Next we moved on to the beautiful waterfall camp for advanced training. We played with ropes in the river (ahem, learnt about river crossing), and learnt about shelter and trap building. Our instructor in much of this was the goldmine of all jungle information, Marcos, who used to train the SAS. He showed us the best way to eat termites, and how to eat the heart of the cohune palm, amongst other handy tips.
During all of this we were kept on our toes by a game of jungle cluedo, which Frenchie won with an impressive 4 assassinations. On the final night before we left Elijio Panti we went on a night walk. This basically consisted of a conga line led by (and terrorized by) Colin wending its way through the pitch black jungle with no head torches on.
Our first R+R back at field base began in rather messy fashion with a night out in San Ignacio. The cheap drinks got the better of some! We visited the Belize zoo, which is a strange mix of big cats in small cages and monkeys roaming free throughout. It was on this night that we had a roast dinner, although if those Yorkshire puddings were served anywhere in the UK the chef would probably be shot. Our final day of relaxing was spent by the swimming pool of a nearby resort, where Dick set up a strategically placed sun-lounger and spent most of the afternoon pretending to read amongst a group of American girls who were staying at the hotel.
