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Published: August 19th 2008
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El Boqueron
The magical, mystical, Mayan gorge 13th Agosto - Rio Dulce
14th Agosto - Rio Dulce
Pretty action packed day - 7 of us squeezed in a van and drove to El Boqueron, a gorge which looked very magical and mystical. Paddled down it in very leaky wooden canoe, then swam/floated the way back under waterfalls and with jungle vines dangling all over the place. Gorge-ous. (blame Harriet, thats a definite Symes joke)
Then moved on to Finca al Paraiso, a HOT waterfall that runs into a freezing cold plunge pool. Waterfall was steaming hot and it was pretty much the best shower we've had so far. Climbed into a cave behind the waterfall and pretended to be on a Herbal Essences advert - ignoring the bat poo. Molested by small children selling Banana Tortillas on the way out - surprisingly frightening actually.
After this day of natural wonders what better way to relax than with a Pina Colada on the dock. Until the inevitable huge and terrifying nightly thunderstorm. Really feels like the end of the world every evening. Incredible lightening and thunder though, very dramatic! There were no rooms free that night so the owners said that we could
Finca al Paraiso
Herbal Essences advert.
Almost. sling up our hammocks at the top of a half finished spa they're building. So spent a very exciting night on a big wooden balcony overlooking the estuary. Thunder and lightening are actually very soothing and sleep inducing!
15th Agosto - Punta Gorda, Belize
A fast boat, a minibus ride with bags precariously perched on top (Harri's fell off twice) and a very bumpy boat ride saw us safely arrived in Belize.
So amazing to be speaking English again! Albeit with a heavy Creole accent which sometimes doesnt sound like English at all. (think heavy caribbean/jamaican accent) Everyone here is so laid back they're horizontal and speaks so slowly you think they've already finished their sentence.
Staple diet here will be a choice between:
Stew chicken with beans and rice
or
Stew chicken with white rice and beans
It's a tough choice, but fortunately they're both equally yummy.
Stayed a night on the sea front in Punta Gorda - went to an Ice Cream parlour for dinner with our new Yale-Graduate friend who was useful in protection against the local crack addict psychopath we'd been warned about. Turns out he's just a local
guy everyone knows who makes a lot of strange noises.
After dinner heard the sound of drumming so followed the beach road until we found some Garifuna people drumming away in a bar. Very impressive and even more so when they managed a drumming rendition of Backstreet Boys followed by Take Me Home Country Roads. Amazing.
16th Agosto - Placencia
Took a bus to Mango Creek (try it in a very slow caribbean accent - hours of endless fun) then took the Hokey Pokey Water Taxi to Placencia.
Here the people spoke and moved so slowly I thought they might actually have died mid-step. Cant do anything fast even if you wanted to due to incredibly intense heat.
Placencia is a tiny little thin strip of sandy peninsula with wooden coloured houses on stilts. Found a good spot on the white sand palm fringed beach and kicked back with a lime juice and some reggae in the background (jealous yet?)
17th Agosto - Coxcomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
After a hearty breakfast of cinnamon buns from John the Baker we tried to get the bus to the wildlife sanctuary but the prospect of
waiting two hours in the burning heat was not inviting so instead we jumped in the back of a pick-up truck going in the right direction. Took quite some time to understand our drivers name was Norman Andrews (again, the creole accent makes things quite tricky)
Arrived at wildlife sanctuary in midday heat only to be told the sanctuary entrance was actually 8 miles away and there was no bus. Hopped in a taxi, stopping at the 'supermarket' on the way because you have to take all your own food and water into the sanctuary. Dinner was going to be a promising selection of pringles, biscuits and Macaroni cheese.
On arrival in the park itself we were all forced to change into the best outfits imaginable due to some really mean flies which cant really be seen but bite you repeatedly leaving tiny blood blisters. Trousers tucked into socks and trainers and the longest sleeves we could stand in the heat.
That afternoon undertook a fairly gruelling walk through the rainforest, up a very steep climb, through vines, spiders webs and under huge palm leaves. Absolutely drenched in sweat but luckily after the 2 hours to the
Yet another waterfall...
Another Herbal Essences Advert top there was a very rewarding view. Rainforest spread out beneath us and the Coxscomb mountain range sprawling in the distance. Took in the view and dried off for a while. Then began the descent...
Were rescued from drowning in our own sweat by the discovery of two waterfalls with big plunge pools to swim in. Another Herbal Essences advert set. It looked too perfectly formed to be natural and we had it all to ourselves. Bliss.
After such an energetic afternoon the Macaroni cheese actually went down very well, despite its neon orange colour.
Hopped into our hammocks which we put up under a wooden shelter and were lulled to sleep by the sweet sound of mosquitoes, flies and unnamed scuffling things beneath us. (Possibly Jaguars)
18th Agosto - Caye Caulker
Despite aching thighs and feeling disgustingly dirty we went on another walk early in the morning. Through a different, thankfully flatter part of the rainforest. We saw hummingbirds, spiders, a tapir and some Howler Monkeys so it was worth it in the end! But still no Jaguars.
Got in the back of another pick-up truck, this time belonging to a scientist who
lives at the sanctuary researching Jaguars. So it was a very informative ride to the bus stop where we got a bus to Belize city and then onto another boat to Caye Caulker.
Arrived at the reasonable hour of 7pm but apparently everything closed at 6... wandered around in the moonlight looking for a hostel and had whole lobster for dinner for 7 quid. Life is good.
Tash
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Alicia Fraser
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I can't believe you lot are doing so much walking. I quite fancy the lurid coloured macaroni cheese. Glad that hammock is getting an airing! Look forward to the next episode. Love Muj