We leave Copper Bank and move to Belize City

This morning the alarm rang, as usual, at 6 a.m. but the difference today was that the last of the packing needed to be done and our last breakfast eaten before loading up on the bus to the airport which was scheduled to leave at 7.30 a.m. sharp. The rain had ceased and there was, strangely a bit of a chill in the air. After breakfast, last goodbyes were said to the staff and we all loaded our bags and boarded the bus. We did manage to get away by 7.35 a.m. After about 20 minutes we cam to the hand-cranked ferry across the New River. There were some cars in front of us and our team haled crank the ferry across with them and then back to pick up and the bus. The ferry is a barge with planks on the top and a wire which stretches across the river and the crank winds to wire up and moves the ferry back and forth. The sustenance of our string team, helped speed up the process which is usually carried out by one attendant. As the ferry approached us from the other side, we were able to see that several of the human passengers were Mennonite men and women. They own and operate some of the land in this area and contributed some of the woodwork to the OSC CEB house. We were only delayed about 20 minutes by this ferry crossing and about a quarter of an hour later we were at Corozal Municipal Airport where Leila and Peter were to disembark and catch a small plane to San Pedro off the coast of Belize. Dustin also decided at the last minute that he would catch this plane and booked the flight there and then and also left the bus. We turned around and were soon on our way again.

The deviation to Corozal Airport may have added a few miles on to the trip to Belize City but it also put us on a paved road instead of the dirt road on which we came to Copper Bank giving us a faster and more comfortable ride. Except for a short stop for an alfresco bathroom breaks for the males on the bus, we made good progress. The countryside has many dimensions. Much of the route is bounded by scrub land. There are also large fields of sugar cane, yet to be harvested. Occasionally, there are ranches with fields of white hump-backed cattle and sometimes goats. There are many half-finished houses, some looking quite luxurious. Many schools and around the schools ‘traffic calming’ bumps which require the bus to slow down to a crawl to negotiate. We passed through a number of small villages with their church and their school and then the larger town of Orange Walk which had numerous stores and restaurants and was quite busy. The impression of the countryside was that there was quite a lot of unused fertile land which could be used to grow food either for domestic consumption or for export but that there did not seem, in this area much effort to use the land. It would seem that relying on sugar, a commodity which most health exerts say should form loess rather than more of our diets, does not seem to make complete sense. I was curious to know more about the economy of Belize and this is what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:

“Belize has a small, mostly private enterprise economy that is based primarily on agriculture, agro-based industry, and merchandising, with tourism and construction recently assuming greater importance. The country is also a producer of industrial minerals, crude oil, and petroleum. As of 2017, oil production was 2,000 bbl/d (320 m3/d).  In agriculture, sugar, like in colonial times, remains the chief crop, accounting for nearly half of exports, while the banana industry is the largest employer.

The government of Belize faces important challenges to economic stability. Rapid action to improve tax collection has been promised, but a lack of progress in reining in spending could bring the exchange rate under pressure. The tourist and construction sectors strengthened in early 1999, leading to a preliminary estimate of revived growth at four percent. Infrastructure remains a major economic development challenge; Belize has the region's most expensive electricity. Trade is important and the major trading partners are the United States, Mexico, the European Union, and Central America.

Belize has four commercial bank groups, of which the largest and oldest is Belize Bank. The other three banks are Heritage Bank, Atlantic Bank, and Scotiabank (Belize). A robust complex of credit unions began in the 1940s under the leadership of Marion M. Ganey, S.J”.

Belize is located on the coast of Central America. Based on its location, it is a popular destination for vacations. However, also due to its location, it is currently becoming known in the global arena for attracting many drug trafficking entities in North America. The Belize currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar. (1 Belize dollar = US$0.50) This entices drug traffickers and money launderers who want to utilize the banking system. In addition, banks in Belize offer non-residents the ability to establish accounts. Because of this, many drug traffickers and money launderers utilize banks in Belize. As a result, the United States Department of State has recently named Belize one of the world's "major money laundering countries".

It would seem from the short experience we have of the country that it could be more productive without impacting its commitment to ecological development. Of course, this needs governmental leadership and, perhaps help and investment from the world community which would only be forthcoming if a stable and committed government were in power.

Another interesting fact about Belize (a country little in the news in general) is that: “Simone Biles, the winner of four gold medals in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics is a dual citizen of the United States and of Belize, which she considers her second home. Biles is herself Belizean-American in descent”.Who knew?

 We arrived at the airport at about 10.50 a.m. a little behind schedule but safe and relieved. We said our goodbyes as some of those traveling had to check in quickly for flights departing about noon.

 I feel that in this case we may have missed saying goodbye to some of the group and I much regret that. It was a pleasure for us to meet each and every one of the group who were all interesting stimulating and fundamentally good people. A rare group, these days and one we were very much privileged to meet and work with.

We took a cab with a very pleasant cabbie into Belize City and to our hotel, the Great House which is just that a large Colonial type house in the hotel district nearby the Radisson Hotel which is across the street. Our cabbie told us of good restaurants including one called ‘Spooners’ which serves real Belizean food. It has seating out by the river and looks like a possibility for this evening.

We checked in to the hotel but our room was not ready for an hour or so. We went down to the restaurant on the ground floor and had a late breakfast before going back to find our room and a great hot shower and comfortable bed. Our room is a suite which is very luxurious after the fairly basic accommodation we had at Copper Bank. A shower and a nap revived us considerably.

We decided to stay local for dinner so went across the street to the Radisson Hotel and had dinner in the St Georges Restaurant which was pleasant. The hotel seemed to be deserted but there were a couple of conferences going on and maybe they were in a different part of the hotel. We returned to the Great House early and fell soon into bed.