San Ignacio and the "Place of Ticks"

This weekend was interesting. I met up with Dennis, a retired American who bought land in Cristo Rey, near San Ignacio last year. He is just putting the finishing touches on his new home. He introduced me to his 1 year old papaya trees that are already fruiting and the mango, grapefruit, orange, cherry, mami apple, and chymeto trees that he has planted. Avocado trees came on the land already mature. Most of these fruit trees grow from seed to bearing fruit in less than 5 years. Very impressive.

I tried a new fruit, the mami apple. The outside has the rough brown appearance of the sapodilla (I think they are related as well), the inside color of a papaya, and the consistency of an avocado. Not as sweet as a sapodilla, as creamy as an avocado, or watery as a papaya but, not bad. I'll give it a 6 out of 10. The means that I'd eat it but probably not buy it.

Dennis dropped me off in San Ignacio where I had a wonderful Indian meal of coconut curried chick peas and a garden salad with balsamic vinegar, such a treat! I was drinking beers and reading a book at Eva's the popular gringo bar when a Rastaman, Lyrical King, sat down and introduced himself. He invited me to join him down the street for more beers and live music. We had a fine time. Oh, draft beer- Beliken still of course- for the first time in Belize, fancy.

Next morning, I hiked up to Cahal Pech, reminants of a Mayan royal family's estate dating back to 800 AD, I believe. This is Mayan land, 3 major ancient cities are within around a 10 miles radius of this minor site. My guidebook said it was a 20 min walk out of town, what it failed to mention was the grade of the walk, I'd say almost a 50 degree angle all the way up. It shouldn't have suprised me though, the royal family chose a great spot on the side of a mountain (lg hill?) with a fabulous view of the surrounding lowland/valley. When I got there...it was vacant sans the ground's keepers, a nice change to the crowd of tourists that one usually encounters at such sites. It was calming and refreshing to sit on top of the ruins alone in the morning and just listen and relax.

I headed back into town where I ran into Lyrical King again. He asked me if I wanted to join he and the wife/owner of Eva's Restaurant, Nettie, at the local cycling competition in Benque Viejo. Eva's had sponsored 3 young men competing in the race and Nettie wanted to bring them food and water and check on their progress. We saw her sister and nephews along the way and they all piled into the bed of the pick up truck with another little boy and I.

We went to the race. We found and followed 2 of the cyclists for a while in the hills near the border of Belize and Guatemala. The hills were fierce and they were many. As I've mentioned, the region is steep. And, it was hot, the tropical sun was relentless, heating flesh and metal leaving one thirsty and constantly in search of shade. Because the road is made of gravel and due to the lack of rain in this the dry season, we all had a thick layer of white dust covering us from head to toe when we got to the finish line. One of the boys sponsored by Eva's came in 1st and the other 3rd in their respective age groups/categories.

I was told that on a hot day, it is good to drink stout beer, as sort of a preventative measure or a treatment, I'm not sure which. So, they bought me a stout beer and fed me rice and beans. On the way back into town we stopped on the Mopan River and swam. I didn't have my swim suit with me but I could not resist the cool water and the chance to wash off the dust so I jumped in with my clothes on. Very refreshing. The water is a beautiful dark green in the deeper areas. Just below the rapids, you can sit in the natural jacuzzi, really fabulous. I watched the mestizo women washing their clothes in the River and the men fishing with hand lines. I felt conflicted as I watched the women adding all that phosphate (soap) to the water, knowing of its effects on riverine life, while at the same time acknowledging that their ancestors did this for generations and plus, it looked like a nice Sunday family event on the River.

Almost soaking wet, I hailed a taxi back into San Ignacio so that I could catch the last bus out of town to Belmopan.

So, a good weekend. I probably would have hung out more in San Ignacio if I had known what it had to offer sooner but then I would have spent a lot of money there too which sometimes, is impossible in Belmopan (good). I bought some Guatemalan crafts, a pastry at the French bakery, an iced coffee at the German bakery, and, as I had mentioned, good Indian food and draft beer. ahh....the good life.