Fast route through Belize!

Maria, Sarah and I looked for accommodation, and what we found was ok for one night, but it reminded me of a rat hole! Placencia was not a place we wanted to stick around so we headed for the town of San Ignacio on the Guatemalan border.

We drove through Belize seeing the lush green countryside as well as the dodgy looking towns of Belmopan, Dangriga. We rode the chicken bus from one place to the other and everywhere we looked we could see poverty unfortunately. We arrived at San Ignacio by mid day, a little but busy town filled with lots of tourists crossing the border, markets, hostels, and tour operators. All the tour operators say they are tourist information, but just be aware that they are not official tourist information, and it is used more as a sales gimmick than anything else.

We stayed in the Hostel called Hi-Et which offered simple clean rooms with a shared bath with hot water for a fair price. As Maria and I went to get our laundry, I saw a dog lying on the pavement shacking in pain and blood dripping from its penis. I could not walk away, so we went and found a vet to see what could be done. The vet came to get the dog, but unfortunately the vet was no gentle man so he picked up the dog by its back legs. The dog cried in pain, so I cried and told him to please carry him differently. When we got to the vet and the dog was examined, it was clear that there was something very wrong, as the dog’s penis was almost completely non existent. The poor dog shivered in pain as the vet told me that it did not look good, and that it would need a lot of meds and care but that it may not make it at all. I cried as I made the decision to pay for the dog to be put to sleep. I cried as they injected the lethal dose, and walked out receiving a warm hug from Maria. It is truly hard for me to travel in these countries where animal abuse is normal! It kills me inside seeing all the defenceless creatures in pain.

After some rest and trying to get my mind of the poor dog’s life I had taken we got together with the 2 Norwegian girls Kris and Katti for dinner at Serendip and a nice one it was! We made plans to go to Belize zoo the next day to see all the spectacular animals of Belize that I had heard so much about.

We woke up to low clouds and rain the next morning but we hopped on the bus anyway. We arrived at Belize zoo as the weather cleared up and we were waking up and started our tour! We saw so many great animals such as the Tigress, the Jaguar, the parrots, the harpy eagle, crocodiles, the mountain cow, the Belizean racoon, the wild hog and many more. It was a great zoo with big natural cages set in the middle of nature (bring repellent), where it looked like the animals where well looked after. I got some great photos!

Our ride back to San Ignacio was on the back of a pick up truck where I met a man with a sad story but filled with hope. He had become a drug addict at a young age involved in gang activity, and his family had finally intervened and picked him up to take him to the rehab in San Ignacio where he would live for one year to hopefully start a new life. He was so thin, and tired when me met him, and we gave him some of our food which he ate not even tasting it. I just hope that his rehab is successful and that he gets a better life. Drug and alcohol abuse seems to be a big problem in Belize, but it does seem like they realise themselves that it is a problem. I have to admit that Belize in general did not feel very safe to me, and I am very glad that I did not travel much here by myself. Women travellers get a lot of unwanted attention by the men here in very vulgar ways.

Safely back in San Ignacio we hopped on a shuttle to Flores in Guatemala!

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