(Daniel)  With our bags packed, and ready to leave we met Rabbit and Selvin this morning.  The plan had been to collect the fish from them at the bus terminal, but when we walked across the bridge and into town the others had already left, taking with them all of my fish.  I was consoled by the fact that it will feed their families!  But secretly mortified that after all the work I had done catching those fish, I wasn’t going to eat even one.  It also occurred to me that this was against my principal of spearing fish to eat them myself.

There was nothing we could do, and of course I wasn’t upset with any of the boys.  Rabbit and Selvin got on the next bus, which was driven by one of our friends from Sardineha!

Nick and I waved goodbye, then returned to the vehicle, leaving town immediately for our Jungle excursion to Cayo Province in the South of Belize.   We drove down through the country entering the jungle via a track in Georgetown. 

This area borders Guatemala and is therefore under the protection of the British Army.  It wasn’t long before we began to see some of the Lone Wolfs relatives in the Military.  Some of the Soldiers didn’t get time to react as we passed them, but most recognized the Wolf and flashed or waved.  The tracks were rough in places, but still allowed for fast progress.  We had a long way to go to reach Carocol and get back again by tomorrow evening.

Once we had visited the famous 1000meter falls, we turned off the track onto a rough unused path marked on the map.  We followed the way high up into the mountains, changing paths several times, but still seeming to go in the right direction.

Soon we were following the ridges of the skyline path, I only wish that we could have taken some pictures of the Wolf on the tracks that we could see from our vantage points across the forest.

During a tottering gully crossing, the spring popped out again during dislocation.  I was forced to stop and put it back before continuing.

Eventually we returned to a larger track, leading into a military base.  Pasty white British soldiers played football a short way from a group of tents.  On closer inspection I realised that the tents were infact globemaster trailers!  Exactly the same model as our own trailer.  I couldn’t believe it, and went to drive over.  A guard stopped me, asking where I was going.  He explained that the area was controlled for security reasons and I could only drive through in the pre-arranged convoys at 9am and 2pm!

I assured the guard that we would not try today to cross to Carocol.  He allowed me through the entrance, we drove over to the camp, a soldier walked over to meet us.  He was with some kind training unit assigned to the Belize forces.  We discussed the Globemaster, and it various weak points.  Both of us agreed on the excellent quality of the tent however, the poor chap had been living in his for three months!

Afterwards we drove out of the compound.  In a moment of madness I let my speed get up as we drove away from the guard.  I heard a snap, and knew immediately what it was.  The bolts had gone on the weak retaining ring that we had fitted in Sardineha.  We drove out of sight, where I stopped to check the damage.

Two bolts had gone, meaning that the shocks still had some support.  Nick and I scouted around, finding an abandoned track leading into the forest.  At a clearing we stopped and made camp.  I used jubilee slips to secure the shock mount back in place. While Nick went to check our proximity to the road.

I lit an alcohol burner and set out a mat to eat dinner.  then boiled water to make noodles with added mackerel.  We had some beers which we shared while we listened to the jungle noises and discussed our adventures over the past few weeks.

At 6.30 we switched on the radio to check the all important weather report.  I listened as the reader described several tropical depressions tracking off the coast.  We weren’t  in any immediate danger, but in the next 12 hours everything could change!

It was enough to sleep soundly, so after dinner Nick and I packed away the camp locking the vehicle before climbing into the rooftent to sleep.

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