I've been initiated into the world of shopping by my ever wonderful girlfriend Eunes. Before this I've only been shopping for at most a two hour stretch. I've now been allowed to join the shopping gang since I've gotten my first beat down. I've been in Mexico lately in Tulum, Quintana Roo. It's a small but quickly growing town located about 3 hours south of Cancun. Well, it's been three weeks since I've seen her and I had forgotten my paperwork (as in my current registration of my truck) in Dangriga before I left. Yes, it was stupid.
I was ready to bus it back to Dangriga. Here's the scenerio. Remember the old school buses that you used to ride as a kid? You know, the yellow "Blue Bird" buses? Well instead of being laid to rest as they should, they go into the public transportation in Belize (eternal flaming damnation). Of course they are painted bright colors and given colorful names but it is what it is..... a very old school bus on it's last leg without air conditioning. Eunes offered to bring it to me. It's quite a ride and she was willing to endure that and a plane flight in a crappy little plane too.
She wanted to shop in Chetumal. It's her yearly thing. Once a year, she gets to feel normal. I'm not sure what normal even feels like. I really don't care. We don't have the international retail chains, stores, and general merchandise that the rest of the world has. I like that about Belize. There was a KFC and a Subway but they both went out of business. Good. There is no Chilli's, TGIF, McDonald's, or any other chain restaurant. If we do get things from abroad, it's generally very overpriced. For example, gas here in Mexico is about $2.25 a gallon and $2.28 in Texas. In Belize, it's over $5.00 a gallon right now. Anyway, I offered to go shopping with her, carry her bags, treat her to all the junk food she could eat, and not complain because she was bringing up the paperwork.
The three of us drove down a dirt road that rapidly degenerated into crappy road and then into a deeply rutted, nasty overgrown, sinous, jeep trail winding through deep jungle. It's one of those deals where the wife or girlfriend will kill you if she has to walk because of your dumb ass idea. Nice. I'm home now. After an hour of kidney rattling driving by Ken and some good conversation, we wound up at clearing on his personal 300 acre property deep inside the bush. This clearing is a future campsite for
visitors and tourists in the future. Apparently, it's currently used as base camp and staging area for the archeologists stuyding the caves on his property. Gear on and off we went. The hike to the cave was about 45 minutes along some beautful rock shelters, cliffs, and ravines. It had a few ups and downs but overall was pretty easy.
This is a one in a lifetime activity for those who want a true caving experience in remote jungle with an experienced tour operator. It's an adventure you won't soon forget. Contact Ken Dart at 
