Being a protectorate of the British, Belize is host to many military personel. In the late 70's the Brits used to do their survival training on A.C. They also had a house that was rented by the Army, and contract with Balis, a San Pedrano fisherman whose sailboat and expertise was at their disposal. Tony, a Senior Master Sergent was permanatly assigned to tend the house while the troops where out on their activities.

Tony was a kind gentelman who always had some candy for the children whenever they would come around begging for a treat.
After the children would disappear with their sweets, Tony would often split a chocolate bar with me and tell me how fortunate he felt getting an assignment like this. He was invited to dinner often in our house, where he would tell stories of his childhood and life in England.

On many occasions, Balis would invite me on trips out to differant spots along the reef and up the coastline to drop off the troops for their survival training. I would always give them a bad time when they come back with really bad sun-burns. I told them they where going to get court-martialed for damaging government property.

We always had a good time and I learned alot from Balis about the area, sailing, spearfishing, etc. He showed me where all the good spots were and about the habits of the marine life.

Well, there was that one occasion where the Brits ran his boat up onto the reef, but thats another story.....

Last edited by Alan Bodolay; 01/21/07 05:26 PM.