The jungle road goes on and on and on, but we finally departed the western district of Belize and made our way to the coast. Belize is a small country, with an area of 22,963 sq km (8,866 sq. miles) slightly larger than Massachusetts, but because the roads are so bad and our van was not so roomy, it felt like it took us days to cross. Actually, I was in the front passenger seat, so it was not too bad, with the exception of the water condensate from the air conditioner continually falling on my feet.
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| Roadside Resident |
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| Our Home in the Jungle |
The most amazing observation in addition to the passing villages and the Monday morning traffic (yes, even in Belize,) was the change in the ecosystems as you go east. Belize borders the Caribbean Sea along the eastern shore of Central America just below the Yucatan Peninsula. The western border is shared with Guatemala along the Maya Mountains. We had just stayed for 7 days in the Maya Mountains along the Macal River. We ventured south through a mountain plateau called the Pine Ridge Reserve when we visited the Mayan site of Caracol. Now we were bumping along the Western Highway toward Belize City. Belize City is not the capitol of Belize, that is Belmopan, but it is the largest city and the economic hub of the country. About half way to Belize City the landscape flattens out and you start to see more sandy soil. This coastal plain is dominated by red mangrove swamp. Some of the swamp is filled in so temporary buildings can be erected. In Belize, it seems all buildings are temporary. Either the jungle eats them up like the Maya structures, or the hurricanes blows them down. I think Belize is a perfect study in entropy. Entropy, also known as the basis for the Second Law of Thermodynamics, basically refers to the energy needed to maintain the order of a system. If energy is not continually put into a system, that system will become disordered. My classroom used to have a sign--"Laboratory Of Entropy Studies" above the doorway. The class was often in disarray. Good teaching and good learning (I think,) was going on, but I worked hard to put the energies into the teaching process instead of keeping order in the classroom. I got some heat for that over the years, but overall, good stuff happened there.
Anyway, Belize could have the same sign at the borders I think. "Laboratory of Entropy Studies." Often there is not enough energy available to maintain the order of the country. Jungle grows around it, rainstorms eat at its roads, hurricanes topple its buildings. People try, but it almost seems like they are losing the battle. I still think it is a great country and is filled with wonderful people, but it needs more energy. Maybe the tourists can help bring some energy to Belize by bringing dollars. Money helps fight this entropy thing. I think the constant gentle push against the ensuing jungle, the eroding rains, and the occasional hurricane is worth it. Anyway, as I watched the mangrove swamp pass us by (well, we were actually passim by, but you know, things like travel are relative,) it looked like many of the buildings were bing eaten by the swamp itself. As we got closer to Belize City the buildings looked to be winning. They were bigger, more permanent, more entropy resistant! Finally we would our small Toyota van through even smaller, narrow streets right to the water taxi terminal. 
Our journey on mainland Belize was ending and the journey to the outer Cayes and the Meso-American Barrier Reef was beginning.
From Wikipedia--
"The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS, also simply known as the Mesoamerican reef and often abbreviated MAR) stretches over 1000 km from Isla Contoy at the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula down to theBay Islands of Honduras. The reef system includes various protected areas and parks including the Belize Barrier Reef, Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park, Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve, and the Cayos Cochinos Marine Park. This reef structure is the largest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest barrier reef in the world."
We stepped into a transitional world for our 45 minute wait. It was air conditioned, not just cooled by spinning ceiling fans. There were television sets attached to the walls (showing the tumultuous fall of the American stock market....) And there was Cheetos and Snickers. Are we in America??? No.. Not quite. The box of toilet paper packs that one must pick up as one enters the bathroom (not afterward as some of our group found out,) proved. But it was a step. I don't know if it was a step in the right direction, but it was a step.
Onto the water taxi to Caye Caulker. A 45 minute speedboat trip to the outer barrier reef. Actually the reef is about 1 mile off the coast of Caulker, but it is considered "on the reef." That brings up another interesting thing about Belize. It was still on the Standard System of measurement until December 8. 2010. The Standard system is what we use the US. The only other countries that use this system are Liberia, Myanmar (Burma) and in a limited sense Canada because of U.S. commerce. Though the SI system is legal, most signs are still in the traditional English Standard units--miles, feet, etc.
We are finally on the Caye, (pronounced 'key'. ) A Caye is an island. Basically a sandbar. It is 5 miles long, but 1/2 half of it is north of the 'split' that formed and cut the island in half during Hurricane Hattie in 1961. The same hurricane devastated Belize City. (There is that entropy again.) It is only 1 mile wide at its widest. A 200 minute walk basically takes you from one end to the other. But the motto of the island tells about the culture on the island--"Go Slow". I did not see anyone in three days disobeying this 'law'. It is a very relaxing place to "run away to." In fact that is what many of the residents look like they did. Some with shoes, many without. Some with shirts, many without. The tourists wear hats and typically are red. Those that ran away are tanned brown and most are smiling.
The last three days on Caye Caulker were slow, relaxing and yet still adventuresome. The story of sharks and rays and moray eels will continue soon. 
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