Back Again, Yes And I Am Very Late With This Report
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| Reef from Shamal, San Pedro |
Monday 26th June
Hello Everyone
We are now sitting off San Pedro on Ambergris Cay. This is the most northern Cay and the most
visited destination in Belize. It is 24
miles long and cut off from the Mexican Yucatan mainland by an age old canal
first dug by the Mayan people, and, more recently, dredged by Mexico to give
access for small boats into and out of Bahia Chetumal. It forms part of the border between Mexico
and Belize. Belize, formally known as
British Honduras, with its Anglo-Caribbean culture sets it apart from its
Spanish speaking Central American neighbours. English is the official language,
but English, Creole and Spanish are widely spoken. As our Spanish is limited,
it was nice to be able to converse with the locals again.
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| San Pedro |
The Yucatan Peninsula, including Belize, has a
fascinating history, starting with the
Maya people who it is believed first lived in this area around 2600 B.C. in
what is now present-day southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and western
Honduras. They rose to prominence around 250 A.D. Then around 900A.D. their
empire started to decline for reasons which are still a great mystery
today. They abandoned their city leaving
the jungle to consume and hide what was an elaborate and well organised way of
life. At some point we will do some
inland travel to visit one of these ancient sites.
