As soon as we cross the border into Belize from Mexico, the differences between the two countries become apparent. The first thing we notice is the language: the official language of Belize is English, though many people also speak Creole (a form of Caribbean English which is almost incomprehensible to us), Spanish, their own indigenous tongues, or a combination of all of these. Belize is a tiny country with an incredibly diverse population. The 300,000 people who live here are made up of Mestizos, Creoles, Mayans, Garifunas, German Mennonites, East Indians, Chinese, Taiwanese, and North American ex-pats amongst others. This makes for a really interesting country and some really great food.
About two hours South of the Mexican border is Orange Walk, the country’s second biggest city, though it feels very much like a sleepy small town. We had lunch by the river and Phil got eyed up by the resident crocodile. The next day we took a river and jungle tour of the area to check out the local wildlife and visit the ruins of Lamanai. Alas, the weather was not kind to us and it rained torrentially for most of the day (hence our boat captain’s goggles). We also discovered a new and savage kind of mosquito which bites you through your clothes. Somehow you just have to admire their tenacity. That aside, we had a fun day and managed to spot many different animals (including meeting this spider monkey!) and beautiful birds, and the countryside was simply stunning. Despite its size, Belize has more species than Canada and the US put together, a pretty staggering fact.
On arriving in Belize City, Phil stated, “this definitely makes it into my top three shit cities of all time”. Not a particularly auspicious start, but he definitely had a point. We arrived on a Sunday: all of the businesses were closed, mean-looking stray dogs and hustlers patrolled the streets, and rubbish was piled high wherever you looked. Unfortunately this air of desolation didn’t improve when we arrived at the accommodation we had chosen. Mitch, an ex-pat Californian, opened the door to the Seaside Guesthouse with a drink in one hand and a far-away (or just plain stoned) look in his eye. He then proceeded to tell us all about his recently found passion for ancient tool making. In the derelict backyard was a foot high pile of stone flakes testifying to this unusual hobby. As he showed us to our dirty but expensive room his Alsation urinated on the floor, though he didn’t seem to notice.
After washing two weeks worth of stinking clothes by hand (after the guesthouse’s washing machine broke with all our stuff in it), we ventured gingerly out onto the streets to explore the area and find ourselves some dinner. We lasted less than fifteen minutes: just enough time to get take-away food and some alcohol. It’s not really a city to linger in. When we ran out of beers later on in the evening, Mitch lent us his dog to walk to the shop. It’s amazing how much safer we felt with a potentially vicious canine by our side…
The next day, after a dreadful night’s sleep (a combination of searing heat and humidity, cockroaches and Mitch’s drunken partying) we decided that maybe we needed to change guesthouses. However, all the places in our price range actually seemed to look worse. We cut our losses and took a day trip to Belize Zoo to cheer ourselves up – a very wise decision as it turned out. The Zoo is actually an animal sanctuary and education centre which only houses Belizean animals and birds which for some reason or other cannot be returned to the wild. We both fell in love with April and Indy the tapirs (Belize’s national animal). The Zoo also has a kind of rehab programme for delinquent jaguars (ie. those that kill farmer’s livestock and are therefore at risk of being shot or poisoned). Seeing these beautiful, elusive creatures up close and personal was just incredible.
When we returned to Belize City that afternoon we decided to give the place another go. With shops open and more people about it did feel a bit more hospitable. Things definitely got better when we discovered a great French café (hidden by the Radisson hotel in a tourist enclave). We drank delicious coffee and ate pastries in air-conditioned bliss. I picked up a local newspaper left on the side. The main headline was “Rage and Violence in Belize City”. I clocked the monthly murder rate stats and decided not to read on.
The next day we met Dave, Susie’s brother, and his girlfriend Becky at the airport and caught a water taxi over to Caye Caulker, about twenty kilometres off the coast of Belize. It’s a quintessentially Caribbean island situated right by the second largest barrier reef in the world. People come here to dive, snorkel, chill-out and ‘go slow’. We rented an apartment for a few days and fully embraced the lifestyle. Our days mainly consisted of lounging around, eating cheap delicious lobster and drinking rum punch at various beachfront shacks. Oh, and sampling the wares of all the cake-sellers on the island of course. A tough life indeed. On our snorkelling trip we were lucky enough to see sea-turtles, nurse sharks, eagle rays, sting rays, sea horses and even a sleeping manatee – awesome.
However, after four days we decided we needed to move on before we got too sucked into this lazy lifestyle. We therefore headed back to the mainland then South to San Ignacio – gateway to the Guatemalan treasures of Tikal and the mysterious sacrificial caves of Actun Tunichil Muknal.
Susie and Phil xxx
