Things that...

Well, lack of time, inspiration and a good connection to Internet (that limits my activity to only write, without many pictures, sorry) means that today I am going to present you a couple of lists about things I have encountered in my trips, many of the here in Belize.

1) THINGS THAT I HAVE FOUND IN MY ROOM IN BELIZE:
- Geckos
- Mosquitos
- Bootless flies
- Horseflies
- Spiders
- Sandflies
- Rats
- Ants
- Tarantulas (due to the size and hairiness, I consider them another category)
- Jesus lizards (also known as basilisks)
- Small lizards
- Snakes
- Pigeons
- Ants
- Scorpions
- Frogs
- A Swedish guy

2) THINGS THAT HAVE TRIED TO FEED ON/PARASITE/BITE (often successfully) ME DURING THE LAST TWO YEARS:
- The Svalbard super-mosquitos, capable of bitting you through two layers of clothes
- The Arctic terns
- The Norwegian crows
- Normal mosquitos (obviously)
- The evil and omnipresent malagasy leeches
- The evil malagasy parasitic fleas, also omnipresent
- Normal fleas
- Wasps
- Bees
- Spiders
- Ants
- Caterpillars
- Horse flies
- Doctor flies
- Sand flies
- Bootless flies
- Fly flies
- Unidentified flies
- Ticks
- Jellyfishes

3) THINGS THAT HAVE ATTACKED ME DURING THE LAST TWO YEARS:
- Crows
- Gulls
- Seals
- Terns
- Dogs
- Baboons
- Pied mantises
- Bees
- Wasps
- Vervet monkeys
- Trigerfishes
- A japanese girl

Sunrise in Crooked Tree, Belize.

PG town

Welcome to PG! This is the town Ya'axché is based in. The full name in Punta Gorda, but everybody in Belize says PG... I forget forget to write the full name for foreigners of "framily" (neologism for friends and family, and also for friends that are so close to you that become your family) at home.
Finally, after a month and a half living in the field station, I am going to move in to PG in the beginning of March, with Erik, the Swedish boy. We even have found a cool apartment there!
Well, coming back to facts. PG is a small town in the South of the country, in the Caribbean shore, and traditionally has been just a passing point for people coming in and out from or towards Guatemala and Honduras. Only 5000 inhabitants, among them a pretty significant expat community, due to the presence of many local and international organizations: Ya'axché, TIDE, SATIM, Plenty International, Peace Corps, Moho Cacao, the japanese Peace Corps (I still ignore the correct name)... most of them arrived in town during the last two decades.
Well, there is not much left I can say. At least till I move here and start getting to know the place more in detail. So I leave you with some pics f this charming place!

Welcome to PG town.

One of the main streets.

Clock tower, in main square.

Chocolate factory.

Asha's kitchen, one of the best restaurants in town, also
known for the drum concerts at nights.

Belizean house.

The bus stop.

Bladen Natural Reserve

Cheers from Bladen! (Picture: Erik Hammar)

Well, as something different, last week me and one of my colleagues (a just arrived swedish boy called Erik Hammar) went to the Bladen Natural Reserve to join for a couple of days the rangers in their activities. Ah! It made me remember of the good all times in Madagascar: hiking the savannah getting in the mud to our ankles, crazy jungle with mysterious footprints in the ground, dinners made of rice around a fire, swims in crystalline rivers, river crossing in the straightforward style... not to mention the numerous jungle parasites! This time, a mountain of ticks.

Just as a little background, Bladen is supposed to be the most pristine forest in a country full of pristine forests, and it enjoys the highest protection level in Belize: natural reserve, which means that no activity is allowed and nobody can enter there without a special permit. The reason we were here is that Ya'axché co-manages this protected area with the forest department of Belice, and our rangers patrol the area. We were there to give them a hand (even though I think we gave them a little extra work).

Welcome to Bladen.

The savannah, and the forest in the distant mountains.

Erik crossing the rivers the malagasy way. Well, this time, the belizean way.

Some tunes from Kenya

Well... this is something I should have done months ago, but as I have no inspiration for nothing better so far, I am going to give you a small sample of popular kenyan music. This two songs were real hits when I was there and, even if the clips are not my style, I must recognize I love both tunes (maybe just because of the delicious kenyan flavour...). I hope you'll enjoy them!

Flavour Nabania - Sawa sawa lé

Jaguar - Kigeugeu