19th FEBRUARY - TREKFORCE

Friendly Taxi-Mike - the driver who took us out to Black Rock a week or so ago, and picked oranges for us on the way  - drove us over to Santa Elena today to the Trekforce field-base.  After the last few days of thinking that everybody we met looked like a criminal or an undercover agent, it was good to see an ordinary, down-to-earth, friendly face. Good, too, to see people cooling themselves in the Macal River, kids splashing about, fishing, swimming, washing clothes. 

We drove down over the wooden Bradley Bridge, then up the other side, cutting through the streets of Santa Elena to the walled football pitch at the end of which stood the Trekforce fieldbase....

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19th FEBRUARY - MOTHER & SON

(IN OTHER WORDS, THINGS THAT IRRITATE ME ABOUT IDRIS, AND THINGS THAT IRRITATE HIM ABOUT ME) 

Idris finds the following things irritating about me:

1] He says I’m slow. Eating.  Drinking.  Getting packed and going out. 2] I make lists all the time (as indeed I'm doing now) and he says this only complicating things. 3] I want everything to be organized and I’m not prepared to let things just happen. 4] Idris accuses me of not listening, and says he has to keep repeating things.  5] I speak too quietly.  6] Idris says I wobble (both when I’m walking and when I’m cycling) and he never knows what I’ll head for next.

I find the following things irritating about Idris:

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18th FEBRUARY - CAYO CHARMS US

Last night, non-stop Punta rock kept me awake, along with the gurgling of our toilet and the unsettling knowledge that the tourist cabana we’d booked into had no lock on the door.   I awoke with a headache, but my day in Cayo – the local name for San Ignacio - has restored my sense of calm.  I really like this town.  With its almond trees and brightly-coloured fountains [which don’t work] it’s full of charm.  In particular, I’m struck by how warm people are, approaching us with friendliness....

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