Another note from San Ignacio - yes, I'm still here, but am leaving soon. I have a few things to share since I last wrote, although not as many as I'd hoped, due to some unfortunate circumstances... Last week was the meat and potatoes of my HIV/AIDS outreach project. We did several talks to kids attending the July Police Cadet Camps in Belize. Our talk basically consisted of general HIV and AIDS info, some myth-busting, condom demonstrations (always a good time doing condom demonstrations for teenagers...I have a new respect for sex-ed teachers), and a few games to keep the kids [View Full Entry]

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We awoke at 4.30am to the trusted and familiar alarm tune and although the trip went smoothly, various stops and delays meant it was lunch time before we were stepping off the water taxi and onto another tropical paradise, Belizes Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is very tiny island a couple of blocks wide and sits right in the middle of the 2nd largest coral reef in the world. As Belize is probably the most expensive place in Central America and we were in no hurry, we spent a bit of time finding our accommodation which was basic but all we needed. [View Full Entry]

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We took a mini-van from Flores to Belize, which took 6 hours with a lunch stop. We were dropped off at the Ferry terminal in Belize City and caught a boat to Ambergris Caye. We had booked a dive package a few months ago which turned out to be a good deal, 7 nights in a hotel and 11 dives, including the blue hole for USD$600 each. It was a bit of an indulgence, but I have always wanted to dive in Belize, being the second biggest barrier reef in the world, the Great Barrier Reef being the biggest. Ambergris Caye, [View Full Entry]

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My buddy Steve and I enjoyed a week diving at Blackbird Cay, an island that is part of the Turneffe Atoll. We flew through Miami to Belize City where we then taxied to a local hotel where we met the resort boat that took us to the resort located about 30 miles off shore. Blackbird is a nice little resort (the only thing on the island at that time) that caters to divers and fisherman. The accomodations are bungalows on the sand facing the Caribbean Sea. There were only 25 or so guests the entire time. The diving was fantastic; mostly [View Full Entry]

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I have been in San Ignacio for about a week now - it's a lovely little town! For the most part my time here has been spent working very hard with Cornerstone Volunteers in an HIV/AIDS outreach program. Perhaps it would be best then to tell you a little bit about the Cornerstone Foundation and what they do here in Belize... Cornerstone is a grassroots humanitarian organization based out of San Ignacio here in Belize. They are very well developed, are doing quite well, and are known and respected throughout the community for all the good work they are doing. They've [View Full Entry]

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So we set off from The Chetumal Hostel at 7.15 am to catch the Premier Line primera class bus direct to Belize city, which we were assured by Lilia, our host, departed at 8 am. There wasn’t one! At the ADO terminal we are informed that other than the 5am & 6am buses the next one is at 11.45am! Not something the guide books or the Premier Lines website tells you. We catch a cab to the Nuevo Mercado as we are told that there are many primera class buses that leave for BC from there about now. There aren’t! The [View Full Entry]

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During my travels there are many things that upset me and rubbish is one of them. In Australia we are lucky enough to be at least partially aware of the dangers of human waste and this is obvious by the pristine beaches and landscapes...although we would all agree improvements still need to be made! In Central America waste is a huge problem and making my way through the countryside on the old american school bus i noticed not just garbage but loads of men just sitting around! Very common in Belize...the women are working and the men are chillin´...or discussing important [View Full Entry]

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FYI - We have added more pictures to the gallery. On Sunday, July 6, we took an early morning bus to Monteverde/Santa Elena. Before lunch we walked through a beautiful orchid garden and in the afternoon we enjoyed a canopy tour with Selvatura Adventures. The canopy tour was a zipline consisting of 18 platforms, 3km of cables, and a Tarzan-swing in primary rainforest. It was a little scary at first because we were so high up in the trees, but it was so much fun and the view was wonderful! That evening we visited the frog pond and got to see [View Full Entry]

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San Ignacio Woke up in San Ignacio and ambled down to the bus plaza around 9am to head to the Guatemala border. The bus wasn´t very crowded and we climbed the hiull up and away from the town. It was a very lush, beautiful area with more hills and ranges than we saw yesterday on the way from Bze City to We arrived at the Belizean ´border town´of Benque within 30 min or so. It isn´t actually on the border, so we had to take a cab a couple km to the border because busses don´t go the full distance. There [View Full Entry]

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Quite a trek heading from Tulum to the Cayes...seems simple enough and started off on the 08.30 bus-great! Arrived at 11.30 to find there is only one bus going to Belize City at 14.45. hmmm 3 hours in chetumal...i really wouldnt recommend spending any more time here. I have developed a sligt aversion to hot, dirty towns so apologise for being completely biased throughout my writing! I just about managed to make it to Belize City with 15 minutes to spare until the last water taxi at 17.30. With the help of my friendly taxi driver, who happily relieved me of [View Full Entry]

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