SO HERE HANK'S EMAIL.. IHAVE NO IDEA WHY IT DIDN'T POST ON THE LAST TRY. I'M NEW ATY THIS ND JUST TRYING TO KEEP THINGS GOING WHILE HANK IS GONE....

FROM BELIZE....

Okay, how do I put this. Let's just say that when the first thing you do when you land in a Third World nation is to visit its only prison and deal with customs agents there, it makes your initial impression pretty powerful.

So, after going through customs I stepped out into the world. A random, very sketchy looking guy asked me "are you Hank". This was Kenny, my chauffeur. He and a strange little white guy named Carl led me to a field behind what appeared to be a derelict hotel where a couple of abandoned pickup truck sat. Over the course of the next little while it dawned on me that one of those abandoned vehicles was to be my limo.

We were met there by Tim Tam (so help me, that's his name), the head of the missionary organization and by a middle aged American ex-pat named Judy, who turned out to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader in another life--believe me, you'd never guess that in a million years. Then the discussion ensued in the parking lot, for about an hour and it was ultimately was determined that Tim would take me to the hotel while Carl and Kenny took the other rolling junker somewhere else. Tim and I spent an hour getting gas at a full service gas station (where we were the only customers the entire time--literally nothing happens fast in this country).

Then we went into the boonies to the prison--the home of 1,347 prisoners (men, women and children)--(only 40 of whom are women--I'm not sure how many are kids). This is the only prison in the country. Let's just say that I think I could engineer an escape for all 1,347 inmates and that nobody would notice for a while. We were there for a couple of hours hanging with one of the top prison officials and waited for a customs guy to show up so they could break the seal on a container of medical and school supplies that had been donated to the mission. Why they were being stored at the prison was never quite clear to me.

Then it was off to downtown Belize City to pick up Carl and Kenny. Okay then we finally ended up at the hotel, I ended up buying the guys dinner at the hotel restaurant (not cheap, not expensive, but also not good). At that point (probably close to midnight your time), I literally fell on the bed and crashed into a deep sleep.

Woke up this morning too late to scuba. Tried chartering a half day of fishing and they wanted $300 US for it, so, POOL DAY!