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Published: August 21st 2016
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After volunteering I left for
Caye Caulker and brought a little of Wildtracks with me, as I learned after I left I brought a parasite with me. Luckily the company was great: some volunteers had a few days off or had just left before me. Catching up-time and hanging out-time! Not with mozzies, early rises, but with swimming, beers and sunsets. Caye Caulker is a very touristy spot, nevertheless I enjoyed spending time there. Did some snorkelling with Ozzie Cheryl; roomies in Wildtracks, roomies here😉 Snorkelling was nice because we saw a lot. It did have a slight bad feel to it, because we've learned beforehand of shark feeding and holding, which we didn't want to be part of. Even though we checked it, it did happen on our trip as well. And there was this French drama on the boat; this girl cried over everything. It had once to do with the 'moonies' (jellyfish which don't sting and you can push out of the way); she didn't want to go in the water. Then because of -I think- rays; she didn't want to go in the water. Then because of the sharks; she did't want to go into the water.
And don't get me wrong, that's all good, but just stop crying! And guess what.. when she díd go in, she 'missed' the previous instruction that you're not supposed to touch anything; in her world that apparently meant; I'll chase after a turtle, hit it and scare the shit out of it. It made me yell at her when she surfaced something like; 'wtf are you doing?! Don't hit the turtle!'... I didn't check if it made her cry. It should.
After saying goodbyes again, I left with Raphaël to go to
Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary, which is also a Jaguar Preserve. Here there are a lot of trails and apparently loads of jaguars, we've seen loads of footprints of... It's also a spot for waterfalls and even more; birds! And birds we've seen and heard, right at our doorstep! When we arrived with our few day grocery shopping and sat in front of our dorm, there we had: woodpeckers, hummingbirds, chachalacas and 2 crested guans crashing in the trees. The last ones are huge birds and cannot land very elegant on a branch, even if they'd try😊 We did almost all possible hikes, which were beautiful, sometimes straining (Victoria
Peak), and also giving us treats in stunning views and refreshing waterfalls to swim in before hiking back. Coming from Caye Caulker we miscalculated the night temperature which resulted in a shitty first night where both of us emptied half of our backpacks to wear.
We split up after this for a few days as I was meeting up Ed in
Placencia, by bus and the Hokey Pokey Watertaxi, the name on it's own already made me smile. Ed & I connected before through CS. The plan was that we could sail, or I would help him on one of his sailing trips. In the end due to no wind we couldn't sail at all. But we did hang out on his beautiful wooden boat. Which he designed and build with the local fisherman in Sartaneja. We shared stories, food and drinks with each other, his friends and dogs. Also here, memories are made..
After I caught up again with Raph in
San Ignacio, by taking the James Bus Line. Why worth to mention? The James buses are painted in 3 colours green, yellow and red and they play reggae all their way! San Ignacio is close to
the Guatemalan Border and known for it's activities and sights; ruins, nature reserves, rivers and caves. I went on an early morning stroll to Mayan ruin Cahal Pech, which is a nice place. However I was mostly distracted by a Motmot, because of it's extraordinary tale. I also went on a tour to the ATM cave, which is another experience! Beautiful surroundings to begin with; San Ignacio has a jungle-like setting. After a pleasant hike the real experience begins! You have to swim through the entrance and from then on you'll see huge open spaces, stalagmites & stalactites. Our guide shared a lot about different rock formation; making meaningful shapes with light on the walls as well as complete shimmering walls which seem to be crystallized; absolutely stunning! He told us about the bats, where they prefer to sit and shit. Where to swim, climb or get through narrow spaces. As wel as in 'the chamber' about all the pottery and skeletons. What struck me the most was him telling us that all pottery is broken, maybe a tiny hole or so, and they come in threes; one facing up, one facing sideways, one facing down. They think that is
because Mayans believed in three worlds (what we now 'know' as heaven, earth, hell).
All together; Wildtracks & my overal Belize experience stole another piece of my heart..
NB. Please, when traveling Belize, report pet monkeys to Belize Forest Department 822-2079 or 822-1524 (or inform Wildtracks).
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