Belize 1990
In the first three months of 1990, I was the Dental Officer attached to the Field Surgical Team at Airport Camp Belize.
The OC UK Forces Belize got fed up with the FST hanging round the swimming pool at APC ogling the wives, and “suggested” that we went out into the surrounding areas to provide what medical care we could. In my case this meant extracting teeth in jungle clearings, and in the surgeon’s case this meant giving aspirin to people with terminal cancer as there were no other options in a country with a very rudimentary health system
As Dental Officer I was “encouraged “to use my alleged anaesthetic skills while the surgeons used their surgical skills to treat the common problems like inguinal hernias and the like at the main hospital at Belmopan (The only hospital I have ever been to with no doctors except those provided by the Army)
I remember being involved in a case at the end of an operating list when a local turned up saying that he had been having problems with a neighbour who had stuffed a candle up his rectum (allegedly!!) The candle ended up pinned to the wall in the Hospital mess at APC!!
As part of being told to leave the swimming pool and go forth and do good medically I spent a lot of time in the left hand seat of a Puma adjacent to a Sqn Ldr whose name I have forgotten.. We went to many places, but the Sqn Ldr used to ignore the military net and use a CB radio to announce his presence to various hotels in the middle of the jungle where he would land for lunch.
20 years on and I an planning to return to Belize with my wife, and would like to revisit the places I visited as a young Officer.
Anyone have an idea where would be a hotel with a group of thatched huts with an HLS behind in the middle of Belize, frequented by a Sqn Ldr with a penchant for cheap lunch??
Hugh