be repeated here, but the best one involves an octopus and a set of bagpipes. Wayne, who is normally very quite is also very funny. His lizard joke had us all on the ground laughing hysterically.
Dec. 29
Today's plan is relatively simple. Everybody in the group is going to paddle together out to Middle Caye, where we will have lunch and snorkel. We load up the kayaks, get ready and go! I am in a single. And some people in the doubles are stronger than others. So I decide to be social and drift in and around the fleet to say hello to everybody. Everybody is in good spirits - how can we not be? The paddling was fairly easy. The winds were light and because we are behind the coral reef the waves are not too difficult. The paddle takes a leisurely hour and a half or so. Once at Middle Caye, we split into two groups. One goes snorkelling, one for a short hike. There are many more bugs on this island. We get eaten alive. Normally it is a station for the attendants of the Glover's Reef Marine Park. But because we are here during Christmas holidays there is only a caretaker and his family. And a basketball net. In the middle of the island Tracy and I found this basketball net. |
Lunch is a sandwich and veggie buffet served on the dock. And after eating nearly everybody takes a snooze. Oh the hard island life. Tracy and I hang out at the shallow end of the dock watching the fish swim near us. Alex stops by and starts explaining what we are seeing. Although watching the barracuda eat was pretty self explanatory (cue the Heart song). Snorkeling here was good - lots to see. The biggest fish today were Tarpon - silver, pointy and fast. But the water was cold. Brrrr cold. The air temperature was warm but it was partly cloudy, so the water stayed cool. Plus Alex told us there was a weather front coming from the North blowing in cold air and the currents were coming in from that way too. But there was still lots to see. A big barracuda watching us - maybe 3ft long. We didn't stay too long in the water. Everybody got too cold. And when it was time to leave, everybody in the double kayaks raised a sail. Us in the singles had to paddle. But the winds weren't too strong so we were able to keep up with the sailors. Dave and Jillian had the best plan - Jillian sat up-front and went along for the ride while Dave had the sail line in one hand and a Belikin in the other. Can't do that in a single kayak! Smart guy that Dave.
Back at camp everybody has settled into what has become our normal. Relax. Hammock surfing. Reading. Everybody has found thier own spot. It stays like this til dinner - which is always announced by the blowing of a conch shell - some of the kids are getting pretty good at it. Dinner tonight was of course excellent. Fresh grouper...mmmmmm. After dinner everybody was in a good mood. So off we went down the beach to the dive resort next door (about a 5 minute walk). You must understand - resort is a bit of stretch. There are 6 or 7 cabanas, a dining hall. And a dock. And on the end of that dock is one of the coolest places we went on the trip - the bar. No Name. No bright sign. Just a one room building on the end of a dock in the middle of the Carribean. Chad (the lead dive instructor slash bartender) is working. Our group of 8 overwhelms him! There are only 6 or 7 other people there. And we all ordered Maragaritas.... mmmmmm, good. The most potent margs I have ever had. Must be the $4 it costs for a bottle of rum. The mood was perfect with Bob Marley playing behind us, the sea breeze blowing on us and good friends laughing.Everybody has become friendly and gotten to know each other pretty well. Everybody is getting along fabulously. There is not a bad person in the group.
The best part of this bar was the bathroom was close - just stand in a dark spot on the dock and - well, you can figure it out.
Dec. 30
Maybe it was the margaritas.... maybe it was the five minutes of rain last night. But I had wicked insomnia. Could not sleep at all. So I finally gave up and went outside and lay in my hammock with a pillow and a blanket and stared at the stars. Orion. The Dippers. Andromeda.... hundreds of thousands of others. We could see them all at night and that, added to the remoteness of the island makes one feel very very small. Sleep finally came, and I think it was the best sleep I had all week.
Today was a day without a formal plan. Some people went fishing. Nicholas caught a 3ft long barracuda (cue the Heart song). Some people went hammock surfing. Some people did nothing. Some of us wanted a much longer paddle, so me, Tracy, Kevin Wilson and Alex the guide loaded up two double kayaks and headed to Long Caye. It is about 6 miles NE of Southwest Caye, our base camp. The wind was a little stronger today, but not bad. The paddle took us about an hour and a half. We beached at the south end of the island. There is a dive camp (Off the Wall diving - run by an ex-dentist and his wife) and a "resort" run by Slick Rock adventures (the same group that runs the Mountain Biking in Moab). We walked to these two camps. Definitely more developed than ours. The guests here stay in stilted cabanas. Perfectly aligned conch shells line the pathways - very nice but way to formal for my tastes. And there is a volleyball court in the middle of the buildings. The guests here were playing.... why come to the middle of the Carribean to play volleyball when there is perfect kayaking and snorkeling a walk away? we couldn't answer that question either. We hung out at the camp for a while, took a group self portrait looking out over the sea, then went to find Alex and ate lunch in the shade. Along the way we saw many lizards and geckos, and a huge condor sitting in the tree. We were able to get quite close before he flew away.
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| Alex leading a snorkel adventure. |
But we had to make it back to base camp before dark...and getting back was fun. All of the double kayaks are equipped with a mast and sail. We had the wind at our back to return to camp, so up went the sail and off we went. This is a great relaxing way to go. Tracy, being the hard paddler that she is, just lay back and put her legs up on the deck of the kayak. "Take me home", she said. Just like Cleopatra. The sail back was no faster than paddling, but much easier. Return to base camp we got back to normal... relax, change, shower, wash up. Everybody has gotten into their own routine now. And everybody is respectful of each other but also interested in knowing what we all did each day. We raved about our East Wall experience. We felt very lucky to have been there and found out later that we were.
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| Abe with a special style of kayak propulsion |
Before dinner we all just relaxed, had a beer, talked.... life is good. Tonight was a little different though. People are tired. We have had three (or four?) active days and everybody is in Island routine. Dinner was quieter than normal. And after dinner I just went and lay in a hammock. Bed was early tonight, for everybody I think.
I have really lost track of days and time. If it was not for writing everyday I would not even know the date. It does not matter out here. Everything is so relaxed and comfortable.
Post dinner activities were pretty mellow today. I was really tired. Have been getting up at dawn everyday and not really sleeping too much at night. Last night I moved out of the tent and slept in the hammock. Very nice. Tonight after dinner I went back to the hammock and just lay there, watching the stars. Bed was early for everybody tonight.
Dec. 31 2005
New Years Eve. Well here we are at the end of 2005. The day started as normal. Awake at dawn. Coffee on the beach. Breakfast. Then we loaded up the kayaks and headed North West. We were going out to the West Wall - the western edge of the coral reef. The wind today was stronger than any other day yet. Made for some hard paddling. People in the double kayaks sailed, but being in the singles we did not have that option. We kayaked for what felt like an hour and a half. The skiff boat came with us. Where were we going? Heading this direction the only thing to see was water - cool, blue, clear water. Eventually the skiff anchored in a shallow and we tied up the kayaks to the boat. Got our snorkel gear on and went from there. We were on the West wall, very similar to yesterday the way the corals just disappear from view. But the water here is cloudier, not as warm. And everybody in the group is here in the same spot unlike yesterday where it was just four of us.Alex again showed his diving skill. Only this time when he got as deep as he went he swam between the corals. He stayed down probably 30 seconds or so before he started back up. Nicholas was also able to do this. Yesterdays bloody nose was enough for me not to try again.
At one point everybody stopped. We were treading water over a sleeping Nurse Shark, a big one too. Probably 7ft long. Abe (named because he was born the same day as Abraham Lincoln) dove down and touched his tail. The shark took off and swam around us before disappearing. Cool. Some people were nervous - Tracy swam over me getting out of the way- but it was cool to see a shark. We finished snorkelling and headed back to where we had anchored. Chloe and Marina had stopped snorkeling earlier and gone back to the boat. Rock was there getting lunch ready and as everybody swam up, the girls took our orders. Always smiling. It was very nice. They were having fun too. So yes, we had a picnic standing in the middle of the Carribean Sea, on New Years Eve. Even Southwest Caye and our base camp seemed distant from here.
Lunch ended and it was time to paddle back. Into the wind. This was a hard paddle, took about two hours. We were constantly correcting for the waves and the wind - both were stronger than any time previous this week. By the time we got back to camp we were exhausted. Everybody was. A coke and fresh water helped but we just sat on the beach for about half an hour before we moved. It was a hard day paddling, and a nice spot to snorkel, but not as nice as our stop the day before at the East wall. That is ok though becuase it is New Years Eve. It is also our last night on the island.... time to party.
New Years Eve 2005 - night.
Nothing special for dinner, just Joy's normal amazing food. There was more wine than normal. But trust me on this - the Belizean blackberry wine we bought for $4 a bottle was not the greatest I have ever tasted. Most of the afternoon before dinner we just sat in the shade underneath the dining hall- chatting, hanging out, dreaming. I think we were all feeling a combination of fatigue and exhilaration and excitement and sadness that our stay in what is my version of paradise was coming to an end.Dinner was good. The normal post-dinner socializing was happening when Jack announced it was time for the crab races! All of the kids ran around the beach and found hermit crabs. Jack put them in a bucket. A race course was prepared by using a rake to draw circles in the sand. The bucket was placed upside down in the centre and removed. First crab to the edge of the circle wins! Heats were held. The finals took place.... I have no idea who won, all I remember is "Tha Killa", Gina's favourite, did not! But man was it funny. I would never have thought crab racing would be so fun.
Post-race, Alex and the rest of the guides brought out their drums. A bonfire was list on the beach. The guides played drums, Joy started to dance and before long we were all up trying to imitate Garifuna dancing. I don't think we did very well. But we had to practice because at our final night in Dangriga we had to show off our skills at a party. So we tried. The dancetells the story of a lady walkingon the beach, finding a drunk fisherman passed out and tryingfruitlessly to wake him up. Alex explained the steps. Joy showed us the moves.... we'll leave it at that.
It's New Years Eve and everybody wants to stay up til midnight but everybody is falling asleep. The winds have died down. The sea is quiet. And we are all sitting by the fire enjoying the night, our new friends, and the fabulous place we are at. At some time somebody said "it's 10 o'clock, let's just say it's midnight!". Slowly people leave to go to bed. Finally, while I was lying in a hammock, I heard a bunch of drumming and some conch shells blowing. Midnight. Goodbye 2005.
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| Happy New Year 2006 |
Jan. 1 2006
Before dawn. It's still dark. Jack comes around, wakes up Tracy, me, Maddie and Gina. We get in Kayaks and start paddling around the island. It's brighter, but the sun is still not up. The waves are high. The wind picked up over night, and the hi wind in combination with the sea swell, because we have gone past the reef, is causing waves about 6ft high or more. At times we can't see each other in the boats because the waves block our view. Eventually we make it quite a way past the island and all we can see is open water. And the sun, slowly rising up over the horizon. An orange disk, slowly coming over the relatively straight line of the horizon. Within minutes is totally up. I have seen sunrises before but never on the open sea. This was spectacular. It was too rough to take pictures. But will be unforgettable.We turned around to go back to camp. The waves were challenging. Everything I ever learned about paddling a kayak went into this one. A lot of the way we surfed on the big waves, just coasting, laughing all the way. But sometimes I was sideways to the waves and nearly got tipped. It was close - nearly went swimming. By the time we got back to camp, everybody else was up. But they missed what we had seen. Could there have been a better way to start 2006?
Breakfast is quiet this morning. I am very sad to be leaving here. The island has become my paradise. I have not been so relaxed or comfortable in months. I have met and become friends with almost everybody. Tracy and I are constantly amazed how good everybody in the group is. We all have similar moral standards and outlooks on life. No one takes themselves too seriously. We all laugh at each other and ourselves, and we all talk about a variety of subjects. I don't want to leave.
But leave we must... after breakfast we start packing. There is sand in everything... oh well. Packing finishes and it's time to just wait. We all sit in our favorite spots. Mine is the hammock near mine and Tracy's tent. I have spent many hours there, usually with good company. Finally the boat back to the world arrives.
A funny thing happened when we arrived on the island. Our boat dropped us off and was picking up the group leaving. The other group, every last one of them, looked miserable. How could they be so unhappy we all wondered? Now, we all understand. Southwest Caye became our island. Some of us more than others really loved it here. We did not really want to leave. But we had too. So all 18 of us, with sad faces and reluctance loaded up the boat and shipped out. But I swear I will go back.
The boat ride back to Dangriga was quiet. The waves and wind were still higher than they had been during the week so we were bouncing quite a bit. We also passed Man 'o' War Caye. This is very cool - it is a bird sanctuary. There is a type of bird we saw called a Frigate bird (or a Man 'o' War). It is a seabird, black and white, about a 4ft wingspan and a nice forked tail. They were very pretty to watch. At Man 'o' War Caye, there are hundreds of them. This is their nesting ground. The males makes the nests, then puff up their red throat gullet and spread their wings trying to impress the females. Bigger is better apparently.....It was very impressive seeing so many birds at one time. Although we could not help but think of that Hitchcock movie....
Jan. 1 - Dangriga
We have arrived back in town. And it is hot. The humidity difference between town and Glover's is amazing. Our accomadation tonight is the Chaleanor Hotel. The largest building in town - four stories. Of course my room is on the top floor and after not using my legs for a week it is a challenge to climb the stairs. The hotel is clean and pretty quiet - except for all the roosters. It seems Belizean roosters don't just crow at dawn. We heard them back at Banana Bank too. We move in, shower (a real strong hot water shower!) and head out exploring. It is New Years Day though, so most things are closed. We find a small grocery (of course, run by a Chinese family) and get some cold drinks, but nothing else is open. People are out, though not many. They are friendly. Everybody smiles and says hi. The town is strange to us. By North American standards it does not look nice. But it is unique.New Years Day is a bigger celebration in Dangriga than Christmas. We had dinner at a local caterer's house, then head to the Community Centre for a drum and dance party. The Centre is a post and beam thatched roof on a street corner with a small cabana where they keep the beer cold. The old men are playing dominoes. The kids are running around playing. The seats are set up for the gringo tourists... and the drum band is there. Garifuna music is mostly based on drums and chanting. It is fun. Catchy. And sensual in a way.
The streets at night were full of people. Johnkunnu is held this night. The Johnkunnu dancers dress up in white shirts, with headdresses covered in fruit and bright feathers. And masks of nylons with a face drawn on them. I think (I can't remember for sure) that the Johnkunnu represents the tradition of the Garifuna mocking their former Euorpean conquerers. They dance very fast - the fastest drumming of the night. And they go door to door looking for tips. They stopped by the Community Centre and gave us a demonstration. Crowds of people follow them. The streets are very crowded tonight... but we never felt not safe.
The local kids were at the centre too. Dancing and playing (and other stuff....). They liked having their picture taken. I don't think they had ever seen a digital camera before. And maybe never a picture of themselves. So they were quite excited to see that. And they were very friendly. A couple of them became my buddies.
The dance tonight was where I came to respect our guide Alex even more. He led the dancing, told stories. And it was clear he knew all the kids and they all knew him. He is a genuinely good person.
Jan. 2
Our trip officially ended this morning. We all gathered in the morning to go to one final breakfast together. But we could not find a cafe that was open! Some people had to leave earlier than others, so we went to the closest grocery and bought some bread, peanut butter and jam and juice. And had a common breakfast in the lobby of the hotel.
Various people start leaving to the Dangriga airport. My flight is the last of the day and Tracy is taking the bus back to Belize City so we wander the town some more. It is more crowded now. People are up and we get asked if we want a boat ride out to Glovers.... hard to say no. Eventually we met up with Jack again. It is his day off but he has come to say goodbye to the group. We head back to the Island Expeditions office with him and he tells us about his next adventure. Read about it here on Jack Wilde's blog
Eventually, I make it to Dangriga airport for a plane ride to Belize City.This ride was 17min long - but one of the more freaky rides I have had in a plane. First, the runway in Dangriga more closely resembles a dirt track. Then landing in Belize, there was another plane very close to ours on final approach - we won the game of chicken. And to end it, there was a plane still taxiing on the runway as we went in.... he got out of the way.
Jan. 2 - night
Then a funny thing happened at the Belize airport. It seems Delta Airlines can't count and they sell more tickets than their planes hold. They asked if anybody wanted to wait another day.... well why the hell not? They gave me a hotel in Belize City and a voucher for another flight. Cool. Me volunteering also allowed some guy to get on the plane well after his wife was already on. And since Tracy was staying in Belize City that night I called her up at her hotel and we spent one more day on vacation hanging out together.Delta gave me a room at a place called the Princess hotel. After being on an island in the middle of the Carribean for a week or so, and being surrounded by people similar to me, and being engrossed in the local culture, this place sucked. A typical hotel for people with more money than morals. That is enough about that place. The only good thing about it was that across the street was the city football (read: soccer) stadium. And there was a game on! It was not large, maybe it held 2 or 3 thousand people. But people were banging drums, singing, dancing and just having a great time. It was cool to watch from my balcony vantage point but I wish I was there.
Not too many people had much good to say about Belize City. I only saw a small bit of it. And what I saw was not great. There did not seem to be much to do for tourists. And the city in general was dirtier and more crowded than Dangriga. Reid, who has travelled around the world, said it was one of the worst cities he has ever been in. Not my place.
Jan. 3
Morning was spent just sitting by the pool, soaking up as much tropical sun as I could before I left. But eventually it was off to the airport in George's cab. Tracy was there too, her flight left around the same time as mine. Things looked sketchy again... I had a ticket but no seat number. They loaded the plane.... and I was the last one on. The only open seat was in first class. Not bad! I was seated next to an old guy that I thought was a grump but actually turned out to be alright. He was an American living in Spain because he hates the American Empire. Been like that for 20 years. hates Bush. That made me like him a lot!He hated the stuck up people in 1st class that expected to be waited on hand over fist and could get away with anything. There was a couple next to us.... stereotypical fat Americans wearing clothes that were too small. They were wearing shorts and t-shirts and complained it was cold in the plane... surprise. My friend was a photojournalist who had been all over the bad places in the world taking pictures. He had no fingers on his right hand and told me his job was very saddening at times. He was vacationing in Belize because the country is fairly modern but not spoiled by American commercialism.
See why I liked him?
Trips home are always interesting. This one was no exception. Leaving Belize was weird because I really fell in love with the country. The people - both the tourists like me on my trip and the locals we met especially our guides - were all amazing. I left the country with an impression that they know how to live right. They live simply, the people know what is important and that is what they worry about. By Canadian standards the local people are poor and the country is considered second world standard. But I saw more happy friendly people there than I did anywhere else in a long time. Everybody I met seemed genuinely interested in protecting the environment. Belizeans are very aware how sensitive the jungle and the sea is and they want to protect it. There are a lot of National Parks for a country their size. The people know what is important. Maybe this is my holiday brain working, but I really came back with this impression.
Flying into Atlanta and then Montreal made me see this even more. We were not even away from the luggage pickup racks and people were alredy on their blackberrys and phones. Kids were crying. And people were just fat and lazy looking (with the Montreal style). I don't think I saw a kid cry in Dangriga.
Later.....
This trip was really amazing. A great group of people. An eye-opening experience. When I booked it I had no idea how much I would fall in love with Belize. I have been back twice since, to some of the same places, but also to new places. And I have a friend for life in Belize, all because of this trip. Who would have thought that would happen when all I wanted was a way to get a nice vacation at Christmas.
I have been many other places in the world, and travelled with other groups of travellers, but I have yet to re-create the experience Island Expeditions and the people on this trip provided. Most of their names are forgotten, but the experience and memories are still pretty good.
Some more photos from Belize.
Some more photos from Belize.
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| Belize Photos |
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