(Written on Sunday, 4/5)

Good day Saturday, although I got a later start than I had intended. It really baffles me, but back in my drinking days I would occasionally have attacks of gout. Technically, it is a buildup of uric acid in the bloodstream that forms crystals, that in turn can’t pass through capillaries far from the heart. Physically, it is concentrated at one's big toe, on either foot, and can be extremely painful if it is not addressed when it starts coming on. On a past trip to Belize I had the start of an attack, and had a couple of meds with me, which I took. Went to the local pharmacy got more.

Woke early Saturday morning with the characteristic pain in my toe, but no meds. (Really don’t know why this happens here, because I’m not eating rich foods, and don’t drink alcohol. I do drink a lot of citrus/seltzer drinks, so they could be the culprit.) Well, got up, checked my Pharmaceuticals Alternatives book, which did not address the issue. So back to the Pharmacy. Got there a few minutes before she opened. Here’s a photo of the sign above the door…..

She wouldn’t give me the real stuff without a prescription, or a prescription container, or even knowledge of what the prescription was, but she did give me an anti-inflammatory drug, that over 24 hours relieved the pain. So I got started to San Ignacio (aka Cayo) at 8:30 instead of 7am.

The road north passes through many citrus groves and banana plantations. The photo below shows the characteristic blue bags they put over the bunches of bananas, I once knew why, and when I do again I’ll let you know!

Continued on, up the Hummingbird Highway, and then a short trip north to an area called Spanish Lookout. It is a large Mennonite settlement area, with a landscape unlike any other I have seen in Belize. Large prosperous farms (which account for the big combines I see on the highways in the area), and businesses that serve them. I think this district is the source of milk, cheese and chicken in the country. Other similar areas provide the beef and pork. To add to that, there were several oil wells, a recent discovery in the area. There was a small plant that processed the oil prior to it being trucked out for parts unknown. My map showed one road to the area – when I got there I found many roads and turns, so not wanting to get lost after making several, I returned the way I came in.

Then onto San Ignacio. This is a town, I would guess with a population of 8 to 10,000. There are two bridges over the river, each one lane wide, so one bridge is for traffic going west, the other for eastbound. What I didn’t know, as I approached, was that Saturday was a big Easter holiday weekend festival and the festival grounds and stadium were at the western end of the westbound bridge. After a long wait, traffic crept forward, and I finally crossed the bridge. I might have stopped, or even taken a photo, but there wasn’t much to see from the truck, and no, nada, place to park. The craft stalls, that I could see, were all clothing, which did not interest me, so I passed through town, continuing west.

The last town before the Guatemala border is Benque Viejo del Carmen. Not much to see there, so turned back, and stopped at the Myan ruin Xunatunich. In truth, I didn’t stop at the ruin, I stopped at the ferry that takes you across the stream so you can drive the mile or so up the hill to the ruin. Interesting ferry – a small barge, with a cable arrangement with a drum on the barge. The operator turns a crank which winds the cable on the drum in the direction you’re going , unwinding toward where you’ve been. Didn’t have time to take a photo on the way, but here’s one while I wait for him to pick me up on the way back.

Xunatunich is not a large site, at least not much has been exposed, compared to other sites in Belize, and there are many. Some day I will learn more about the Myan story, but for now I can only say it was a sophisticated culture that declined prior to exploration of the Americas by Europeans. The sites I’ve seen have all been high points in the landscape, made higher by the structures built by the Myans. The photo below was taken looking toward the Major structure on this site, followed by a photo looking back from point about halfway up. He view from the top, on a clear day, must be incredible. I spent an hour or so sitting there – it is a very quiet place save for the breeze in the trees below, and you can feel the spirituality that emanates from it.
I could have spent the rest of the afternoon absorbing the place, but headed back down the road, the next stop the San Ignacio Hotel – the fanciest place in town – but they also have a “medicinal jungle trail and iguana exhibit.” I was there 45 minutes before the next tour, and they were too far from the center of town for me to get to the festival, so I had lunch there on the veranda overlooking the pool. Here’s a photo:

When it was time they asked me which tour I wanted – so I said iguana, which was fortunate, because the other three also wanted that one, and it had started while I was getting my camera! So I joined them and learned lots about iguanas. (I posted a photo of one here recently.) What I did not know is that they are hunted, both for their meat and the delicacy of their eggs. A female lays 20 to 30 eggs, and without human predation, less than 10% are expected to survive to a year. So they harvest eggs and incubate them in a protected area, and then grow them to a point where they stand a better chance of survival in the wild. Here’s a photo of an eight year old male that they have kept so people can see what males look like when they get bigger - and they get much bigger than this. The guide/keeper kept handing them to us – as you can see from the man’s expression, he wasn’t too happy about being handed this one.

Here's one a month old on the back of my wrist:

Iguanas eat leaves, and prefer to be in trees. I/m not sure why they like to get on the top landing of my steps and shit there, but let’s just say I have to use a flashlight when going to the roof at night. A close look at the tree outside my window revealed two. I think I’ll leave the screen door closed…..

From there I headed home, and when crossing the eastbound bridge saw the following downstream:

Some Mennonites are of a conservative sect, much like the Amish, and in fact, related to them in a religious sense. They have wagons drawn by two horses, but with rubber tires. I saw a cluster of them at one point getting grain, but could not stop.

I continued on, stopping at a craft/art gallery along the way. Purchased a locally carved slate coaster ($11 USD), 5 bars of Rubba Dub soap, a locally handmade soap I like that is worth the $6 USD I had to pay for it (each). And a cook book with Belizian recipes. Continued home, and found myself willing to go faster on the last 23 miles of rough dirt road than I had been on the trip out in the morning. The dirt is what is called "boney", which is to say that rocks are imbedded in it, so it's like driving over a poorly made cobblestone street at 20 or 30 mph.

Got into Placencia Village at about 8 PM, and went to La Dolce Vita, the local Italian restaurant next door to the pharmacy. Slow service, but good dinner, headed home and was so tired I hit the hay early.

Got up Sunday morning, and went to the local AA meeting. First went last week, there were six of us, two of which were visitors. This week there were six again, one new one (to me) had been in Mexico last week, and another one is from an area about 2 hours away. He was extremely grateful to be at a meeting, had recently lived through a bad accident in Mexico where he lost control of his truck/camper and after rolling over several times ended up in a swamp off the edge of the toll way. Made me grateful I had survived my trip intact. It’s a good little group, my only disappointment is that after reading “How It Works”. Everyone shares, or not, the promises are read, and the meeting ends. So today’s meeting was 35 minutes long, which is not enough for me, once a week.

Tomorrow, Monday, I get my pallets, which include all my AA materials, and lots of stuff I really need. Don’t know if I’ll get into the office, which is when I’ll post this. Hopefully next post will include a photo of the port.