Belize

Wow, what a contrast, this place is a breath of fresh air. Its not just that they speak English (they do in Cancun), it is so varied. There are Cantonese speaking Chinese, ethnic Mayans, Creole speaking black African, old English, German Mennonites, its a wonderful mixture. Its also very Caribbean, tin roofed brightly coloured houses, lots of different cuisines, tropical jungle, beaches, a true antidote to the Yucatan.

I hung out in my hammock on the very laid back island of Caye Caulker. A little spit of sand surrounded by a reef. I took the opportunity to some diving and snorkeling, but I would not make a special trip just to go diving here. Its a nice reef, but there are many better places. Also its not particularly cheap, though everywhere is better value than the UK. Saw turtles, nurse shark, barracuda, rays, even saw a big one leap clear out of the water.

I broke my all time record for the longest breakfast. Met some people on the veranda of a little tea room and spent four hours chatting the day away. The tea room closed when the proprietor went shopping, but she was more than happy for us to stay and chat. Its that kind of place, you quickly get to know everyone on the island. Doing nothing is a way of life.

After recharging the batteries I traveled inland to San Ignatio a little town in the Belizian jungle. Again great fun, especially friendly people, paddled a canoe for four hours up steam through an olive green jungle river. Why do I get the mad guides? He did a good job navigating us through the rapids and pointing out the orange iguanas, then proceeded to smoke a huge joint. He was babbling on about all kinds of Mayan gods and goodness knows what else after that.

At a traditional medicine place in the forest I bought, much against my dubious thoughts, some very effective herbal salve for mosi bites. Very tranquil on the river, just the sound of paddles and birds. Kingfishers, swallows, little bats, blue herons too many to remember.

The best little adventure was by a 4x4, bouncing, squirming through the red jungle mud into the depths of the rain forest. A brisk hike through the jungle, fording a couple of rivers to reach a deep river. Helmets and head torches donned, guided by an ex British soldier we swam into the cold river entering a mouth of a cave. Our small group clambered over rocks, through chest high water, continually following the flow of the underground river through sparkling chambers of calcite crystals. It was hard work and took several hours, swimming, wading, climbing over, under and around jagged limestone boulders. The finale was climbing up into the roof of the chamber to see the Mayan artifacts left insitu. We tip toed bare foot around delicate bowls and sacrificial skeletons. The chamber itself was incredible, but the way the head torches cast shadows over the relics stirred the hairs at the back of the neck.

I found a new use for the jungle salve. I stripped off by the jeep to change into dry clothes and felt a sharp tingling sensation in my legs, looked down and there I was stood naked on top of an ants nest. Jungle ants bite hard! At least I spotted them before they reached too far!