We struggled again with our Spanish on entering Belize. The Customs' staff looked puzzled and we didn't quite understand them either. After 5 mins it clicked. They speak English here. Albeit what we think is a very heavy Jamaican type English. This isn't the light touch of Death in Paradise! It also became very evident once we had cleared Customs. All signage on buildings was in English. Road signs were in English and in miles. Speedbumps, when announced, were actually called 'Bumps'. After six months of being 'chicos' and everyone's 'amigo', Paul was now 'bro' or 'bud'. But some of the English isn't obvious, for example the sign that said, 'Dis da fi wi chikin'.
But all this didn't stop us trying to speak Spanish when we didn't need to. We were getting a tad muddled up. We didn't have much planned for Belize except collecting the badge that would signal the end of Central America for us. But a Canadian couple we met in Panama suggested we visit a cave and also go snorkeling. So we did.
First, the cave. Our Mayan exploration continued as this cave was used by Mayan leaders to plead with the Rain Gods for rain. First they ventured into the front part of the cave, 'the Light Zone', where they left food offerings. The Rain Gods were not that interested in tortillas so when there was no rain in recompense for the tortillas, the Mayans ventured further into the cave to do some ritual blood letting. This didn't seem to do the trick either with regard to the coming of the rains so further into the cave they went, about 500m in total. Blood letting clearly hadn't been sufficient, so here it was sacrifice. Child sacrifice. Believed to be the children of the kings who had built all the Temples. You find the skeletons in the cave.
Because of the nature of what's in the cave, cameras are not allowed, so the photos are not Françoise's. There are also more details on the Internet including audio descriptions. The Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave. Clearly, at the time in question there was no rain, so the cave was dry. It's not dry now. It's also a limestone area so when the next rainfall did start, probably about 1,000 years ago, some of the skeletons got all messed up by the waters. Over 1,000 years some of them got covered up by stalacmites and other deposits. So nobody really knows what is in the cave and there are no plans for any intrusive investigations. They are just waiting for someone to come along with some portable ground penetrative radar equipment they want to test. The caves are now wet. There was a swimming bit but we were issued with life vests which suited Paul...
From San Ignacio we rode to the old capital of Belize when Belize was British Honduras, Belize City. 'City' is just a name but then again the population of the country is only @400,000. Despite having been independent for quite a while, a very young Queen Elizabeth still appears on Bank notes and coins. Apparently us Brits liked the mahogany from here and hence the colonial outpost. From Belize City we took a 90 minute boat ride to the island of Ambergris Caye and then another boat to go snorkeling.
He was assisted (ie towed) on the first snorkeling 'dive' by one of the guides who insisted on calling him, 'Pops'. We suppose when you are in your mid 60's you have got to the time of life where this happens. For the second dive the two guides stayed on the boat whilst we were all in the water. They stayed on the boat so they could throw fish bits into the water. The area where the 'dive' took place is called Shark Ray Alley. We swam with sharks, 4' to 6' long; nurse sharks that is. And although they are known for being docile they got into quite a tizz over the fish entrails.
And that was Belize. And that was Central America. It has taken us a lot longer to cross Central America than we planned. All hold-ups have been of our own making! And because of that we are questioning whether we will now make it to Alaska before the cold sets in. It's still very hot here and it does affect us; 40°C in the shade as we are writing this and feels like more due to the humidity. Although we have A/C in lots of the places we stay, it struggles to cope with the heat. One day Françoise's phone lit up with a message saying that the phone was too hot to be put on charge. However, in some repects we are benefitting from the heat in as much as it seems that the rainy season has been delayed.
The heat aside we have had no issues in Central America and have enjoyed quite a sociable time, meeting a lot of interesting people on the way doing similar things to us or quite often a lot more extreme. There are the people who have sold up their home and are riding their motorbikes or vans until the money runs out, there are the people who are planning their trips in years rather than months, and the young couples who have just had enough of working. And there was the 65 year old French father and son who set off from San Francisco on their Decathlon bicycles in September 23 for a two year jaunt to Tiera del Fuego, but are now thinking of going on to Africa afterwards. But in our minds, always, is the fact of how lucky we are to be able to do all this.
