Paget's Belize Journal
The Preliminary Trip-
It Begins The Actual Stay-
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Dec 16, 1999 Tobaco Caye: A "Trip"The plan after my night at the lodge with Capt. Frank, Sgt. Alejandro and the drunk (a Saturday) was that we would meet on the street in front of my house at 7:30 am for our day trip to Tobacco Caye. Now there was a time in my life when I could do it all on 5 hours of sleep, but those days are past. Still, I was up and ready. I figured part of the day would be hanging out on the beach somewhere and I could rest then. Little did I know. Alejandro arrived at 7:15 am with two old guys I'd never seen before, but they were apparently an integral part of the expedition. I gave them $10 for my share of the gas money and $10 for lunch provisions and they took off. Then I was told that we wouldn't be going until 9:00 because whoever we were going to see on Tobacco Caye was actually in Silk Grass Village (up the road a piece) visiting his wife (?) and for some reason we couldn't go until he was back. So I packed up all the essentials (sunscreen, bug juice, hat, water, food bars, sunglasses, suit, towel, book) and we walked out to the beach to wait. The boat, I was told, was anchored up river out of sight, but it would come by after our host got finished and we would clamor aboard somehow. The channel itself (I guess it's over a bar even at this depth) is only about 5 feet, you can wade across the river at the mouth and the beach has a long shallow slope out into the ocean. (Well, *I* wouldn't wade the river because as modern as the sanitary system is for this part of the world, it's not THAT good and I'm sure the water is teeming with bad, bad bacteria). I did not understand why we were waiting because I was assured that we were NOT going on the same boat with our host, but told again, that we couldn't go until after he did. So we sat around and talked and I read my book and Alejandro swam a bit. HIS idea of essentials was sunglasses, a swim suit and a T-shirt he "borrowed" from me. About 9:45 Alejandro pointed out that a lot of tourists were being loaded on boats up the river a ways and this was a good sign because they were also going to Tobacco Caye, apparently to stay at the uncle's place (I think the same one with the wife in Silk Grass Village, but maybe not. Everyone seems to be Alejandro's "uncle."). Anyway our boat was not one of them, it was a bit bigger. After all three boats of tourists left, Alejandro went to check again (wade the river, walk up river on the opposite shore around the bend, reappear 20 minutes later). Came back and said we were going at 10:30. At 11:30 he went to check again (I guess I sent him to check again). At 12:30 when he had not reappeared I went home. I had to pee, I was hungry, I'd already had plenty of sun for the day, it was time for a nap and I was starting to feel a little foolish. Five hours seemed long enough to wait, even for Belize time. Actually I had a pretty good time sitting on the beach and watching the kids play, the pelicans fish, etc. I never did see Capt. Frank that day, I never saw our boat or lunch or alas, my T-shirt again. Somewhere about mid-morning Alejandro declared himself to be not simpatico with Belizean girls and madly in love with me, never mind that he's younger than my oldest son. So I think there never was a boat trip (although I really trusted Capt. Frank) or when it got to be morning the boat wasn't available and Alejandro just couldn't figure out how to tell me without bruising his ego. But my neighbors tell me he has come by a few times while I'm at work and told them that he couldn't find me when he came back to take me out to the caye and he's very anxious to get in touch with me. I'm pretty sure his leave is over this Friday and he expects to get posted to the Western Border for 2 months, so likely I don't have to worry about it any more. It wasn't exactly a Shirley Valentine kind of day, but it had its own kind of charm. Earlier on Saturday a different kind of Belizean experience. I was trundling home from the market with my weekly things (4 bananas, 2 papayas, 4 eggs, an onion, a piece of broccoli, a few green beans, etc.) when a guy walked up to me and said, "You're Paget, right? I've come all the way into town today just to meet you." His name is Mike and he has an organic farm about 25 miles up the Hummingbird Highway, just in the foothills of the Maya Mountains and is originally from Hermiston (Oregon for you out-of-staters)! Moved here about 25 years ago with 3 little children when his wife ran off and left him and has been trying to duplicate the Hermiston watermelon in Belize ever since as far as I can tell. Kids are all grown and back in Oregon, but he's still here and interested in talking about "home." Seems like a nice enough guy and it's amazing how much more relaxing it is to talk to someone where you're pretty confident of your referents. In retrospect, that encounter may have given me the comfort level to hang in there with Alejandro hoping that it wasn't all smoke and mirrors. But I bet he doesn't own the house he showed me either. Signing off, a little less trusting, but still enchanted with Belize. |
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