April 26th (Thursday)
Day Trip to Shipstern Nature Reserve in Sarteneja (pronounced Sartenayah)
It was strange to sleep in the jungle. Some of us had a hard time sleeping because of the birds chirping, and dogs barking. I woke up at 5:30 am and sat outside, just listening to the strange sights and sounds. Melody and I went for a walk in the morning to find a place to have dinner, an came across a cemetary, plantaine trees, a couple of horses (one, a week old, for sale for $400 Belize) and a woman who talked to us for quite some time about international development in the village. Everyone in the town is so friendly, interested in who we were, and loved their country. Fernando's made us a great breakfast or eggs and beans and freshly squeezed sour orange juice. After breakfast, we jumped in the back of a Ford Ranger and drove way too fast down a dirt road covered in potholes- it proved to be a great bondig experience. It got so bumpy that one of the lights on the truck shook right off! We arrived at the reserve and met our guide, Damien. There were so many options for trails at Shipstern, and we decided to take a 3 hour tour through the jungle that leads to a lake with crocodiles. It was another half hour drive in the bak of the truck, but Damien kept us entertained with his many riddles. The jungle was hot. As we walked towards the lake, Damien pointed out many trees and plants. Some were poisoness, like the Give and Take tree, that was covered in spikes that stuck into your skin and irritated it if you run into it. Luckily, we were told, the antidote is in the tree itself and could be easily collected with the chop of a maschette (sp?). There was another tree which, as legend tells, cures asthma if you chop it down at your exact hight and walk away, never to return to the tree again. Others were used locally to make boats and thatch roofs. There was also a small potatoe plant that grows a potatoe underground that can be fatal if eaten. We arrived at the lake where there was a lookout where we stopped for a snack, and then continued on our jungle tour around the lake. You will see the pictures when we return, but it is amazing to see the change in flora within 10 feet. It seems to go from desert to jungle immediately. We didn't get to see a crock, but we did see the equivalent of a Canadian Bluejay, Snail Kites (look like eagles, and feed on the lake's gigantic freshwater snails), and jaguar and tapir footprints that had been made earlier that morning. At the end of the trip, every one was extremely exhausted and I'm sure that a few more cases of heat rash arose from the adventure. Back at the guesthouse, some of us went for a swin in the ocean, which is seafoam green and barely salty. We also met some people from the US and the UK who were working on a tourism plan similar to what we are doing in Orange Walk. A few of us were interviewd on camera for a video that will potentially be on the Sarteneja website they are developing. Damien stopped by too, for lobster dinner (we were told later that lobster was out of season) and Aggie's birthday celebration. The guesthouse made a very nice cake that was made with many different kinds of milk and was very moist. We went to bed soon after, as we had to get up at 5:30am to catch the only bus at 6am to Orange Walk. That's all for now, and I will update again later...
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