My time in Belize is up.

Well, just as the Mayan calendar came to an end, so did my time in Belize. Its been a really hectic trip; but an exciting one too. I would love to come back again and spend more time exploring this wonderful country. One of the things I brought back is this stone carving of the Mayan Calendar. It is beautifully handcrafted by Edwin Camal, a carver I met in San Jose Succoltz.

Final Workshop

I've just completed the final workshop of my assignment. There were 14 participants at the Belmopan Civic Centre including the deputy Mayor, City Administrator and several department heads. The space was a 3,000 square foot gymnasium with 20 foot ceiling and 12 fans spinning overhead to keep things semi-cool but noisy. We overcame the terrible acoustics and the participants were fantastic - they stayed engaged all day as I challenged them to expand their way of thinking. I really enjoyed working with them for the past 4 days.

Taxi drivers

In every country I've visited, the taxi system is great, and most of the taxi drivers are great too. Belize is no exception. All I have to do is stand at (or near) the side of the road and within minutes a taxi will appear and give a little honk. If I turn and nod, he will stop and even if there are other fares, I will get in. This guy was a great character in San Ignacio who squeezed a couple of people over so that I didn't have to walk up the steep hill to my hotel. The car may not have been in great condition - cracked windshield, no springs in the seat; but the service was great and the price was like $1.50 plus a nice tip because he let me take his picture.

Breakfast

 I have just discovered the Belizean breakfast!It was a public Holday in Belize today for Garifuna Day and not much was open. I went down to the market and met Terrasita who operates a food stall. She made me the most delicious breakfast of eggs, refried beans, plantain and fried jacks - the big puffy fried bread in the photo.
After breakfast, it started to rain and rained through past midnight. I had hoped to go to the Belize Zoo - famous for its jaguars; but stayed at my hotel instead and prepared for my Friday workshop.

City of Belmopan

Belmopan is the capital city of Belize. It is a new city created after the 1961 hurricane destroyed much of Belize City, which is built on low-lying land on the coast.Geographically it makes a lot of sense. It is in a safe area in the centre of the country with lots of available land. However it lacks many of the character element of an exciting capital city. Tourist do not come here much and even many of the civil servants who work here actually commute from Belize City or San Ignacio. However the people are friendly and its safe to walk around at night.

Revenue Generation Workshop

Today is the revenue generation workshop at the Welcome Centre with Town Council and department heads. The staff from CARILED are supporting the revenue generation initiative to tie in with their program to support Local Economic development with Micro Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Showing that LED bring revenue into the town is an important part of the model.

Racing horses in the river.

Two days ago, I posted that I had seen people washing their horses in the Mopan River. Today I went for a walk in that area and saw what they were actually doing was racing the horses. Young boys were having a wonderful timeracing their horses through the water. I managed to get several good shots.