Belated Belize Blog
We traveled to Belize and northern Guatemala in the Spring of 2012.
We flew into the Belize City airport, avoided the high taxi rates from the airport and caught a ride with a local at the gate who was dropping someone off in his pickup. The kind gentleman who gave us the ride told us that the level of violence and crime in Belize City was not just an exaggeration, that he as a modest local had be robbed more than once. This is why it is customary for people to take taxies directly to where they are going in the city and stay inside the bus or ferry compound for their travel connections. The gentleman dropped us off directly at the bus depot in town. We thanked him and helped him out with some gas money.
We then traveled south to Placencia via the “new capital” of Belmopan, where we changed buses. The long route buses in Belize are run by a series of different operators who specialize in certain areas of the country. Most buses are older Blue Bird style school buses. The exception is a few of the big carriers like ADO coming down from Mexico.
In Placencia our plan was to “blue water” dive, tracking the snapper schools who were spawning, in hopes of spotting whale sharks who follow the schools and vacuum up fish eggs. The area is very nice, more relaxed, and less touristed than the cays to the north. Note that while the sandy beaches here are pleasant, but different than the cays because they lack the coral reefs.
Alas, in our blue water dives we found the snapper, and circled around at 40 feet for a long while, but the whale sharks had already headed north.
Next we headed north through Belmopan again, and then west to San Ignacio. San Ignacio, is a quaint town with lots of options for tourists. There are the Cahal Pech Maya ruins within walking distance of town.
Also very popular are the tours to larger Maya sites in the in the jungle, i
n a cave, and even very very long day trips to Tikal across the border in Guatemala. We opted for the cave tour, and chose a company other than M. Walk which seems to collect 80% of the tour business already. When visiting the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave, try to go early before the clear water is churned up and paths are clogged by tourists. (The following 2 images were picked from the net. The Cave is no photos.)We traveled to Tikal independent of a tour. We took the local bus through Benque Viejo del Carmen to the border and crossed the bridge into Melchor de Mencos. As soon as we entered Guatemala, gone was the sleepy, unrushed feel of Belize. The Guatemalans of Melchor had places to be and things to do.
We caught a bus to Flores, and found a room on the little island in the lake.
We arranged an early minibus ride the following to take us into the site. We had wanted to visit Tikal as far back as 2003 when we were traveling in Copan Honduras, but decided to pass on the long bus travel and 95 degree days at that time, so we were excited to finally have the chance. Tikal did not disappoint. We have traveled to numerous Maya sites in the Yucatan as well as Coba in Honduras, but most lack the feeling that you are amidst nature compared to Tikal. The pyramids jut steeply from the jungle floor, howler monkeys call from the tall trees overhead, even in mid day. Parrots, toucans, deer, and aguti, are all present.
We arranged an early minibus ride the following to take us into the site. We had wanted to visit Tikal as far back as 2003 when we were traveling in Copan Honduras, but decided to pass on the long bus travel and 95 degree days at that time, so we were excited to finally have the chance. Tikal did not disappoint. We have traveled to numerous Maya sites in the Yucatan as well as Coba in Honduras, but most lack the feeling that you are amidst nature compared to Tikal. The pyramids jut steeply from the jungle floor, howler monkeys call from the tall trees overhead, even in mid day. Parrots, toucans, deer, and aguti, are all present.
We returned to San Ignacio the following day.
We should mention what an interesting mix of cultures is Beliz:. The country was colonized by British loggers and English is still the official language. Of course there are the Maya, and many of the laborers we saw had moved from Guatemala. There are also Garifuna, descendants of ex caribbean slaves. Expatriates. More recent Chinese immigrants, who have efficiently revolutionized the country’s grocery business. Belize also has a large population of industrious Mennonites who migrated down from Canada and the United states over the years. They are credited with providing a stable dairy and agriculture source within the country.
The next morning we made our way back to Belize City to catch a ferry to Caye Caulker for some more beach and snorkel time. The local snorkeling was reasonably good, cheap, and efficient. Some of the local guides will (unfortunately) feed the rays, nurse sharks, and morays, but they were abundant. The highlight of the the snorkeling was seeing a manatee that had swam out to the reef area to browse.
While we were there, the locals were celebrating the opening of lobster season. The queen conch season which starts in October was coming to a close as the county neared its maximum quota of about 1 million pounds!
From Caye Caulker we did take a day trip via the ferry to the larger Ambergris Caye. While Ambergris does have some different food options (try the Belize black chimole if you can find it) we were further affirmed with our decision to stay on the smaller caye. Ambergris felt about as authentic and classy as a Jimmy Buffet song.
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