DAY 5: TAKING OUR EXCURSION SOUTH

Today we moved our trip from San Ignacio to San Antonio. During the 4-hour bus ride, I noticed the foliage turn greener/more lush and I saw tons of palm trees in the natural landscape. I also noticed that the people changed, especially what they were wearing. In my opinion, the people of San Ignacio wear American clothing but the people in San Antonio wear the traditional Mayan-Mopan clothing (homemade dresses, etc.). It is also evident that people are moving to Belize from other countries. Yesterday, we visited the Mennonite community who moved here from Canada, and today we met our host family who is South African. Something we discussed as a group was that we haven’t seen anyone wearing eyeglasses – so either they have superb eyesight or they don’t have access to a doctor.

The activity that had the greatest significance today was the chocolate making. It was fascinating to see the work that goes into producing chocolate and I thoroughly enjoyed tasting the chocolate that we made (even though it was totally bitter). Today I learned all about cocoa production and that the host/farmer is adding 1,000 cocoa trees per year to his farm. This means he will be the top producer in this area in the near future. I also learned that he sells his crop to a cooperative even though he gets a slightly lower price. I also found that the Toledo district gets the most rain in the country and that they have a lot of springs in this area.