Belize

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Los Achiotes

Waiting for our bus to escape customs I talked with a taxi driver at the border. He had lived in LA for eight years. I asked him playfully if he missed the Dodgers. His reply was poignant, “I miss everything there.” “Yeah,” I thought, “Life is much harder here, in every way.” “I have a son in Bakersfield, going for his AA in Information Technology; he’s all set.” He seemed both proud and sad. In a culture where family is the source of all felt meaning I can only imagine how “opportunity for my children” can at once break your heart and mend it.

Belize City

Belize City is on the coast, servicing the islands and reefs with some of the world’s best scuba. Formerly British Honduras, they speak “English,” as in speaking Carribean English, mon. I understand normal slow Spanish better than their English.

Of course, at that time we had still not yet seen the armadillo.

Plan B, to drive to the lodge and “see the country,” would have been a complete a disaster that would have been, four hours of semi-maintained macadam, 95%!o(MISSING)f which is passable. For

Plan C we chartered a Cessna 182 for a 40 minute flight at 1800’ elevation. Wish they could have picked us up in rather nearby Tikal, but that would have been an international flight. The lodge van drove us 20 minutes on their "driveway."

Chan Chich

The accommodations are stunning. The concierge showed us to our 750 square foot cabaña with wrap around deck. Informing us, in a dignified fawning, that “ the beige towels are for the spa; the ivory towels are for the pool.” The bathroom included showers with fixtures for two and room for four Including bidet (for French guests?). Afterwards, Mo continued the presentation. “The showers will be dripping gold when you use the emerald handle. If you anticipate an unpleasant feeling coming just alert our staff who will shield you.” The resort encompasses three hundred acres, including a private lake, purchased twenty years ago by a man who had made his fortune selling Belikin beer, the most popular in Belize. We could have all we wanted. The most common brew, a light lager, was awful, but the stout was pretty good. The current lodge and cabanas are situated amidst the main

plaza of Mayan ruins, a fifth the size of plazas in Copan or Tikal.

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Comments

[Marcia Billings]

My comment on Belize: I'll take it.