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My Belize Caching Adventure


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A couple weeks ago I returned from my senior class trip in the country of Belize!

 

Being in a foreign country for me meant finding a cache to dub me an international cacher! So the adventure that I found myself unexpectially in I am sharing with all who dares to read about the tale.

 

It can only be seen in full context at the place where it happened.....the cache page! so I invite you to get in a comfortable place, and read the story that I like to dub..."Sunset Travelers Adventure"

 

Sunset Travelers

 

Disclaimer: This kind of stuff would not have happened in America. Only due to the lack of marked roads, and a lot of chaos in the downtown streets of Belize. That is the reason why the events I went through happened

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Awesome story! I suppose I would have done the same thing, with no way to tell if it was the correct starting point or not. Don't want to discuss too many details of the log (s). :(

 

Fortunately, me living 5 miles from Canada, it's not too difficult to remedy that burning desire to become an International Cacher in my neck of the woods. And as a bonus, it's always cold there. :huh:

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That sounds like some scary jungle bushwacking. Not sure if I'd have stuck with it, being in a foreign place and all... I bet you are a more confident person now after having gone through all that. At least it didn't involve getting arrested or anything. That would have made the story more exciting though.

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That sounds like some scary jungle bushwacking. Not sure if I'd have stuck with it, being in a foreign place and all... I bet you are a more confident person now after having gone through all that. At least it didn't involve getting arrested or anything. That would have made the story more exciting though.

 

When I saw the guards at the bottom of the hill, I thought that was going to be the part of the story where we got arrested....but thankfully they were nice. Had no idea what we were doing, but still nice.

 

Yeah, for every serious adventure like that, it always gives you a new aspect of geocaching that you can use when you face a simular challenge down the road. The fact that we were in a foreign country and had no idea of our surroundings, aided in some of the details for the story. I would have been better off asking someone in the states then asking someone in Belize where the resort was. Chances are in the states, my GPS would have had the resort already in the unit via the points of intrest. In Belize, I could only rely on the basemap...and it only had one road. The cache was 2 miles off of that road so I was forced to gamble as to which resort to go to.

 

If you have already read the story, then what I just said will make since.

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That was an interesting adventure. The ones where things don't go as planned can be more fun and memorable than the ones that do.

 

Disclaimer: This kind of stuff would not have happened in America. Only due to the lack of marked roads, and a lot of chaos in the downtown streets of Belize. That is the reason why the events I went through happened

 

I don't know. That sounds kind of like driving in Boston to me. <_<

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Disclaimer: This kind of stuff would not have happened in America. Only due to the lack of marked roads, and a lot of chaos in the downtown streets of Belize. That is the reason why the events I went through happened

 

I don't know. That sounds kind of like driving in Boston to me. <_<

 

As soon as you take a drive on the 2 mile long driveway to the correct resort, you will quickly disagree with what you just said. <_< Let's just say that going on that road is not recommended for anyone who has just finished a hearty meal. You will go through a world-record digesting time with as many bumps and ruts and holes that you have to drive over in Belize.

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Ah, the joys of Belize.

 

Got to love that Southern Highway. It is the main north/south road in Belize and it is a mess.

 

Road signs are a joke in BZ. They just don't exist.

 

Nate- the most danger you were in was probably from a doctor fly or bottle fly. One of them, I'm not sure which, is supposed to inject it's larve into you when it bites. In a few days the little flies crawl right out from under your skin!

 

And don't ever get into a car crash in BZ. Outside of Belize City ambulances just don't exist. You just pray that the next car down the road will take you to a hospital if you survive that long.

 

Other than that, it's a great third world country. Virtually everyone speaks English and their dollar if fixed to the US dollar. Very relaxed on drugs and they have an English based system of justice. And you get to see the BDF Harrier Jets at the International Airport when you fly in or out.

 

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Deane

AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

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Disclaimer: This kind of stuff would not have happened in America. Only due to the lack of marked roads, and a lot of chaos in the downtown streets of Belize. That is the reason why the events I went through happened

 

I don't know. That sounds kind of like driving in Boston to me. <_<

 

As soon as you take a drive on the 2 mile long driveway to the correct resort, you will quickly disagree with what you just said. <_< Let's just say that going on that road is not recommended for anyone who has just finished a hearty meal. You will go through a world-record digesting time with as many bumps and ruts and holes that you have to drive over in Belize.

 

Well, I primarily meant because of the crazy traffic and lack of street signs. Then again, with the potholes...

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Ah, the joys of Belize.

 

Got to love that Southern Highway. It is the main north/south road in Belize and it is a mess.

 

Road signs are a joke in BZ. They just don't exist.

 

Nate- the most danger you were in was probably from a doctor fly or bottle fly. One of them, I'm not sure which, is supposed to inject it's larve into you when it bites. In a few days the little flies crawl right out from under your skin!

 

And don't ever get into a car crash in BZ. Outside of Belize City ambulances just don't exist. You just pray that the next car down the road will take you to a hospital if you survive that long.

 

Other than that, it's a great third world country. Virtually everyone speaks English and their dollar if fixed to the US dollar. Very relaxed on drugs and they have an English based system of justice. And you get to see the BDF Harrier Jets at the International Airport when you fly in or out.

 

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Deane

AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

 

Sounds like you have been there before. I'll have to look at my GPS, but I think that main road is the Western Hwy.

 

I did get the lecture on those insects that have babys in your arm. We were loaded with bug spray before we went. I know of a group that went before us who had a few victums to the dreaded fly...(thank God we don't have those in America)

 

Everything else you said is the truth. People drive like MANIACS! And everything you described was accurate to the "T" ...... Now all you gotta do is find the Sunset Traveler cache when you go next.

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Travel is a great educator.

 

In my experiences:

 

- The very worst city traffic in the "first" world is in London. The roads are hideously chaotic which means that the traffic is insane. In the "rich" part of the world, England has the poorest roads. Due, I think, to high traffic loads. Antwerp also has a lot of poor city roads and Belgium drivers tend to tailgate and drive in excess of the posted speed limits far more than their neighbors in the Netherlands and Germany.

 

- The very best traffic and roads are in Norway and the NW of the US. Norway's is better, though.

 

- The worst roads in the first world are in Central Europe. Poland is second to Slovakia for more-patched-than-paved roads and Slovakia's secondary roads, of which most of them are, often don't have much in the way of paint on them which is lots of fun at night because they don't think much of street/highway lights either.

 

- The worst drivers in the "first" world are also Central European. Too fast and inconsiderate and too often in vehicles with just one or no airbags. Poland has one of the highest (if not the highest) road death rates in Europe.

 

I've driven a quite a lot in the US and Poland. I've driven a decent amount in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Scotland and Norway. I've driven a bit or through France, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden.

 

Oh and no where else is like the place you came. That's why you travel. Sometimes the differences are fun, sometimes not, but if it wasn't for those differences everywhere would be the same and that would be boring.

 

One little extra note for those heading into the areas that your maps don't currently cover aka "there be dragons here...": cgpsmapper.com. Always free, often the coverage you're looking for and you get to add "amature cartographer" to your list of part-time hobbies. There are, if you're wondering, some simple base maps at cgpsmapper.com of Belize.

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I did get the lecture on those insects that have babys in your arm. We were loaded with bug spray before we went. I know of a group that went before us who had a few victums to the dreaded fly...(thank God we don't have those in America)

 

You've gotta love the human bot fly. I've seen video of some larvae being removed from a victim. It doesn't seem like too much fun. I don't think they spread disease though, so they have that going for them over ticks and mosquitos.

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Hi Nate,

Did you go to Ian's Jungle Camp? Or another resort? We went to Ian's and had a great time. A doctor there got dehydrated and VERY sick, he should have known better.

 

I also found a live Fer De Lance, before Ian explained what it was in his every-other-night "Ian's Jungle Speech".

Edited by chuckr30
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Hi Nate,

Did you go to Ian's Jungle Camp? Or another resort? We went to Ian's and had a great time. A doctor there got dehydrated and VERY sick, he should have known better.

 

I also found a live Fer De Lance, before Ian explained what it was in his every-other-night "Ian's Jungle Speech".

 

Answering this question now several months later! The name of the resort that this cache is located is called "Cha Creek"

 

They are some of the nicest people that you would ever want to meet.

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