Belize
Trip Start
Jan 12, 2007
1
12
29
Trip End
Nov 19, 2007
San Ignacio,
Belize
Friday, June 22, 2007
We crossed into Belize on June 11 and the border was quiet and relatively uneventful, although I`m still not sure why Ades said "I`m unemployed" in response to the predictable question about what she did. We`re also not sure why the customs officer told us that we couldn't take our Mexican beer into Belize but then didn't confiscate it. Lastly, weīre not sure why, when he was doing the paperwork for the van, he warned us that "Belize is small country" and asked us how he could get in contact with us during our stay (we offered up our email addresses but he never followed up).
Neither of us knew much about Belize until last week but we now know that: it is small, about the size of Massachusetts; it is sparsely populated - only about 250,000 people; it is the only English-speaking country in Central America and; it did not achieve its independence from England until1 1981 and remains a member of the Commonwealth.
The English influence was immediately obvious: the highway (really an unlined country-road) was in good condition and free of litter, many of the houses (often not much more than shacks built on stilts) were surrounded by well-kept fences and recently mowed lawns, the signs were in English, we had a choice of several English language radio stations to choose from, etc.
01. Front Street, Caye Caulker
etc. All in all, it was stimulating and a refreshing change from Mexico - which in many places is overrun with litter, construction debris and half-built, abandoned buildings - to get into Belize, while at the same time being very comforting to speak the same language as the locals again. From the border it took only about 90 minutes to reach the capital and largest city, Belize City (pop. 70,000). The guide books say that there is not much to see in Belize City and that it can get sketchy at night (this seems to be true as we heard about a murder each day we were there) so we passed through it, left the van at a marina and then caught the last water taxi of the day to Caye Caulker, one of the hundreds of islands that dot the Belizean coast.
Caye Caulker, about 1 hour from Belize City, is small (maybe the size of the "Greater Edgemont Village" area), the roads are sand and everyone uses golf carts or bikes to get around. Belize is known as an expensive Central American country so we were happy to find a decent hotel with 2 fans, a bathroom, a TV, and a balcony with a slightly obscured water view for only $25 per night. We ended up staying 4 nights, just long enough to welcome in the start of lobster season on June 15.
From the marina outside Belize City, we then headed due west to the slightly cooler "hill" region and the town of San Ignacio, which is only about 25 kms from the Guatemala border. En route, we spent 1 night at the Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, which was just down the road from the Belize Zoo (see below) and where we ran into a German couple, about our age, who are traveling by van and who we met briefly 3 months earlier on the Baja.
02. Dockside, Caye Caulker
They had a sobering story to tell in that they had been rammed by a semi while on the Yucatan, resulting in their van being totaled, their 2 dogs from home being killed and her breaking her collarbone, among other injuries. They then had to fight their way through a morass of police corruption, health care confusion, insurance problems, etc. Our fingers remain firmly crossed.The campsites/eco-lodges in San Igancio area were attractive and cheap and we stayed for 5 nights there. San Igancio`s main appeal is that it is a departure place for tours to various Mayan sites in the surrounding area, though there was also a small Mayan site -the Xunatunich ruins - that was just about 10 minutes from one of our campsites and only accessible by a single-car, hand-winched ferry. We also spent our time in San Ignacio finishing our due diligence on the wisdom of taking a vehicle into Guatemala, our next destination.
Overall, Belize had a vibe that really worked for us and which can be roughly summed as: a multi-cultural populace (blacks, whites, Asians, indigenous, etc.) that, generally speaking, have a strong appreciation of/respect for their natural environment, an engaging but not pushy attitude towards tourists, heavenly Caribbean waters, and some amazing Mayan sites inland.
Highlights of Belize:
- A budget-blowing, all-day sailing and snorkeling trip while on Caye Caulker. Reef sharks, the rare manatee, stingrays, barracudas, moray eels, you name it, they were all there for the viewing, followed by freshly-caught conch ceviche, jugs of rum punch and reggae music on the slow sail back to the island.
- Franīs Grill, Caye Caulker.
03. Bicycle, Caye Caulker
Really just an outdoor barbecue and a couple of picnic tables on the side of the main road where, for $10, Fran grilled the fresh seafood of your choosing, and served it up with healthy portion's of baked potatoes and garlic bread, coconut rice and veggies, cheese-cake and rum punch. - Before-bed TV in Caye Caulker: The premier of Top Chef, Season 3. Man, that show is addictive. And it turns out that it was Season 2 we watched while stuck in Newport, Ore, not Season 1.
- The Belize Zoo: The zoos we saw in Mexico made us want to cry but this one was run by a strong environmentalist and could give the Vancouver Game Farm a run for its money. It really felt like we were taking a walk through the jungle, albeit with electric fences everywhere. Most impressive by far were the 2 jaguars, one spotted and the other pure black.
- The Aktun Tunichil Muknal cave near San Ignacio: this was another budget-blowing day trip that was probably the most exhilarating, Indiana Jones-meets-the Discovery Channel, 8 hours we have had on the trip. As part of tour we first drove about 90 minutes, half on dirt road, to the middle of nowhere. We then hiked for about 45 minutes, wading through a river 3 times, to get to the mouth of the cave. We then swam (often), hiked, and crawled, twisting and turning our way through the cave for about an hour so that we could reach the base of the "dry chamber", which involved further climbing up the side of the cave wall. In Mayan mythology, caves represented the underworld and a pathway to the gods and this dry chamber was an underworld like no other.
04. Ferry Dock, Caye Caulker
Interspersed among crazy rock formations and long, natural staircases were Mayan artifacts, skulls and skeletons (sacrifical victims) that have been calcified to the floor of the cave. We spent 2 hours in the dry chamber looking around and could have easily spent another 2 hours taking it all in. - Tony, a refrigerator repairman in Belize City who makes campsite calls. Ever since Mazatlan, the fridge in the van hasn`t worked on propane, meaning that it only works when we are stopped and are plugged into power, maening that it is not very convenient. This was less of a problem in central Mexico, as we were at the homestay and then stayed in hotels much of the time, but still a headache. Taking advantage of being able to talk to people in our native tongue, we located the services of Tony and in 3 hours and $25 later he had it working again (at least until we run out of propane in a few weeks time).
Lowlights:
- Bugs: the inside of the van was overrun with ants on our return from Caye Caulker, we have had flying beetles the size of small helicopters drop into our food, mosquito bites and sand flea bites are a common occurence, and once every 2 or 3 days, something flies through Adeīs open window (itīs always her side) and gets stuck to her shirt for a few frantic seconds. All in all it, along with a few recent tarantula and snake sightings, is taking its toll on one of the team members.
- Dark nights: not sure the rationale but Belize is an hour behind the Yucatan and so now the sun rises early - maybe 5:30 am - and sets early too - maybe 6:30 or 7.
Comments
it's like the amazing race!
...particularly that shot of you two posing in front of the ruins: work it! and those jaguar photos are STUNNING.
love the latest installments in your central american adventure chronicles. as usual, greg's writing is so funny it should not be read while drinking beverages, due to the high potential for laughter-related accidents.
i note that you both have now taken on the burnished glow of perma-travellers. i will not be surprised if you eventually return home, erect a yurt on galiano island (where greg establishes a booming macrame business and adrienne grows prize-winning veggies) and decide to spend the winters roaming in the van.
(that sounds rather good, actually.)
all is well here in the hot, sunny, party-mad city that is toronto in summer. am sending you an invitation to our wedding today, so you'll have a lucky red envelope waiting for you, even if you're not back for september 8. (you can toast us with a mojito from wherever you are instead!)
am hanging in until then--after the wedding mark and i are going to do a little camping of our own, taking two weeks in our old truck to camp our way back across the country. cannot wait!
drive safe, have fun, post soon and may your little fridge hold out!
love, bre