CANOE JACKINGS ON MACAL RIVER An American couple from Washington State were the latest victims of "canoe jackings" on the Macal River near San Ignacio, according to U.S. media reports and confirmed by residents of Cayo.   Nancy and Dennis Stark from Kennewick, Wash., were stripped naked, robbed and beaten while on a canoe trip on the Macal February 1, according to a report in their hometown newspaper. 

Four English-speaking men, armed with guns and machetes, jumped out of the bush and grabbed their canoe and the canoe of another couple with them.  They forced both couples to take off their clothes, then robbed them of cash, jewelry, passports and traveler's checks. At one point, the Washington couple believed the men were going to kill them, they said.  Dennis Stark was struck on the back with the flat side of a machete.  According to the couple, they reported the crime to the police in Cayo and to the American Embassy.  They said the Embassy staff told them this was the fifth such incident to tourists on the Macal River since Christmas.   

A lodge owner in Cayo, who had earlier reported incidents on the river, including a similar incident in which two female tourists were made to strip and were robbed (but otherwise not molested), said that if a hotel or tourism operator allowed "this party go down the river without adequate warning or protection is irresponsible, if not negligent, in my opinion. They should lose their license." 

Most hotels in Cayo are now alerting their guests to the dangers, police have patrols on the river, and tourism operators are establishing a watch program to try to prevent future occurances.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com

Hotels and lodges along the Macal River now have ceased unguided tours of the lower reaches of the Macal until "safety and security" are reestablished. Tours of the upper Macal, which is considered "crimefree," continue.

--Lan Sluder

Is the river trip from Chaa Creek to San Ignacio considered upper or lower reaches of the Macal? We (wife & kids) have booked an unguided float from Chaa Creek to San Ignacio and now wonder if I need to reconsider??

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I've been in and out of the bush for the past two weeks. I was at Chaa Creek last week and heard about the robberies. CC and a few other lodges on the river suspended unguided trips downstream, but were putting guests into the river upstream. The victims reported the robberies to both Belize police and the US Embassy. The Belize police did not include the incidents in the crime wrap up they send to the press and thats why no one here knew about it. I sent this thread to Channel five two days ago, who ran the story last night. I'm a warden for the US Embassy and get all sorts of local and silly intl security warnings from them, but they never sent us wardens anything about these serious assaults, which doesn't surprise me, they fall short in many areas. I was in Placencia last weekend and an American visitor had taken a sailboat out at 4:30pm had not returned by 8:30pm. We had 4 boats out looking for him. I called the US Embassy and British forces. BF had a helicopter ready to go in 20 minutes. An hour later the US Embassy was still trying to figure out the phone number of the Placencia police dept..scary. The right people are now involved and confidant they'll make every effort to weed out the criminals. Whether they are found before they move to another area is another thing. Crime, unfortunately, is a fact of life. You can avoid hot spots but can not shield yourself from random events here or elsewhere. The best measure is always to inform people of potential dangers so they can be alert and not keep it under wraps. No reason to avoid the entire Cayo district or even the lodges along the river. Just stay off that area of the Macal river til this thing is resolved.
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what happened to the sailer in placencia? I will be there next week! I will also be in the Cayo district!

Is it safe to swim in the river at Chaa Creek (since they don't have a pool)? Since we'll be with our kids, I doubt we'll now do the unguided trip to San Ignacio (truly disappointed). Are the sunset canoe trips safe?

The authorities and people who live along the river are working hand in hand to apprehend the perpetrators. I'm sure that by the time you're in the area, this will have been resolved. At any rate, we'll let you know the situation. And theres plenty of water in other rivers. I just did a great kayak trip in deep jungle and saw big cat and tapir tracks all along the bank.