Belizean Blizzard in the Boulder ‘Burbs

December 20th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

They’re sudden, those big geography shifts. Super-heated skunky waft of green rotting forest when I land in Belize. Six weeks later, Colorado wind bites my face, tropical glow sucked out the car window — one breath — as Tay and I speed home. Yes, home. A kitchen and couch and desk and patio — backpack in the closet, por fin. Skin dries out, hair dries out; the altitude puts a light, heady buzz over it all (who-wha? culture shock?), the sun bright and warm then gone, two feet of snow and a sky of gray snow, socking in Boulder Valley and the entire Front Range. Storm warning and I’m home, holed up,  killing the Buddha, and taking pictures of our yard.

Peas Koe Bileez: Thanksgiving in December

December 16th, 2006 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Before leaving the country, I am lucky to attend the Peace Corps Belize “Thanksgiving in December” banquet at the Country Director’s home — with the 65 volunteers gathered in Belize City for an in-service training and a chance to see each other.
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Dolphin “Encounter” in Belize: What do YOU think?

December 15th, 2006 | By Joshua | 4 Comments »

My final day in Belize finds me on a dive boat to Spanish Lookout Caye, where I’ve been invited to inspect the country’s first Dolphin Encounter program (en route, I film this questionable cruise ship garbage dump). The four Atlantic bottle-nose dolphins were born in captivity in Roatán, Honduras, and were shipped here along with their human trainers.
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Belize City Bookend

December 15th, 2006 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Yep, back in “Belize,” as the country refers to its biggest population center, a sprawling ramshackle neighborhood on a point jutting into the Caribbean, cleaved down the middle by Haulover Creek. “City” really is stretching it, the place is so small and low, so the simplification is only appropriate. I arrive on a bus from Cayo — actually two buses, since I jump off at the Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to check in with my friend, Matt Miller. Matt came down as a Peace Corps Volunteer over 20 years ago and never left, building something extraordinary at Monkey Bay, an education center, campground, research center, and more. He shows me the new facilities, his wife’s orchid and iguana house, then I’m off, huffing my pack to the highway where I jump on another bus, my last ride of the trip.
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Belize Bush Pilot video

December 13th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

A few weeks ago, I described my Belize from the Air — skimming the forest canopy in a five-seater Cesna. I finally got around to posting this video from that day. See if you can hear my pilot, Daniel Perdomo’s, history lesson regarding the New River Lagoon, Lamanai, and Hill Bank where “they bring the wood up!”

Hands? Who needs hands to fly?
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Camped Out in Cayo

December 8th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

There’s plenty more that goes down, in and around San Ignacio. There are friends and invites and lots of peaceful rain, so I stay put instead of going back out to the cayes. I make my rounds to round out the chapter, catching up with Mike and Bev at Cohune Palms, Gary and Yuli at the Pitpan, and Joe and Miriam at Martz Farm. I’m in a rush to cover the area, and spend way too little time with all these folks, apologizing as I rush off, but still glad to have made contact. From Miriam’s kitchen, it’s a ten minute walk deeper into the bush to find Lazaro Martinez putting the finishing touches on the “Hideaway Camp,” as he’s calling his low-key, back-a-bush branch of the already remote (and ultra-mellow) Martz Farm property. Laz stands proudly among the unique jungle swing-beds he’s constructed, and the campground, and a huge thatch palapa next to a cool creek. He hikes me down the limestone, blue-gray stream, until we reach the top of a waterfall, looking out over the Macal River Valley. The site is stunning and Laz scoots out onto an overhanging branch and smokes a thick, hand-rolled plug-tobacco cigarette as he tells me more about his camp and tours — his dream finally coming to fruition.

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Cruise ship dumping trash on Belize barge

December 7th, 2006 | By Joshua | 13 Comments »

This is a very short clip I shot of the Norwegian Dream’s garbage being dumped onto a small Belizean barge. Quite a large amount was offloaded from the cruise ship and as far as I know, this is illegal, as Belize is not supposed to accept any foreign trash. Solid waste disposal is one of the number one environmental problems in the country, so it seems pretty silly to accept a bunch of garbage produced by wasteful Americans on a discounted cruise.

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Budget in Belize: Über-Tranquilo Travelers Gather at the Trek Stop

December 4th, 2006 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

There are many reasons for coming to The Trek Stop, a backpacker classic just across the river from the Xunantunich pyramid, on the road to Guatemala. There are the homey little cabins which, at US$10 a night, are the cheapest, best-value accommodations in the country. There is the lush setting, wildlife, and open air hang spaces in which I’ve done so much typing, reading, and chatting; there’s the nine-hole jungle disk golf course; the Tropical Wings Nature Center and Butterfly House; there is wireless internet in my open-air “office.” There are Trek Stop creators John and Judy Yaeger (pictured above) who are nothing less than family to me (along with Tino, Flora, Marta, and Rogelio). But the best part about the Trek Stop is the opportunity to meet travelers from all over the world, who are in Belize for all kinds of reasons, and by all kinds of means.
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Muy Contento in Cayo

December 3rd, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

I don’t remember how much I love Cayo — Belize’s wild, wonderful west — until my bus pulls up to the park in San Ignacio and I step out onto the narrow streets. I am flooded with memories as I shoulder my pack, shake off the taxistas, and take a deep breath of Maya mountain air.
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HIV/AIDS in Belize

December 1st, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

I shot this mural in Belmopan the other day, having no idea that World AIDS Day was right around the corner (the previous link has photos from last year’s AIDS Day in San Ignacio). But here it is, and here we are, and here are all those infected souls in Belize and beyond. With a couple of clicks, I just learned that according to the 2004 World Population Data Sheet, outside of Africa, Belize has the sixth highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world. Wow. First step: awareness. Check out the facts in the mural above and in this report from Cornerstone Foundation. Next step: action. Consider volunteering with Cornerstone Foundation, based here in Belize’s Cayo District. Their office is right on Burns Avenue. Here’s an article about them, by Lee Anne Hasselbacher, in Transitions Abroad magazine. Excerpt:
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