It must be some nefarious mixture of sand, salt water, and humidity that makes getting anything done take twice the time. It’s like trying to run in water. One has to give truly Herculean effort which probably explains all the guys lounging on porches around town. We struggled, pushed, pulled, harangued ourselves, and finally our effort paid off and we had managed to roll out of bed.

 

Even the local dogs appeared to be too tired to make it from one side of the street to the other side and instead stopped to rest in the middle – too tired even to woof at the chickens that scurried by. Chickens, those mysterious beasts, are the exception. Nothing really deters chickens from their incessant busyness. Even when you cut their heads off, they still run in circles with the same gusto and roosters crow without the need of the sun. They look well fed (if I were a chicken, I’d try to avoid looking well fed but apparently chickens haven’t read Hansel and Gretel). So why do they need to constantly peck for bugs? For those few readers who have not picked up on what is so obvious to me: they’re not really looking for bugs at all but instead are using a vast underground communications network based on a foul version of morse code.

 

Anyway, all that to say, convincing ourselves to trek through the jungle was hard. But we made it up to Ben’s Bluff eventually. Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary was a pretty easy drive from Hopkins. I’d heard people on Trip Advisor ask how far a walk it was from the Mayan Ladies craft shop (basically the entrance, where one can purchase $5 tickets) and after driving it, I’d say too far to walk if you want to have fun hiking once you get there. It was about 6 miles over a dirt road cut through jungle. 

 

I wasn’t sure the difference between “forest” and “jungle” since the definition of jungle includes “forest” but after being in a jungle, I think it has to do with how well your deodorant works. In a jungle, it doesn’t work. I’m confident that old timey explorers would’ve used that metric – had they had deodorant – instead of saying that jungles tended to be in the Tropics, which in my view, is much less scientific and pragmatic. Deodorant is basically the litmus test for jungles. Besides, how in the world would I even know I’m in the tropics when I’m surrounded by thick vegetation and can’t see five feet in front of me? Obviously, because my deodorant isn’t working. Also, the difference between a forest and a jungle probably also has to do with whether you’re being hunted by a bear or by a jaguar.