The Blue Hole

Last Saturday our Bus Org (that's short for Business and Organizational Development) Group went to the Blue Hole. It is a beautiful National Park in the middle of the country - different from the Blue Hole on the top of my Blog that is close to Half Moon Cay. This natural beauty was formed when a cave collapsed and filled with water. There are other caves around the area that visitors can explore, and trails through the jungle, but some of us decided to just swim and cool off in the beautiful water. We heard two very interesting rangers tell us about the caves and the wildlife, as well as the challenges they face in trying to keep the land from being destroyed. The opportunities that ecotourism
offers to Belize is almost unlimited, but the human footprint has already greatly damaged some of the caves. People are cutting down palm trees at an alarming rate to get the valuable frawns, birds are captured to be sold on the black market and the waters are being threatened by pollution. Many International environmental organizations are stepping in to try to help balance the public's desire to see these beautiful areas and keep them as pristine as possible for future generations to enjoy, but it is a challenge with the
limited funds available.
I finally lost my battle with a cold on Tuesday and went to see the Peace Corp nurse. Turns out it wasn't a cold but a sinus infection, and after starting on some antibiotics I felt almost back to normal by Thursday, but missed two days of training - one of which was when the group went to the open market and bought food, then went to our trainers home and cooked "boil up"! I missed all the fun stuff but two of the people in my group brought me the delicious meal that they made.
Today all 38 of us trainees are heading out to visit volunteers who have been here for a year or more. I am very excited because I am visiting Tracy Hodson in San Miguel, a very rural village in the Toledo District, which is in the southern part of Belize. I began communicating with Tracy through email when a mutual friend told me that Tracy was in Belize after getting my Christmas note saying that I was going to Belize in the Peace Corps. I have been so anxious to meet Tracy and am really looking forward to seeing a Myan village, so stay tuned!