Roadspill

(April 22, 2003)

Today was the last day on Caye Caulker. Very, very sad to see it go. And you can see it too at: http://homepage.mac.com/dougmurray/PhotoAlbum17.html

Monday Night:

We went didn’t do much last night as we were all bushed. The days tend to be long, it is just normal to go to bed early most nights. The three of us went to Barb’s waterfront bar. After a drink, Brent and Roh headed back to their room. I stayed and ended up meeting a bunch of guys from Vancouver. I bored them to death with border talk. I also said how Brent and I were trying to find a concept for me to deliver radio reports – and travel – and get paid. The Vancouverites liked this idea, except we couldn’t find a focus.

Suddenly, a wild eyed Brent comes storming into the bar yelling, “I’ve got it!!!” And indeed, he did. But I won’t repeat what here. But there is a companion booked called “How I got the CBC to pay for me to travel the world.” That probably gives you an idea.

And with that, I stumbled home, a grin plastered on my face.

Tuesday:

It was another hot morning. Roh had to get up super early and take the watertaxi back to the city for a day of work. Brent and I cleaned up and headed to the Lucky Lobster for a fairly quick breakfast, by Lobster standards.

At 10:30 we went snorkeling… exactly 3 years, 4 months and 22 days, we returned to the spot where we welcomed the year 2000. It was still wet.

We stopped in three places… all near the reef. The first was lame and didn’t feature much other than a few complaining and non-participating cruise ship tourists. Brent and I made fun of them.

The second spot was great: tons of sting rays, schools of multi-coloured fish, and more coral than you could shake a dead cat at. But there were no sharks, unlike last time. This was disappointing. Or it was disappointing until about 15 sting rays swam under me, their steely eyes looking at me like I was in a zoo. Or dinner. Do they eat people?

The third spot was more reef, but the coral was much deeper. I had a wee underwater camera with me and took lots of shots there. There were more multi-coloured fish and lots of prickly looking things that I thought I ought not to touch.

Back on land, we went to Barb’s bar and enjoyed a couple of pints while we mocked CNN. It’s SO easy, because they are SO bad! Not all of it, just all the one-sided Iraqi war coverage.

We took the three o’clock watertaxi back to the city. It was sad watching Caye Caulker shrink in the distance. It is truly paradise. Just the right amount of tourist stuff and real Belize life stuff. And a nice group of characters to laugh with.

On the taxi ride, there was a woman who must have been a model for “Discount Bob’s House of Plastic Surgery and Augmentation.” She had it all: tucks, sucks, and the worlds worst collagen lips. The poor thing. I think her hubby was adorned with a rug. They were from the cheap cruise ship… and I think only spent a day avoiding all food on Caulker for fear of getting some incurable disease. In her case, vanity was a disease.

Noise. Noise. Noise. Back in Belize City, we are hit with a symphony of sounds: cars, dogs, loud music. And heat. It is way hotter in the city (90’s instead of 80’s), and there is no cool ocean breeze.

As the plan is to go to Guatemala on Wednesday, we had to get washing done. Brent and Roh have a washer, but not a dryer. And it was too late to dry using the sun. We bought opened a couple of beers to help us figure out this dilemma. Ah! The Laundromat!

We dropped our stuff off, and headed to the Canton Restaurant for some dandy food.

It’s Karaoke TV night in Belize, so Brent had to run off to do that. I found the Canucks game on ESPN2 and have been typing this blog submission in Word while I watch the game. A rum and mango drink is accompanying me. During the commercial breaks I flick to KTV. Someone is butchering Roberta Flack.
Blues score. 1-0. Some one is singing the hit from “Four YOUNG Blondes,” which, when I left Canada were called “Four Non-blondes.” Canucks score. 1-1.
Now it’s Celine Dion. Canucks score. 2-1. And now someone is destroying a Backstreet Boys tune, if that is even possible. Canucks score. 3-1. KTV is over and the winner is the woman from Belmopan who destroyed the Four Young/Non-blondes tune. Brent should be home shortly. I will update hockey as things change.

There is some weirdness… tonight on Channel Five was this report:


SARS, the acronym for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, has finally made a direct impact on Belize. No, there have not been any reported instances of the deadly disease here...but to make sure things stay that way the Minister of Home Affairs, Ralph Fonseca, has ordered a temporary ban on the entry of citizens into Belize from six specific places: The People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, India and Canada. While the first four East Asian territories are acknowledged to be hotbeds of the virus, the last two remain a mystery. Why, for example would citizens of India, a country with only one reported case of SARS, be barred from entering Belize? And what about Canada? Even though it has reported a total of one hundred and thirty-nine SARS cases, health authorities there have already isolated most suspected carriers. Accounting for perhaps as much as fifteen percent of tourist arrivals, the barring of Canadian visitors will have a major impact on the economy. While there may be a sound explanation for these decisions, unfortunately, despite our repeated phone calls, nobody in the Ministry of Home Affairs was talking. Late this evening News 5's Patrick Jones spoke to Director of Health Services Dr. Errol Vanzie, who, while acknowledging the danger of the epidemic, could not explain the choice of countries.

This means that is it possible that I might not be able to return to Belize if I enter Guatemala tomorrow.

Luckily, Roh’s Uncle is the head of Immigration for Belize. We called him to ask if there would be a problem if I left the country and tried to get back in. He didn’t seem to think so. I think that we’ll have to check in the morning. Secretly, I want to go back to Caye Caulker, and this would be a good reason to! We could still visit the border area, and then come back. We’ll see.

The third period hasn’t started, so I think I will pull the pin and continue tomorrow.

Cheers!