Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza Hotel Belize City

... on either side of a sewage befouled creek. I made my way to the Marine Terminal for the busride to Flores, Guatemala and had an hour and a half to kill. What a perfect amount of time to set off and see what delights Belize City holds. A guidebook I had looked at said it was best to just use Belize as a transit point to elsewhere since it is just a ramshackle crimepit. I take that back, it's safe during the day in most parts downtown ...

... a rather stuffy parent before finally learning enough to leave their protection. Mostly. There's still a lot of British influence in Belize (they call football "football", not "soccer", as they have no truck with that other game those oiks in the North play, and would still drive on the left were it not for the inconvenience it would have caused to drivers on the Pan-American Highway, prompting them to switch... only to be excluded ...

... play, and even though they've got a good grip on it all now, it still seems very lax (perhaps only because I'm comparing it the strict US laws). The police only have checkpoints on the major highways (1 lane each direction) in which they don't regulate speed or anything, they just check that you have an ID and insurance. The highways feature no painted lines or lights as well. <br><br>I thoroughly enjoyed a certain type of tree called the mangrove. In Belize they call them the ...

... to the Cayes (pronounced Keys). The first Cayes we visit are part of the Manatee Preserve and as we slow to a hover over Swallow Caye the Manatees can be seen floating and feeding in the waters below. A cow and calf, groups grazing together or solitary swimmers moving along the sea bed to greener pastures. They are oblivious to us and we leave them to their dinner. On several occasions we have seen dolphins in the ...

... I don't want to say anything degrading so I don't know how to say this but everywhere we drove, all the buildings looked very ghetto, trash, peeling paint, half boarded up windows, things like that. Which was such a surprise to me because I have friends who have gone to Belize and their pictures looked nothing like this. But we stuck ...

... the time spent there. Some jobs do not require Spanish language skills, but, trust me, it's an easy language to learn and knowing the basics can help out tremendously. There are language schools all over the place; for a 1:30 hour class, five days a week ( I find 2 hour classes to be a bit too much) expect to pay from $140 to $180 (per week). I was raised with the impression that everything south of the border is dangerous for Americans ...

... is the best thing in the world and a co-worker from Costa Rica quickly faxed over the documents. I was good to go. I was escorted to the run-away by the pilot who wasn´t joking when he asked if I had ever been on a charter flight, the 12 seat jump plane was empty just me and the pilot. It was really awesome. I can not even begin to describe the color of this water!! So beautiful my favorite color so bright turquoise in all ...

... care, God bless, and keep your lights shining. As far as the airport goes when we come home, it would be easier if you just wanted to meet us back at church. That way, I don't have to guess who will be departing from the airport and who will be departing from church. Jim and Becky are going to be picking us up and then everyone could meet at one place.

... before: that it was accepted and good practice to tip 10%, and that the locals wouldn't respect you if you tipped. After visiting San Ignacio, I think that the latter is true there. Selmo seemed a bit surprised with the tip and grateful, but he didn't seem quite as happy with us after that. We avoided tipping for the most part after that. Unlike other resorts in the area, Crystal Paradise doesn't charge a 10% service fee and they did a great job with ...