Belize Botanical Garden, Cayo

Belize botanical gardens are a private enterprise, on a large site adjacent to a jungle lodge / hotel complex in the far west of the country. The drive there is a bit hairy - 5 miles of potholed, rocky, very steep track over the mountain side. So we were glad of Malcolm's off-road experience! The 45 acres of gardens are all beautifully laid out, with pathways through the jungle canopy, and plants arranged together in clearings. The owners, the DuPlooy family, are conserving many endangered species and have also planted specifically to attract birds and butterflies, which we saw in abundance.

We see many of these plants when we are out of town. You only have to stop by the side of the road and look into the forest to see all sorts of interesting things. But it was good to have some of the most attractive plants all together in one place.

All of these have proper scientific names - but I don't know what any of them are! Though all the plants in the gardens were labelled, I'd taken a camera, but not anything to write names on. So identifying all these will, as they say, be left as an exercise for those interested!

It was another very hot day, and by the end we were all flaking a bit. Fortunately the hotel bit of the complex was able to provide us with splendid refreshments: fresh starfruit juice (so wonderful we had seconds!) and fresh sorrel juice. I know what a starfruit is, and we even saw some growing in the gardens. I thought sorrel had to do with horses ...

And to finish, a photo of our son and his wife, who were visiting us at the time and needed to see some jungle plants (and taste fresh starfruit juice) while they were here

And Ruth, with a nearly empty glass. Oh dear. Must mean it's time for a another one.

Parties, potholes and pests

The plan had been to hold a Father's day dinner dance at the local civic centre. But it was cancelled due to a double booking - the city council decided we came second to the other folks. So the dinner dance was rescheduled to the end of June. It was a good event, though not quite as many people came as we had hoped. There was very loud and not very wonderful music from synthesiser, bass and drum machine - the "live band." But all told it was a good evening. Some of the people from Ruth's church did the decorations.


This was my last graduation ceremony of the year - for St Andrew's school in St Ignacio. It was a good afternoon. They made sure everyone was awarded a prize for something - even if only for attendance! - and there were lots of proud parents looking on.


This photograph is of one of the main streets in Belize City. The roads in the city centre have been "under repair" all the time we've been here, and there's still little sign of progress. The explanation is that they want to do all the utilities repairs at one go, so they don't have to dig the road up again once it's relaid. Meanwhile, its ruts and potholes everywhere.

And two more photos to finish, of places Malcolm spends some of his time. The photo above is of St Hilda's primary school in the little village of Georgeville. These are the classrooms. There is also a school hall which doubles as the Anglican Church on this site.

And the final photograph is of St Andrew's Church. Wood on concrete foundations, and quite light and airy inside. The last church was also built of wood, and had to be replaced completely because of termite infestation. Not a problem I ever recall in the UK. "Dear Bishop. I'm afraid I have some bad news. St X has been demolished by insects." But it's a real problem here!