Iguana season

If you were to drive though Belize these days, you would notice people standing by the side of the road holding up Iguanas. These are not their pets. They are offering them to you to buy. Again, not to keep as a pet....but to have for lunch.

It is Iguana season in Belize and that means that the Iguanas are about to lay their eggs. These eggs are considered a kind of delicacy here. I tried a tiny piece of one once and thought that it tasted rather dry. A bit like the yolk of a chicken egg. So no...I'm not crazy about it (obviously, I'm also not too charmed about the whole idea of eating something that just came out of an Iguana)

But anyway, the locals love them & so everyone is on the look-out for pregnant Iguanas. I watched the children climb a tree the other day with an Iguana in it. From high up in the tree they shake the branches as hard as they can, whilst the other kids wait underneath for the Iguana to fall. It was rather comical to watch, but I was happy to see that the Iguana got away (with about 8 children on bare feet running after it into the jungle)

Apparently, you should only kill the Iguana once you're ready to eat the eggs. So those Iguanas that people hold up by the side of the road are alive too. They simply tie their back legs so they can't run off. One Iguana can hold about 20 to 30 eggs.

Anyway, I find it all a bit horrid. But there you go. We eat meat and eggs too, so I can't say too much. And it's all part of living in Central America.