Tues, Feb 24 - Belize Zoo to Belmopan

Today started with a bit of a disappointment. After talking with some of the people at the Tropical Education Center, I felt like it would be really cool to do what they were doing and volunteer at the zoo for a couple days. I even got to talk to Sharon Matola, the founder and director of the zoo a while - I caught her peeking under the bike cover to check out the bike, so we chatted a while. She's a very cool woman who has done more for Central American wildlife than just about anyone else. Anyway, I found out that you have to PAY to work at the Belize zoo - $25US per day, not including anything! This seems fine for a tourist, but I'm not a tourist. I can see how people would pay to have a personal zookeeper as a guide for the day, and for the "experience", but when you're traveling on $30 a day, it's a little different. Bummer.

So, I wrapped up my tab at the place and headed out. Sharon recommended that I check out the "hummingbird highway" before heading straight towards guatemala - it's one of the 4 main roads in Belize, and not a very long ride.

On my way down the Hummingbird, I saw some really nice small mountains (or large hills), and thought it would be great to take a little hike. Very soon after that, I saw a sign for a national park! Yay!

Blue Hole National Park consists of 2 caves, a lookout tower, and the Blue Hole, all connected by a few miles of trails through the jungle. The entry fee was $8B, and I was told that camping is allowed for another 5b.

The hike was beautiful, and you can go most of the way into one of the caves without a guide, only a flashlight. I only have a small flashlight, so it was extra exciting, and I really couldn't see a damn thing. The lookout tower was really neat too, and very rickety, slippery, and difficult to climb up. After the hiking I was glad to be able to take a dip in the "blue hole", a neat swimming hole that is small in diameter, but very, very deep, hence the "blue".
I rode a little farther down the Hummingbird Highway (not a highway at all), taking in the beautiful scenery, then turned around and came back to the park to camp out for the night. Being that Belize is expensive, I think the only way I'll stay another night is if I can camp out again and find cheap things to do. Heading west towards the border anyway tomorrow.



The view from the lookout tower. This jungle vegetation is really dense and pretty.It was very hot, humid, and muddy on the trails - and this is the "dry season"!