Today was another successful and productive time on our trip
to Belize. We were up around 7:30 AM again for another great breakfast served
by the staff at our resort. Les wanted to be on the road by 8:30, and we were
in the van by 8:32 so we did fairly well this morning. While we were on the
road we saw a whole new side of Belize that we haven’t seen yet. We were
surrounded by mountains and vegetation on all sides. One of the more notable
things was the rate in which the topography changed and how the Belizeans were
able to adapt to this. There were ranges of citrus trees that were grown to the
last possible inch before the mountain range took over again. The Belizeans farmed a lot of land that we in
Ontario would consider “impossible”.
Some of the fields in the area were on such a slope that our farm
equipment such as tractors would not be able to drive on. The reason that the Belizeans are able to do
this is that they plant everything by hand. So although there are many cons
associated with hand sowing I guess that one pro is that it can be done on
slopes that other farm equipment could not reach. Along the way we also saw many small Mayan
communities, and we would often be through the village within five minutes. One
thing that seems very common amongst the villagers in Belize is that they all
seem to be friendly, usually greeting us with a simple smile or a wave.
On our way to the Maya
Center we stopped at a bakery called “Kropfs Kitchen” where we were treated to
some delicious cinnamon rolls. I’m almost willing to say that they gave “Cinnabun”
back In Canada a run for its money. This bakery was alongside the road at a
Mennonite farm in the middle of nowhere. We were also able to see some farm
dogs that came up and visited with us for a bit. This was a relatively short
stop though and we were back on the road within ten minutes. We were once again
greeted by the vast vegetation and phenomenal views of the surrounding
mountains. It’s a view that I can see myself getting used to in a hurry. 
About another hour
down the road we passed by the “Belize Citrus Centre” where all of the citrus
grown in Belize is monitored for disease and methods for eradicating diseases
are studied. One common thing that is done at the Citrus Centre is working with
grafting to develop disease free rootstock. We were only there very briefly
though and were not able to stop.
As we continued on a bit further down the road we stopped in
at “Marie Sharpes” hot sauce plant, where 10 different varieties of product are
made ranging from hot pepper sauce to a mellow pepper jam. While at the factory
we were given a guided tour which went through the production steps. While on
the tour I was surprised at how such a small company could have such a large
customer base. One thing that I found to be quite interesting about the factory
was that two of its biggest exports were China and Japan. Marie Sharpes export their products to many
different countries including Canada and the United States, and I would have
thought that Canada or the United States would have ranked in one of the top
spots in terms of the consumption of this hot sauce. Our tour guide seemed
knowledgeable with about every part of the factory and was more than helpful
when explaining the steps that the peppers go through.
After visiting the
hot sauce factory we arrived at the Maya Center village that we are staying
tonight. We are definitely “roughing it” here when compared to the last resort
that we stayed at. However it is giving us an idea of how the Mayans live
today. Upon our arrival to the village we stopped by a local school and dropped
off some school supplies and soccer balls to the students. Seeing the looks on
their faces as the kids were kicking the soccer balls around was something that
genuinely made my day. We played with
the students for a while and they eventually called it a day and went home. 
However one thing that set today apart
from all of the other days is the gratitude that you feel when you providing students
with new sports equipment, and knowing that the school supplies that we dropped
off will also help them. After our arrival back to the village, we met up with
some local women who make clothes for the community. Les presented them with a
sewing machine to help them out with their everyday tasks. The ladies were more
than grateful, and it’s nice to know that we helped somebody who puts the
community before themselves.
This was a great day and I can honestly say that I’m looking
forward to stopping at the next school tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
This is Kris Sebok signing out.
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