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Published: December 25th 2017
Geo: 17.8651, -88.017
Mexico & Belize 27th February - 21st March 2016
We were happy to fly out of Cuba but we had not realised just how depressing it had been there until we drove away from the airport in Cancun and experienced the joy of seeing decorative flowers and bushes planted along the roads, the cleanliness and the care that had been taken to make the area look pretty, and the SHOPS! Jim had booked us into the Ibis Hotel in Cancun which is basic but welcoming, clean and comfortable. To us at that moment it seemed like 5 star luxury. Even better, next door is a huge supermarket. Jim kept thinking up excuses to go and visit, it was such a novelty after Cuba. We relaxed, caught up with emails and planned our onward journey. It could not have been easier as the coach office where we could book our tickets, with scheduled services to and across the border, is next to the supermarket. Again, this was such a contrast with Cuba.
As we spent 3 months in Mexico at the start of our travels nearly 6 years ago we decided to move along the coast to Belize only stopping in Chetumal,
a small prosperous looking town, for 2 nights to break the journey before crossing the border into Belize. We went to Sarteneja, a tiny village on the north east coast next to Shipstern Forest Reserve. Belize, previously British Honduras, is the only country in Central America where English is the official language. However as Sarteneja is near the Mexican border and many people took refuge in Belize during the Caste Wars the population there is predominantly Spanish speaking. We had an enjoyable few days, hiring bikes to visit the Shipstern Reserve where they are trying to protect forest whilst developing sustainable logging operations, birdwatching and visiting Little Belize.
LB is a Mennonite community which forms a country within a country. It can't be called a town as there is no centre. It covers a huge area and consists of farms and houses spread thinly across the countryside presenting a landscape which could be anywhere in Europe, apart from some of the crops being grown such as bananas and papayas. The Mennonites arrived in 1978 and were allowed to purchase the land which first had to be cleared of forest and scrub before they could start planting crops. It is hard
Roseate Spoonbill
I was standing looking out from the balcony and looked up. For second I thought I was hallucinating as a HUGE deep pink bird flew over my head. It was a Roseate Spoonbill. They appear much pinker when seen from below.
to believe what they have achieved since then.
Originally from Germany and still speaking a dialect of low German not easily understood by most German speakers, they moved to Russia in the 18th Century and then to Canada in the 1920s before arriving in Belize in 1978. We first came across Mennonite communities in Bolivia but they can be found in many South American countries. They retain their way of life, keeping apart from other groups. Most of the women only speak German and they and the children are not allowed to meet outsiders but the men speak enough Spanish and English to communicate with Belizeans for the purpose of business. They are very hardworking and unbelievably successful in their ventures. It appears that about 70% of the food consumed in Belize is produced by the Mennonites (and they export to Mexico too), they have a papaya plantation and packing plant, a chicken rearing business, egg producing and packaging plant, aluminium cooking pots and pans enterprise, shops, garage with expert mechanics for cars as well as all farm/industrial vehicles and they grow almost any crop you can think of from lettuces, tomatoes, aubergines, squash, courgettes, onions etc through to sugar cane,
maize, bananas and other fruits.
Many local people have told us that they always take their cars to be repaired and maintained by the Mennonites because they are very skilled and always honest, they can trust that the job will be done properly. The children are taught within the community and technology such as mobile phones or TVs is not allowed although specialist farm machinery and tractors are. However for personal transport only horse and carriages are acceptable. As we drove along the roads in Little Belize we were amazed how busy they were with these carriages, it was not unusual to have 5 or 6 trotting up and down the road and the same number lined up in the 'car park' outside the hardware shop.
It is part of their culture to have large families and 8 - 10 children is the norm so their population is expanding rapidly and they are constantly clearing more land. It was strange idling through in the car, as though we had wandered on to a film set of 'Little House on the Prarie' but at other moments when a carriage full of very blond (almost white) haired, blue eyed children drove by staring straight
ahead, as they are not meant to look at outsiders, it had an eerie feel that made you think it was perhaps a remake of 'Village of the Damned'! The majority of the children are very fair which contrasts dramatically with the local people. The children work very hard alongside their parents when they are not in school. Once we drove back on the main road and through a Belizean village the contrast was sharp. Where the Mennonite farms, are spread out between productive fields where everything is systematic and tidy the Belizean village has houses crammed together, well peppered with rubbish, no crops to be seen and a general air of randomness and neglect.
From Sartenja we moved on to Crooked Tree village which is a popular birdwatching area. By now, at the end of the dry season, there should be thousands of birds flocking to the lagoons as they are the last source of water. Unfortunately the seasons have been out of kilter for the past 18 months and instead of dried up rivers there is 3 metres more water depth in the rivers and lakes than there should be and so the birds have not arrived. The community
there is Creole rather than Spanish speaking and the hotel is community run. The food was excellent.
The hotel is very comfortable and after a good sleep I woke up at first light to hear the birds calling and a rustling sound on the window. I thought a bird was pecking on the window ledge outside so I lifted the curtain by the side of my bed to see what it was and there was a little mouse staring back at me on the inside of the window. I dropped the curtain back quickly not sure what to do. With a mosquito or ant I would have swatted it with the curtain but that did not seem a useful strategy with a mouse, too much blood and I would not have the heart to do it anyway. I watched and the mouse ran round the wall and down behind the bedside table for all the world as if it was going home after a busy night. After breakfast I explained to the lovely lady at reception who was very upset that we had been disturbed by a mouse and she said they would set traps and sort it out. "We cannot
He smiled!
He had been concentrating on his work for ages, avoiding eye contact as he should, then suddenly he turned and smiled. have mice running around guest's rooms!" she said with feeling. It was clear that they had moved everything as promised when we went back in but when we returned after dinner the mouse was running round and round the top of the bedside table as if it was a race track only diving down the back when we approached. Verna, the receptionist was excellent, in 10 minutes she had arranged another room and moved our belongings for us. She was so upset that they were not meeting their usual high standards that she refused to charge us for that night. If the mouse had moved with us I could not have said anything for fear of upsetting her further.
One day we took an excursion to Lamanai, Mayan ruins very close to Crooked Tree but requiring a fast boat ride of 90 minutes through the jungle. Belize has lots of ruins and hundreds that as yet are not cleared of their jungle covering but they do not have the resources to excavate them as they have done in Mexico.
We loved Crooked Tree and wanted to stay longer than intended but unfortunately they were fully booked with birding groups so we
had to move.
Next we travelled by transfer to Belize City where we took a water taxi to Caye Caulker and we are staying here until it is time to fly home. It is a small island adjacent to the reef. It takes about 45 minutes to walk from one end to the other. Apart from a few trucks and a Fire Service vehicle transport here consists of golf carts. Even the police drive one but their's has a siren and flashing blue lights attached. We have been snorkelling a few times around the local reef and to Hol Chan reserve near San Pedro (the one Madonna sang about) on Ambergris Caye. The reef we have seen so far is not in particularly good condition but the marine life is excellent with both Sting and Eagle Rays, Turtles, as well as Nurse Sharks well over 2 metres long. At Hol Chan we were snorkelling above divers and I was horrified to see some of them had selfie sticks projecting 2 metres in front of them. Most of them had no control of their buoyancy and being absorbed taking selfies just means the reef will suffer even more damage.
Caye Caulker is
very laid back with a large Rastafarian community, as well as Canadians and US citiens who own and run many of the properties. Everyone is very friendly and there are plenty of small restaurants and bars but it is so small it is never too busy or noisy. San Pedro is the party town on Ambergris Caye, a little further north.
We are going to spend the last few days snorkelling and relaxing before returning home. This morning we went in search of sea horses as we had been told that they were around near the mangroves. Thanks to a couple of people who know where to look, right by a jetty, we found some. We would never have spotted them ourselves as they are so tiny and well camouflaged, some the same colour as the seaweed but others yellow or orange. Altogether we saw 4, one of them a pregnant male with a very large 'bump'! Jim wants to try and take a photograph but without an underwater camera I think he might be disappointed.
It seems a lifetime ago since we left England because we have traversed different landscapes, met so many people from numerous countries and cultures and seen
countless fascinating sights. Because of the rugged terrain, altitude, and weather patterns affecting transport in South America it has been the most challenging trip so far but, apart perhaps from spending less time in Cuba and avoiding the food poisoning contracted there, we would not have changed any of it. In South America we definitely felt like travellers, not tourists and rarely met other British people. In fact we encountered very few visitors in most areas apart from tourist hot spots like Macchu Pichu. Our greatest discovery was Colombia and the wonderful people there. We have not experienced so warm a welcome and been made to feel so much at home and well looked after by strangers anywhere else in the world.
So in a couple of days we fly home and take Astrid out of store. Although nervous about how well she has wintered and moving into her so early in the year we are looking forward to seeing family and friends and having time to catch up with everyone.
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Pauline
non-member comment
Beautiful.