Final blog

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Sorry we've been out of touch for awhile. It may have been remote but it got even remoter! Back in (relative) civilisation in Belize City and on the homeward stretch. Boys beginning to pine for home, Charlie and Claudia - forgot we'd be passing you at Heathrow- maybe we'll manage to catch a glimpse of each other!
From San Ignacio - colourful small town in the jungle where we managed to commandeer a room with a huge terrace and several hammocks overlooking the corrugated roofs and excellent vantage point for watching the stormclouds gather - we headed for more adventure on the river. This time it was rather less laid back as the lodge catered for Americans looking for 'real' jungle adventure which somehow immediately rendered it less real. It was a jungle bootcamp where everyone was expected to rise early, eat a hearty breakfast and then be transported off in cattletrucks pulled by tractors to start their adventures. Of course we rather baulked at all this being marshalled about but the guided trips we went on were fabulous. The first involved tubing (the art of individually paddling a large tractor tyre inner tube) 7 miles through an underground river. The river flowed through caves almost the entire way and we had nothing but head torches to light our way which we occasionally switched off to really experience the eeriness. We had to weave our way past huge stalactities, ward off bats and steer through underground rapids. Luckily we all emerged fairly unscathed. Not so the next day when we opted for a days guided kayaking, thinking this would be a fairly cushy option. More whitewater rapids than we had imagined which uncannily shot you into all the overhanging jungle. Luke was the first to go as it was capsize or get decapitated, so he opted for the former and lost his prescription sunglasses and was unable to see much of the rest of the trip but we all wrestled with our kayaks at some stage. Luckily there were tranquil periods when we could enjoy the stunning scenery and for some reason the guide encouraged us to kayak standing which Toby rather took to when it also involved a fig fight (trying to unbalance one another by throwing figs from the river). 5 hrs later we were reunited with our truck which managed to get completely stuck in the sand so another hour of pushing, shoving, improvising ways to get it unstuck in the mosquito-laden heat before we could head back to the lodge and the crystal river where we all jumped off a precipice into its clear turquoise waters fully clothed!
But overall there was a bit too much testosterone and macho American comaraderie for our taste back at camp - we naturally gravitated toward a delightful elderly Dominican woman and her extremely camp 19 year old son who live in Boston, were delightful and quite out of place. Apparently the SAS go there for a bit of rest & relaxation.
Onward to the cayes. We've just returned from 3 days on Tobacco Caye. Only 5 acres in total, it's been a tiny trading post for over a 100 yrs and one of the few islands to have no resorts but still have a few fishermen and families living there. It was a colourful, shambolic place with rickety wooden structures perched on stilts amongst the palm trees. When the wind got up at night, amplified by the rustling palms it sounded like a hurricane and I kept expecting to wake up in the morning and find the whole place collapsed like a pack of cards!
We were staying in a couple of simple rooms rented out by Raaymon (Raymond) and cooked lobster and barracuda by his girlfriend, Jean. The island was surrounded by a fabulous reef and the best turquoise and indigo colours I've ever seen. We did some great snorkelling there and at some nearby atolls, the boys were particularly taken by the beautiful domes of brain coral and a certain amount of time comatosed lying in hammocks trying to avoid the falling coconuts. All very laid back and reminded me of childhood trips to the Caribbean. This morning I woke up at sunrise, (very out of character I hear you mutter), but as electricity has been limited at several places we've got into the habit of going to bed with and rising with the sun, and I saw a giant spotted eagle ray gliding into the lagoon it must have been nearly 4 ft in wdth like a mighty underwater moth. Trip back on a small fishing boat that had to stop in a lagoon with manatees to pick up family members and ended up overloaded negotiating choppy sections of open ocean which was too close to Lamu (our African experience) for comfort so very relieved to be back on dry land.
3 hours on local buses today to get to Belize City. The buses are great - all old US school buses with the rules to US schoolkids still pasted up. The express ones are twice as beaten up as the regular ones but go twice as fast, so this time we opted for the slower ride and at depots small children rush on board to sell as many snacks and drinks as they can before the bus moves off again - just like trains in India.
We're now at Belize City which looks like a big shanty town with a few old wooden colonial buildings. Boys more interested in the fact that the hotel we've booked into has HBO so left them watching a movie (starved of the screen, poor things). Shall dig them out and go for an explore. Luke's just been on a cultural tour in the pouring rain only to find the art gallery's closed down and that the national Museum turns out to be a collection of faded photos and pottery fragments housed in an unconverted prison!
Fly back tomorrow, so speak to and see you and hear all your news soon!
Love Anneke, Luke, Jake and Toby xxx

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