La Ruta Maya

this past weekend i served on the support crew for Peace Corps Belize's one and only team of racers in the annual Ruta Maya River Challenge. the Ruta Maya is a four-day endurance test (of both physical stamina and sanity), which involves canoeing the 170 miles from San Ignacio, down the Belize River to Belize City. Todd, Marcel and Johnny took on the challenge this year, and we set off from my house on Friday morning with just an hour and a half to locate the canoe they'd borrowed from a Cayo resort, find a ride for the support crew and all our gear, and send the guys off down the river. with just minutes to spare before the starting gun, they were in their beast of a boat (which was not exactly built for speed) and Alli had worked her southern magic and secured us a ride with her friends from BATSUB (British Army Training Support Unit Belize, that is). we spent the next four days riding the less than smooth side roads of Belize with the boys of her majesty's armed forces, stopping along the way to throw water and snickers bars eainto the canoe from perches on the banks of the river. my stats are probably a tad less than accurate, but our boys paddled somewhere around 8, 10, 6 and 4 hours each day from friday through monday. approximately 95 canoes entered the race, 70ish completed it, and team Peace Corps came in somewhere around 60th. the weekend was a haze of bumpy roads, river banks, tent villages, rain, mud, snack food, waiting crowds, army green, sore muscles, and arguments about who speaks real english.



waiting for the starting gun in San Ignacio



and they're off!



supaat kroo members Nicole and Ashli



Todd, Marcel & Johnny take on the Ruta Maya - day 1



Phil tosses water to one of the BATSUB boats at a checkpoint on day 1, near Spanish Lookout



you find ways to amuse yourself while waiting for the boats to arrive at camp - Banana Bank, day 1



the boys inhale dinner after 10 hours paddling - Bermudian Landing, day 2



jockeying for prime start position, day 3



Shirley mops out the tent after a particularly soggy night in Burrell Boom



spectators cheering at the finish line in Belize City



the sight that greeted many paddlers as they stepped out of their canoes. yum.



in addition to hauling us around for four days and granting us free access to their endless supply of snickers and water on ice, the boys from BATSUB served as official timekeepers for the race at each of it's four stages. he may be a bit hard to find, but that's Witz under the pink umbrella, recording finish times in Belize City.



done and done.