From the sea to the jungle, there's only one step in Belize! We radically change scenery and weather to immerse ourselves in the heart of the Belizean jungle, in search of monkeys, exotic birds, and -why not- jaguars.
Sunday, April 16th, 2023
After our excursion to the Caribbean island of Caye Caulker, we leave Belize City in the late morning to head south. On either side of the road, the jungle is dense and warning signs caution against tapirs and jaguars that sometimes cross the road. We would love to see them! We arrive in Hopkins at 1pm, the perfect time to settle down in a beachfront restaurant. We order a fish burger and a curry rice accompanied by plantains and coconut rice. It's all excellent! 😋
Hopkins is a village of Garifuna culture, an indigenous people descended from Africans and Amerindians. The story, or legend, goes that the Garifuna people are the only African people to have arrived in the Americas without ever having been slaves. Officially, they are said to be descendants of survivors of a slave ship wreck. We take a walk through the village along the main street. We love the cheerful atmosphere, everyone greets us and smiles, we feel welcome. The street is lined with huge mango trees that bend under the weight of dozens of mangoes.
We return to the restaurant by following the waterfront. Hopkins has experienced significant tourist growth in recent years. From the beach, we pass from property to property, each more beautiful than the last, some with pools. The beach, on the other hand, is littered with sargassum and not inviting for swimming.
We have permission to sleep at the back of the restaurant. The parking lot leads directly to the street, which ends at the water's edge. It's not a busy street, so we're in peace. We set up the tent, cook our food, and there are even toilets and a cold shower - very rustic but convenient. We spend the evening behind the Jeep to shield ourselves from the strong offshore wind. Tonight, there's a party at the restaurant, and the music is loud until 10 p.m.! 🥴
Monday, April 17th
Innovation for breakfast: this morning, we cook French toasts! How could we not have made it earlier? It's simple, quick, cheap, and super delicious! In just a few minutes, the bread is soaked, grilled, and topped with condensed milk. A delight! It will keep us going for the rest of the day 😊
We head to the Mayflower Bocawina National Park. In 1 hour, we leave the sunny seaside and enter the jungle, where we are greeted by a tropical rain! This doesn't seem to dampen the ranger's enthusiasm, who tells us that in the rain, we have a better chance of spotting a jaguar, as it won't be able to smell or hear us coming. It's probably true, but the chances of seeing a jaguar in this region of Belize are about 1 in 16,000, even though there is a very high population density here, higher than anywhere else in the world. In fact, a Belizean saying goes: "If you don't see the jaguar, know that the jaguar sees you."
We are still waiting for a break in the rain, which arrives just before noon. We put on our hiking shoes, grab some water, and set off on the Bird Loop Trail, a 4-kilometer path where it's possible to see Mayan ruins. The jungle is dense, silent, and humid. Following the rangers' advice, we walk as quietly as possible to increase our chances of spotting wildlife, which goes against everything we've learned so far: making noise to signal our presence. So we avoid branches that crack and leaves that rustle, and we whisper. We love the mysterious and heavy atmosphere among the trees. We scan the surroundings, but one thing is for sure: if a jaguar has seen us, we haven't seen it! 😂 Nonetheless, our perseverance pays off: a rustling in the trees, we look up and spot a magnificent toucan, followed by a woodpecker, both very busy.
We also spot a family of howler monkeys, high up in the trees. They are silent and we would have never noticed them if they hadn't showered us with a rain of chewed fruits and foliage. We finish the loop and realize that we haven't seen a single Maya ruin! In reality, they are so well buried in the earth and vegetation that we didn't see them 😅
Back at the parking lot, we eat a rice salad in between rain showers. We would love to go explore another part of the park, but the weather is very cloudy. Thunder is rumbling. Nevertheless, we venture onto a trail that leads to a waterfall. We walk for 5 minutes and then the rain starts to fall. At first, just a few drops, but then a real downpour! Quickly, we put on our K-ways and continue. But we soon end up soaked! After a few meters, with thunder getting louder and louder, we wisely decide to head back.
We had planned to spend the night there, but due to the incessant rain, we decide to leave and spend the night somewhere else, if possible, somewhere dry. We head to St. Herman's Blue Hole National Park. Here, there's no camping in the heart of the jungle, but a noisy parking lot by the roadside. We lose out on the jungle experience, but at least it's not raining. We park next to Fabienne and Simon's van, a Swiss couple who are doing the same trip as us. All evening, we talk about travel and itineraries. The rangers even end up treating us to a meal: rice and black beans with very tender chicken. Delicious!
Tuesday, April 18th
The hour is one of paranoia. Last night, while talking to our Swiss friends, we learned about the existence of a fly in Central America that lays its eggs in the skin 😱 In the first few days, it looks like a simple bump until a larva hatches and starts wriggling under the skin 🤢 We are covered in mosquito bites, midge bites, spider bites, and other jungle delights. We are worried, especially me. Apparently, it is a very common thing in Belize. In preparation, we look up the best technique for removing these famous larvae (they must be suffocated by placing tape over the skin and then gently removing them. While they are alive, it is impossible to remove them because they "cling" to the skin). And worse, if they are not removed, they eventually turn into flies and fly away, not without laying eggs again! A true nightmare. Spoiler: we didn't actually have any 😓 At 6 a.m., we are awakened by the sound of traffic. So we decide to take advantage of this early wake-up call and go hiking in the jungle. The trail takes us to Herman's Cave, a cave that is free to access, at least for the first few meters.
We then follow the Jungle Trail, which takes us deep into the jungle. We walk silently, on the lookout for any rustling. Most of the time it's just leaves falling from the canopy, birds, or squirrels. However, Remi quickly spots a paca, a sort of large rodent that quickly runs away at our sight.
After the hike, we head to another part of the park where the Blue Hole is located. The water, which comes directly from the surrounding cave system, is pleasantly cool and clear. It's very refreshing after the heat of the jungle.
We stop by the roadside restaurant of Beatriz, on the advice of Fabienne and Simon, who themselves were recommended by the park rangers. We order the Belizean specialty: pupusas, corn tortillas filled with cheese and frijol, and burritos. They are very different from those in Mexico: the corn tortilla is thicker, rolled like a crepe, and filled with lots of ingredients. It's delicious!
We arrive in Belmopan in the early afternoon. Since 1970, Belmopan, which is the contraction of Belize and Mopan, the river, has been the capital of the country. It was built specifically for this role after Belize City was destroyed by a hurricane. We don't stay there long and head towards the Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve. Access is free, but a permit is required to camp there, which is purchased...in Belmopan, which we don't have! The ranger at the entrance seems to be used to it. He waves his hand and says we can pay on the way out or not, as we want. Well, that's pretty cool! We quickly leave the main road to venture onto dirt roads. Some portions are quite bumpy!
We arrive at the end of the road where 1,000 Foot Falls, the highest waterfall in Central America, is located. It can only be admired from afar, as there is no trail leading to it. The watchman tells us that everything was ready to create a trail through the forest, but that COVID stopped everything abruptly. "Maybe one day," he says. We ask him if we can spend the night here on the grassy field. As the afternoon is well advanced, he agrees without hesitation and without even asking for the permit.
However, he warns us that he releases his dog at night for security reasons. Okay, no problem. "Is he friendly?" Rémi asks anyway. The answer is categorical: "No." Ha. We didn't expect that 😅 After investigating, it turns out that it wasn't a joke. So we agree: he will release the dog at 8 p.m. and at that time, we will take refuge in the tent until the next morning. One thing is for sure: we won't go down to pee tonight! In the meantime, we have a quite eventful evening: not only does that damn dog keep barking at us, but we also find a big cockroach in our pantry! Yerk.
From 8 pm, the dog rushes to the foot of the tent and starts barking vigorously while circling around the Jeep. He even peed on three of our tires... It went on like this all evening. After a while, annoyed, I stick my head out of the tent window, shine the flashlight on him, and go "shhhhhh!". Immediately, he runs off with his tail between his legs and doesn't come back! We even dare to very cautiously step outside for our nightly pee. The dog is defeated, we can sleep peacefully! 💪
1 commentaire
L’histoire de la mouche qui pond sous la peau, ça me rappelle de mauvais souvenirs avec Elliott….
Elle est magnifique cette jungle, même sous la pluie.