East to Hopkins

A couple of days at Lower Dover were enough, and were definitely enough for a friend we made at the place. Nayer was traveling alone, and was looking for a ride east. Without a fixed destination, Hopkins sounded O.K. to her, and she was cool enough to have along. 

We drove east along the Hummingbird Highway towards the coast. The road was in better shape than our rental, so all went well. Mostly we were driving through orange orchards, but there were a few things to see along the way. First we stopped at Hermann's Cave, which involved a short hike through the jungle to a significant hole in the world.

We took an unguided walk into the abyss, although you will have to take my word for the size and scope, as caves dozens of metres high and hundreds of metres long do not generally photograph well. 

As I warned before, my interface sucks, even more than my photography skills, so you may be getting shrunk, deleted, or blank photos, or most irritating of late, photos with the right 1/4 clipped off. I am bad at taking photos, but not so bad that the subject is cut off mid-face! click the photo to view in all their supposed majesty.

After the cave, we took a side hike to a lookout tower nearby. It had a nice view over the surrounding citrus orchards, although it was stinking hot and humid, and Tig was clearly feeling the Panty Rippers from the night before:

not that you can blame her.. 

So to cool off, we went for a dip in the Great Blue Hole. the one in the National Park,not the one that is a Unesco World Heritage Site. You see, when it comes to Great Blue Holes, Belize has an embarrassment of riches. Some countries have none, Canada's only one is completely occupied by the money of the Maple Leafs owners. Belize, with a population little more than 300,000 spread over and area 2/3rd that of Vancouver Island,  has no less than two distinct, and non-connected Great Blue Holes. 

This one is a collapsed limestone cave in the jungle, filed usually with iridescent blue water. on the day of our visit, there had been recent rains, o the Blue Hle was more distinctly Green, however it was cool and clear, and a very refreshing dip after the hike through the jungle in 90 degree heat and 100% humidity.

Seeking food along the Hummingbird Highway, we sought the best bakery in Belize, with Cinnimon Buns to die for. It was run by traditional Mennonites (of which there are several in Belize), so the sigh on the door when we arrived said "Jesus is the Reason for the Season", which is Mennonite for " bugger off, we're closed". Jesus having once again denied Tig happiness, we had to settle for the opposite: a well made burger at a faux-Swiss chalet with a heart-shaped floor plan called the House of Love.

Although it may not have been the most unusual architectural choice we saw on that road (and you have to zoom in to appreciate this):

...and so it went Down the Hummingbird Highway, so named for the widest vehicle that could safely pass two abreast down parts of it.

Until we got to Hopkins, which is a dusty one-road town of clap-board buildings, Chinese groceries, a few restaurants, and accommodations from $10/night hostels to $200/ night guest houses. But we will be here for a week, and we are on the Beach, so I will talk about that later...