a memory

Belize has two blue hole attractions, surprisingly. I am aware that my upbringing conditioned me to think that it is appropriate to honor a compulsive need to identify the distinctions between two different places. But when its as clear cut as a blue hole in a water body, I recognize there are limitations in the variations one could put on identifying features for the purpose of nomenclature.

Regardless, on a day trip from Benque, I took a journey to the lesser known Blue Hole National Park, outside Melpoman, Belize. The park is in the bush about a two hour bus ride outside of Benque, which is a mile east of Guatemala. Listening to Beres Hammond, Richie Spice and Barrington Levy hold church through the blasting hypnotic reggae beats, I travelled by bus from my temporary host city.

Blue Hole National Park is adjacent to a national highway. I climbed off the second bus of the day and walked up the driveway to the welcome center. The hole, I was told, is roughly a two mile walk by trail. At this point the temperature was probably around 90 degrees. I had a bottle of water and my swim suit so I made for the trail.

Hiking in, the first thing that came to mind was the lack of malaria medication surging through my blood to ward of the attack from potential pathogens. I conceded that I will be able identify to my doctor the time and place in which I contracted malaria.

It was a beautiful and rigorous walk through fresh, vibrant rain forest. Musty and damp and full of life, the earth throbbed and the air dripped with moisture. Coming down the hill to the natural spring, you can feel the earth cooling around you. And off to the far edge of the watering hole is a bright translucent blue hole. A mysterious circular area belies the fact that its depth is unknown unless one is willing to explore its reaches into the earth firsthand. Its one of those things that I think were made with the understanding of how naturally elated conscious life can be while experiencing it.

The water was ice cold. I cooled down instantly and this luckily helped me to not consume all my water, which becomes a crucial detail as this story unfolds further.