Back to Belize

Belize never fails to excite me. My first visit to the country at this time of year and what is different is the amount of water around. You notice it landing at Belize City Airport and then as you drive out, in virtually any direction, from the City. Low-lying, seasonal swamplands all around.

The weather was very pleasant, not too hot with the occasional rain shower to take the edge off the heat should it start to build up. In fact a couple of mornings we had early morning mist over Belmopan. On one occasion on our trip down south that mist caressing the trees in the ealry morning sunlight, refracting the rays made a most beautiful sight to see. Marred only by the sight of convoys of lorries tanking south with their loads of crude oil for export.

Leonard and I are just back from 5 days in Belize, basing ourselves in Belmopan. The purpose of our visit was to make arrangements for the Field Trip in semester II and it is somewhat of a departure from what we have normally done. First, we have started much earlier with the planning and secondly instead of doing the arrangements remotely we have gone to Belize to start the process in conjunction with the Climate Change Centre. We hope the outcome will be a much better experience for the students, and for ourselves as well.

One evening we travelled down to Belize City for the night. We were invited to be diner guests of the Climate Change Centre which was hosting the outgoing Secretary-General of CARICOM. Whilst normally lobster as a dish is owrth waiting for I did think think that the hotel pushed their luck. The service was not up to scratch by any means and I can only hope that this was reflected in the final account! The journey back was a breeze - I cannot remember a thing about it as it was so late that I slept all the way back - like the rest of the passengers. Our driver, the V. Rev. Moody was as usual on top of the situation.

And finally I made close friends with some of the local wildlife, though it managed to keep it presence quiet until I was in the shower with it - see the short video.