Belize - To the Mainland

We must have been blessed yesterday as it seemed to rain heavily overnight and blasts of heavy rain interspersed with burning sun continued throughout the morning.  Given a midday departure most people took a leisurely breakfast, explored further on foot or tried to deal with hangovers as best as possible.  I think that dehydration and a touch of sunstroke had a part to play for some of the worst affected.  Perhaps Ragamuffin would like to consider carrying drinking water on their tours and encouraging people to take it.

The speedboat was packed to the gunnels and dodged its way through a few showers on the way to Belize City.  There seemed to be some kind of major fracas outside the terminal which considerably delayed departure in a Mauricio upgrade bus.  As we were parked next to the ‘chicken bus’ which was the alternative, it helped most of us to feel grateful!   Perhaps the absence of sunshine contributed to the mood but Belize was distinctly grim and in every way matched my perception of a Third World country.  Buildings were dilapidated and rickety, roads were indifferent and rubbish abounded.  On reaching San Ignacio many of the group felt that the place was not ‘safe’.  Whilst it was decidedly shabby, I never got this feeling. 

My limited dealings with the people were all polite and friendly, there was evidence of new building and public projects to improve aspects of town and fewer police on the streets than in Mexico.  However, safety is an issue and because of it I feel that we are offered a very sanitised view of what any country has to offer.  Mauricio is very good at warning us of the dangers involved in visiting various places and by and large, we don’t go where there is perceived danger.  Consequently, one’s perception of place is limited to what can be seen from the bus; a moving picture, and the characteristics of those towns where we stay and the level of comfort provided by the hotels in them. Whilst I have no desire to be ‘put in harm’s way’ I would appreciate more time to ‘get to know’ places and perhaps a tour is not the best way to do this.  Returning to refection about Belize it was clear that wealth existed as well.  There were sizeable and well protected properties.  Close to San Ignacio there was a large agricultural research station – funded largely by China and Taiwan – that is involved in using genetic science to produce better quality produce for a global market.  Our guide clearly had no problem with the notion of GM crops.  For him the work is better for the people and good for the country.

The area is most famous for its caves and our second day presented the opportunity to visit a range of them.  Not wanting the challenge of crawling in the dark in confined spaces I opted for the less arduous option of tubing along with Sarah and Belinda.  In short, this consisted of sitting in a large inner tube and paddling through three large caves. 

We had a great time.  Our guide showed us lots of cave formations, we swam in a deep pool and had to work a lot harder than we expected.  So, plenty of exercise, real caves but no claustrophobia.  Result!