Sweet Success

We were lucky enough to join a visit to the Sugar Cane Factory near Orange Walk about 35 miles away. The area where we live is predominantly sugar cane fields and is harvested twice a year . For Belize it’s a big factory and can’t be missed as it belches out a constant black plume of smoke.  We  joined the tour incognito as members of the local roots and shoots society and were given eye protection and hard hats  we had to wear closed toed shoes as it said safety footwear must we worn….  i was really expecting the worst from this visit as far as safety standards go. We walk through the gate and they explain there safety starts here monologue ….  we have to take a detour across the grass as the new safety path is having reflectors put in at a crossing point …So far so good … we walk over to where the trucks were being unloaded … i was expecting to see 100 guys with pitch forks throwing the sugarcane stalks down .. and was gob smacked that the they drove the truck on to a hydraulic lift and hoisted the engine side into the air allowing the cane to fall straight out onto a conveyor  it was ingenious …

The unloading of the sugar cane

it went from there to a set of crushers with about 100 large hammers on a drum whacking the cane down in to small pieces the guide said come and have a look …we did and got a face full of sugar sticks being thrown at high speed from the machine …Safety goggles were a good idea….. The next thing we saw was a guy pulling the same sugar sticks out of a chain and cog assembly that drove the machine ..may be they get a new guy every week ?  who knows  it was really dangerous but apart from that and no hearing protection in 100 decibel zone  the place was super clean, well maintained and  really was a credit to Belizean industry. The plant employs 125 people and works night and day during the sugar cane harvesting.. it processes 1000 tonnes of sugar cane per day and the waste sugar cane roughage is burnt in an onsite furnace plant that produces steam that powers a turbine to create 20 megawatts per day.

The factory produces 4 types of sugar , Demerara which is exported to the UK  ..Class A , B & C  …  the A & B is also exported to the world market and the class C is only for sale in Belize .. when i asked the guide what the C stood for he just smiled     ….  The sugar cane is transported from the factory by barges on the river to ships in the deep water off shore ..they do not use trucks as foreign vehicle movements through Belize are not permitted… they estimate the amount of Sugar cane left to harvest by flying a plane over at high altitude…  All in all a very slick operation ..YES  in Belize 

barges ready to take the sugar down the river and out the bay past our house

We went to a party at the Bamboo Beach Resort in Copper Bank which is about 7 miles away across the hand crank ferry  , Canjo the owner was throwing a big bash and it  turned out to be amazing everyone brought a side dish (they call in pot luck here)  and Canjo laid on the best meat  BBQ extravaganza i’d seen anywhere in my life , two purpose built huge grills had ribs , sausage , chops , t-bone steaks and stuff i didn’t even know what it was but everything delicious …about 150-200 showed up and it was a great atmosphere mostly belizean and not a GRINGOFEST  …..  disaster nearly struck on the way back as my friend ” Buffalo Bill”  ( cody NO , silence of the lambs YES ) fell down a hole in the ferry in the pitch black luckily i heard him shout and managed to pull him out before he disappeared  altogether.

I finally got around to removing the the water tanks that i had thought collapsed due to the ground pressure …. first i had to remove a 6 inch concrete cap on each tank started with a sledge hammer and progressed on to  a Jigga Pick very quickly and was helped by the ” Man Mountain”  once the concrete was removed i used the truck to haul the tanks out ..only to find the builder had put off cut tiles next to the plastic tank which had cut through the tank…..  Asshole is the only word that comes to mind..

The man mountain and me …

who puts sharp tile off cuts next to a plastic tank as fill ..starts in A …. ends in hole

When Slim and Chunky were here we brewed some orange wine .. we got 20 litres  of Chateau de Nooti ….  it was OK for a first attempt and cost £3 to make we used old 2 litre rum bottles ..which was quite a chore drinking the contents to make sure we had enough bottles for the wine ..of course we saved all the rum bottles from slim and chunky’s visit with the ones from the Realmy’s visit…

20 litres of jungle juice …yep all gone now and another batch brewing

 

Slim and Chunky

Slim ( female ) Chunky (male) our great friends visited from the UK  recently, we’d missed their wedding so we were really looking forward to a celebration (Piss up)  i even caught the bus up to Cancun as they have never been anywhere without a  Holiday Rep waiting for them as they cleared customs. They of course were carrying contraband  Chunky’s 2011 home made orange wine and the Sibbo’s had sent us (ME)  4 chocolate oranges , 12 wagon wheels (Jammie) and 4 double double deckers …Chocolate is not a problem until it looks like an Apple , there bags were hoicked off the xray machine and checked …. Luckily on this occasion the crisp snap of a rubber glove was not heard in some back room customs office …  We made it to Playa del Carmen just in the nick of time for the 4 hour express  to Chetumal  where our taxi driver met us and whisked us to the mexican Belize border… regular readers will be familiar with the border crossing money scam …so i changed tack this time ..  i approached the guy ..he said where have you been i said we have been to Chetumal ..he said are you Resident i said yes he just stamped all 3 of us out no exit fee for Slim and Chunky …. another breeze through Belize customs and we were sat in in H’s roof top lounge drinking Rose wine … alas disaster was discovery Chunky’s  bottle of Chateau de Orange 2011   had shattered in his suitcase …….  we’d  been waiting to drink that for a year .. may be next  time they can  drink ours 

The Blue nose gang

We took them to Lamanai  the troop of howler monkeys could be heard in the Distance and we were lucky to find them at the Jaguar mask temple,  we also discovered that Slim did not like heights BUT managed to get her to climb the Castillo ( Castle / High place)  she decided to come down step by step on her arse , probably explaining why it had a spread quite a few inches over the years

Coming down from the high place

The Lamanai site is one of the best in Belize and is spread out in the jungle connected by very good ,well maintained paths in the dry season early in the morning before the cruise ship crowds appear is very tranquil again we were the only people there . We spotted some army ants on the move   so walked over to investigate , you have to watch your step as they can spread up your legs and give give you a nasty nip pretty quickly…  we escaped mishap but here are the blighters pictured running up and over rocks .

on the march Army ants

There is also an old abandoned sugar mill which has been lost to the jungle ..i’d seen the path before disappearing out of sight and decided not to take it ..BUT threw caution to the wind and boldly ventured down it i had a long stick in front of me  just in case of well camouflaged Fer de Lance snakes which are abundant at this site  …. about 15 minutes into the jungle we came across a clearing ..behold the lost sugar mill with a tree growing out the middle of it …  it was steam powered and still in pretty could fettle for 150 years old

The jungle slowly reclaiming the Sugar Mill at lamanai

We talked Slim and Chunky into going to Caye Caulker for the night and stayed in Popeye’s beach resort is right on the beach and reasonably priced and the owners are really good fun Ron and Christina  i would recommend any one traveling to Caye Caulker to stay there ..just mention our names and your sure to be thrown right out on your arse   .. we of course sampled the wares of the lazy lizard bar at the split…. and Ron let us use his small boat to tootle around the island and moor at the lazy lizard, as the day before we left, i stood on an Hibiscus thorn that went a good inch into my foot and hurt like f*%$ing hell. Because the One Barrell blow out was such a success on Caye Caulker before .. we recreated it in the jacuzzi at Popeye’s Beach Resort much to the surprise of Christina who let us just get on with it ..we did offer for her to join us but Chunky’s speedo’s ( budgie smugglers) maybe put her off

Wankered at Popeye’s

Chunky  is a dab hand in the kitchen so we asked him to rustle up a chicken korma back at Rock Lodge  , people who know me will be surprised as garlic bread really pushes my culinary boundaries but i had Indian just before i left the UK for the first time with Shab and Naila at a place on the A38  outside of derby called Anoki  it’s a great traditional restaurant if your ever in the area. Chunky did a great job  (unlike his failed yorkshire puddings) and it reminded us our monthly dinner at theirs ,the Sibbo’s or our house back in the UK . When my Dad came over he brought me the one thing i had been craving over here …proper knives and forks   i know it sounds silly but i hate eating with crappy cutlery and he brought our old set from the UK that was too heavy to pack when we originally came out with just a bag each. Dad also complained that i took his belt , jumper ( for cold 20c mornings in January) , tracky bottoms , shorts with zip pockets all QUALITY stuff you can’t get here ..he says he came with 21kg and went back with 3kg . Disaster struck whilst Slim and Chunky were here , took them kayaking to a lovely secluded beach just down the bay and the bottom plexiglass window dropped out of my kayak luckily we were only a mile or so away so we loaded it on top of the double kayak and beach combed our way back , just waiting for a friend to bring me the right glue back from the states if they see any . The funniest point of their whole stay was when i took the guitar down to H Cove and was practicing Dueling banjo’s and Chunky said “if there is anyone in those bushes and they hear this music they will pull up their pants so fast up the cracks of their arses .. you won’t see them for dust .. it was quite hilarious   …… i was going to take a photo of all the booze bottles we drank during their stay but decided that people may think  we had a problem..we don’t and we can handle it 

 

 

 

Old dog …..new tricks

My Dad  visited recently and although a little apprehensive about the journey arrived full of beans eager to see what Belize had to offer. He nearly fell at the first  hurdle as he just made it over Woodhead pass before it was shut for snow as he was leaving from Manchester airport. I met him at Cancun airport and luckily got a lift from my friend Harla who was going to pick his mother up who was arriving on the same flight . We traveled back down on the bus at night ,which was stopped by mexican police we were all photographed by armed officers ..a n exciting start to the holiday…i  we he should have paid that parking fine before we left   …we got to the Mexican border where the woman took $20 of him and put it straight in her purse (normal for mexico) .. we got to the Belize customs she say’s anything to declare .. Dad replies nothing she see’s a litre of whiskey and another of Brandy and lets us just go through ( Not normal for Belize)  … as not to draw attention to himself he had grown his hair and wore a cap to try and fit in ..here was the end result a great disguise YEAH Man

Brian sporting his new hair

Although i learned to swim at a very young age my dad can just do enough to get him out of trouble (in most things    )   so was a little uneasy going kayaking i gave him some sound advice ..if he falls out of the boat .. “stand up “  it’s about 2 feet deep …  in no time he wanted to paddle himself  and was very good at it.

A natural on the water at H Cove back safe from Consejo

He arrived with lots of bandages and plasters ..thinking we couldn’t them here ..then proceeded to scrape , knock ,bang and cut himself where ever we went .. i had to remind him we don’t carry liability insurance  in case he makes a claim    … i took him to see the snake man ( Usher) and before you know it he had produced 3 Fer De Lance snakes and held them right up to his face for this photo..wisely we stayed  well back as Usher was bitten by one of these snakes and narrowly escaped death .. he then put the head of one of the most poisonous snakes in the world in his mouth ….

One bite and it’s over

We drove to lamanai ( Mayan Temple) in the truck the road was ok and we were rewarded with the front grill falling off as we got there luckily it was repaired with tie wraps when we got back….  The Howler Monkeys came to see us but they didn’t take the bananas we brought them so we eat them for breakfast on top of the big temple .. we got there early again having the place to ourselves  no moquito’s… just the eagles circling around our heads.

Breakfast above the canopy

We went to Caye Caulker and drank buckets of beer whilst sat in the water ..relaxing to reggae music at the lazy lizard bar  …. we ended up flying there and back  18 minutes is all it takes to the first island .. then a fast boat ride to Caye caulker …  on our return we had a quick sail around the bay on my neighbours Hobie …he loved every minute of it … at one point we saw the sugar cane barge but a quick shake of his head reminded me of his 71 years and we headed back for shore unscathed .

If it’s safe why are we wearing life jackets my dad says…just to make sure i replied

All in all we had a great 2 weeks together H did a a good job putting up with the both us getting up for sunrise everyday .. we got his return ticket early for the over night bus ride back to the airport that went without a hitch…   When your old man looks you in the eye and says You’ve done alright … there is no finer feeling ..hope to see him and Jackie sometime in the future