Paget's Belize Journal - 2001

Spring in Belize - A princess arrives - Finding a place to stay - San Ignacio - Buena Vista neighborhood - Living details - Paget Eats Rat in Belize - A joke, about agriculture - Bananas/a chicken story - Maya Ranch - Sugar cane and Cerros - Observations on flora - Transportation lessons - Corozal Town - Agriculture on the Move - Spanish Lookout - Griga Challenge 01 - Misc. Facts and Lessons - Rain and Washing - Mt. Pine Ridge I - Mt. Pine Ridge II		Paget Eats Rat in Belize My weekend was quite a Belizean agricultural experience highlighted by a feast of gibnut, rice and cabbage salad at Laura and Victor's in Dangriga on Saturday night. Those of you who received my reports the last time I went to Belize will remember that a gibnut is a porky little wild vegetarian rodent that Queen Elizabeth once dined on when visiting Belize. This was reported in the British papers under the headline "Queen eats rat in Belize." So when I was here before I tried to order gibnut myself, several times, but never found it available. This time, thought, Victor and Laura were ready for me. Victor had bought a gibnut haunch from a hunter he knew for Laura to cook. It was very tasty, finer-grained and slightly sweeter than pork loin with tiny, little bones. More like rabbit than anything else that I've eaten. And with the same drawbacks. Laura says it's easy to cook, but she still has trouble getting past the cute little paws. Since I didn't have to see the cute little paws, I had no trouble at all. Here's a picture of a gibnut from the Belize Zoo site. Tuesday is a holiday here, Labor Day, so we'll see if there are parades or speeches to report. For next, I have a few agricultural stories I think you'll find interesting. Next