We cheat in Belize

Saturday March 5. The morning was dry. We spent a couple hours picture taking in Flores, souvenir shopping, and gas and grocery shopping in Santa Elena, before driving west to the Belize border. The

A street in Flores

border crossing was not difficult—about an hour--but we had to eat our contraband oranges on the spot and some creative finance was required to cover all the expenses for the bridge toll, fumigation, entrance fee, car permit and insurance: we didn’t have enough in any currency, but cobbled together from three sources and helpful money changers we just barely covered it. We drove straight to the bank ATM in Belmopan to get more cash, only to discover it charges an B$8 fee! (US$4) We had no choice but to suck it up.

We drove the southern highway through miles and miles of orange groves and past truckloads overflowing with oranges. It looked like they were headed to a concentrate processing plant. There were loose oranges on the road too, but we didn’t stop for them. We didn’t stop until we got to Maya Center, the turnoff for Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary where our climb begins. The Maya women’s craft coop there has the contract to sell the entrance tickets to the park and provide the first point of information for tourists. We talked to the ranger by radio and bought our entrance passes for the next day. We drove to the nearby beach community of Hopkins for the night. We went to the local hostel for showers and wifi and our evening beer. Hopkins is a Garifuna community and there was a local band playing down the street. Garifuna is an Afro-Caribbean culture that is noted for its music: the young drummer and back up vocalist was terrific! The older lead singer (father of the drummer perhaps?) was also quite good. Then we moved the van to a quieter street to sleep.

Sunday March 6.  We cheated. The plan was to climb the highest peak in each country, but Doyles Delight is an eight-day trek with a guide. We tried to substitute Victoria Peak (1120m or 3670’) which is only 8 meters lower and only a 3-day trek. But when we were told that a guide would be required and a guide would cost $400, we balked. Furthermore, we were told that if it is raining we will turn back at km19, and the forecast is for rain for the next three days. So we opted to climb Outlier Peak which at 1804’ ranks as the fourth highest and only a day hike.

The trailhead is at the Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary visitor center. We headed out about 8:45am. The Outlier trial turns off the Victoria Peak trail (actually a 4-wheeler road, formerly a logging road)

Tapir track in Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary

at 4km. The next 2km follow a stream up through the jungle. The last 1.5 km is steeply up, then along a ridge of small summits to the true summit. The trail was rough and in need of maintenance, but easy to follow. The jungle foliage was beautiful. We didn’t see much animal life, but we did see a tapir track. It was hot—like maybe the high 80s--and humid. I was wearing long, lightweight pants and shirt to keep the bugs and brush and sun off. Mike and I were sweating buckets. I was going slower and slower, and couldn’t blame it on altitude this time. When I started to get dizzy I decided it was

Fuchsia on top of Outlier Peak

heat exhaustion. I took off my shirt, drank more water and felt a bit cooler and better. Fortunately, my fuchsia-color bra is very stylish and matches my umbrella as well as the orchids we saw on the summit ridge.

It rained a while on the way up, but not at the top. We got a glimpse of the Caribbean peeking out under the clouds to the north west, and green ridges in every direction, with Victoria Peak prominent in the south. The muddy trail was even more slippery on the way down. In the last kilometer we detoured to the big river to wash the mud and sweat off and rinse our clothes. We were back at the car by 3:30. The afternoon deluge started about 4:15. The road out turned into a vibrantly red, muddy stream.

Back to the hostel tree top bar for our celebration beers. The band down the street was different and not as good as the night before. We parked by the sea this time and went to sleep early. We were surprisingly tired. I guess that is what dehydration does.