TINY BELIZE BEATS PANTS OFF TEXANS

* It is a long way, 260 miles.
Hmmmnn! What can I say? It's all adventure and fun.
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Team Belize wins Texas Water Safari ( Again!!!! )

The canoe team from the tiny Central American country of Belize beat the 260 mile canoe race, Texas Water Safari in June, 2009. Texans talk big and this is billed as the toughest canoe race in the world. The Belize team is made up of contenders for the 200 mile winding Belize River, Ruta Maya Challenge down in Belize. The three man canoe team came from Esperanza, a village about 2 miles from my house, Eastward on the main Western/Eastern highway. ( We only have two paved highways, East West and North South. ) Composed of two Texans as well to make up the complement for the Texas Safari, to make up the team and the rest were Belizeans. The Ruta Maya race in Belize is an ordeal every March, of a 3 day race, with overnight stops, that requires canoes to average no less than 14 miles an hour to get into the top ten places. Somebody from Texas invited them up one year and since then they are more or less undisputed champions. Showing that David can still beat Goliath.
There were a 100 canoes in the race, with entries from as far away as Belize ( the favorite to win and they did! ) and even DUBAI on the Persian Gulf. Twelve other states of the USA competed. The river water was the lowest recorded. Winning time was less than 34 hours. Participants ranged from teenagers to a 71 year old.