Today marked my first entrepreneur scouting lunch. I met with a very knowledgeable local gentleman and after discussing his ingrained interest in the environment, conservation, and alleviating poverty in Belize, he gave me the names of half a dozen other contacts, either notable entrepreneurs themselves or one’s affiliated with the local social enterprise scene.  Coincidentally, the only other local in the place was a small eco-tourism business owner himself.  We exchanged information and chatted a while. He too wants to further conservation work in the Toledo District.

On a less pleasant note, I fell victim to a very painful, humorous, yet terrifying near death experience whilst eating.  I choked. The worst I ever have. On what I presume to have been a fish bone, though my soup was not supposed to contain fish…Within the first 5 minutes of our lunch I was pulling at my throat, struggling to breathe, crying a little, and trying to deal with the lodge in my throat without embarrassing myself silly.  Needless to say, both the cook and his wife emerged and the two, along with my table mate, talked me through swallowing dumplings whole and washing them down with fresh squeezed orange juice until once again I could breathe and swallow with ease.  Turned out to be quite a riveting start to my scouting career in Belize!