Belize and “Bamboo Chicken”

                   I cannot stress the next fact enough.

                   Do Not EVER rely on any forecast that you ever hear from any weather service.

These “services” are for advice only! Use them with care! Because…..

Had we relied on the forecast alone even one day before departure, or for that fact, any day so far on this trip, we would have “Canceled” our trip/excursions because of said forecast.

                   Ok, done with the rant.

                   As you will see, this has been far from the forecasted “rainout” that was hovering on our horizon.

                             Cloudy?

                             Yes!

                             Showers (light and infrequent)

                             Yes!

                             Great days?

                             Yes!

                   Yesterday was Belize. Belize is a pretty cool country and we found out tons of great facts on our one-hour bus trip on our way to way to Altun Ha, a fine example of Mayan altars surrounding traditional large courtyards. This particular site was discovered in 1954 and is still undergoing exploration as opportunity and funds allow. By the way, there are over nine-hundred of these “sites” scattered around the Yucatan Peninsula, most just ready tom be uncovered and explored.

                   The Mayans in this area were contemporaries of our recent friends of the Four Corners area, the Ancestral Puebloans, so these sites go back roughly a thousand years or so, but their inhabitance of this area pre-dates that by another thousand years.

                             Back to Belize.

                             Here are some of the interesting tid-bits …..

                   Belize is the only Central American country to have English as her official language.

                   Belize’s central culture is Creole based, illustrating the influx of Africans and Europeans back in the day.

                   Although it is a sovereign nation, receiving its independence back in 1981, it is still a Commonwealth Realm (a term without any legal status) with King Charles as the Head of State. Belize was previously known as British Honduras, a name acquired back in the mid 1800’s. Belize is connected at the hip to the United States, primarily with trade in mind. Boiled down, about fifty percent of imports and exports are USA based. Even their cable TV originates from the States, but a much cheaper price, give or take $35.00 a month (for EVERY channel that you can think of!)

                   The minimum wage is less than $3.00 an hour, but there are obviously other factors at work here, such as every Belizean is given a plot of land for free from the government, where most end up building a house in stages as their family and needs grow. One of their primary industries is Tourism, which we were happy to be a part of. Our Tour Guides were thoroughly engaging and very informative. It was a pleasure learning about their country, culture , and customs from them.

                   After our visit to Altun Ha, we boarded our bus again for a short ride to The Iguana, a restaurant on the banks of the very swollen (and aptly named) Belize River. Here we had lunch before boarding our River Cruise boat for the return back to Belize City and our tender back to the ship. The joke of the day was that were going to be served “Bamboo Chicken” which turns out to be strips of Iguana on bamboo skewers roasted nicely over some coals. Unfortunately Madison could not get that image out of her mind, and it took quite a bit of convincing that the deliciously stewed chicken that we did receive was, in fact, really chicken!

                   After lunch we boarded our river transportation and had some really nice wildlife sightings. Think the African River Cruise at Disneyworld on steroids, complete with the humorous “Guides”! Unfortunately, we did not get charged by a raging hippopotamus, but it was exciting none the less!

                   Our “almost” lunches were apparent everywhere, but mostly up in the trees, which if you were at all queasy about these critters gave you pause about walking around underneath the trees! But they really only eat much smaller critters and insects. They have no interest in eating “Bamboo Peoples.”

                   The crocodile sightings were quite exciting as these are Central American Croc’s, quite aggressive, if not somewhat smaller than their Australian and African cousins. We were happy to stay in the boat.

                   The rest of the flora and fauna were nicely identified and explained by our expert guides including the now (somewhat) rare mahogany tree. Back when this are of the world became known to Europe, these trees were valued pound-for-pound the same as gold.

                   One pound of gold = one pound of mahogany.

                   I’ll let you figure out the outcome.

                   They are now obviously protected.

                   Although we did not get out there, Belize’s coral reef is rivaled only by the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, so as you can imagine, only one day here was not quite enough to explore this great little country. Belize is about the size of Massachusetts, but judging by the attitude of the folks we met, her heart is as big as the world  😊