Day 5 (in the big brother house)

Day 5 (in the big brother house) ok not quite but i can't not start my blogs with day by day and not start like that.

Finally a nice quiet start to the day, breakfast started at 9 am so i nearly missed it, swanning in at 8:50 which given that i had gone to bed at 9pm the previous evening was impressive - i guess the last few days have caught up with me. I had the Mexican breakfast scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and flour tortillas but NO Refried Beans, I hate the tings and they should be banished from the planet.

An easy morning with basically just a quick walk to the river before lunch to to say that i had done it. Then a 1 pm start for a cave trip. Yet again this involves getting into a 4x4 truck and randomly wandering along Belizian roads with the hope that the truck can stand the excursion. This time we were in a Toyota land cruiser (slightly older vintage) which was not blessed with the air conditioning of the newer Hilux, so it was hot. The weather is beginning to cloud over during the day and the rainy season can only be a few days way. However our guide today thinks that as climate change happens the wait for the rainy season is getting later and the dry season is getting longer which is bad for the agriculture and more importantly it is making the Caribbean hotter, therefore making the chance of a really bad hurricane season more likely. Given the lets face it fragile housing stock of the country then this could be disastrous for the country. The last one hit in 2001, but there was one in the 80's i think and then in 61 there was a bad one that brought the country in touch with congregated iron roofs, they may be easier to build than the traditional palm ones and may be more stable but, they are a lot more ugly.

So we were in a truck going to a cave system to sit on a Canadian canoe and be paddled though the water being guided by the bloke doing all the work. This was a good system. On the way we went through an orange grove, with 3800 acres or maybe heactres but there wa a lot of orange trees, they were being harvested at the time and teams of men were cutting the ripe ones off the trees and collecting them in sacks to be taken off for squashing for the European market. each person got 60c per sack with is 15p but should earn upto $100 (Belize) which is £25.

Anyway we made it to the caves and had a great couple of hours going though the caves seeing where there had been found Mayan burials well bones left on ledges of the cave many meters in with pottery offerings. Some of the skulls had become calcified by the action of the water and set in place. We made it past a couple of narrow points to make it to the end were a cave in many 100's of years ago had blocked the passage further although it did go many hours more. The canoe bench was very hard and my bum is not exactly padded so it was at best uncomfortable, as movement was not recommended as if you did then you ran the risk of capsizing in the middle of a very very dark cave drowning your 12v battery and million candle watt tourch leaving you wet and very blinded.

After the paddle back we got to jump off the boat and swim the last few meters in the pool at the entry to the cave. It has to be said that i am still very white and I hope that i get a little browner in the next few days, I have 5 bites on my back which are not too impressive but i have one on my leg that looks to have been done by flying thing the size of a pterodactyl, anyway lets hope it does not cause my instant death. I have just left the bar after an apres ski type thing but without the crowds of people and the singing - wow i need to go skiing again. The dinner menu looks good and then i am off on another adventure at 8am tomorrow - practically a lie in.