Updated October 3, 2006                                                                        Email me

                                                    BELIZE 2005

Kathy and I spent two weeks in the Central American country of Belize in September-October 2005.  The first four days we were in San Ignacio in the mountainous western region of the country.  One of my main reasons for wanting to see Belize is because it is considered the center of the ancient Mayan empire and the west puts you right in the middle of this.  Spectacular Mayan ruins of Xunantanich (the X is pronounced "shoo"), Cahal Pech, and Tikal across the border in Guatemala were easily accessed from San Ignacio.  Cahal Pech, in fact, is right across the road from the hotel where we stayed.

Briefly our impressions of Belize can be summarized in our answer to the question "Would you go back?" and that answer is "Yes but not until we see many other places we want to see first."

The temperatures were far too hot for the comfort of two cold-blooded Alaskans but not so bad that it would prevent us from doing anything.  You just have to be sensible with it and find shade whenever you can.  A breeze normally blows all the time, especially on the coast so relief is normally possible.  Two of the three places we stayed in the country had salt water pools which we found invaluable and, except for the first three days on Caye Caulker, our rooms were air-conditioned.

The most memorable part of the trip was, without a doubt, the people of Belize.  They are as friendly as any people anywhere and fiercely proud of their country and culture despite many years of dealing with exploitive and corrupt governments.  On our arrival in Belize we met an American ex-patriot who had retired there nine years ago.  We rode the bus with him to San Ignacio and he talked the entire way, telling us as much as he could about the country.  On a stop in the capitol city of Belmopan (moved from Belize City years ago after a hurricane devastated Belize City) he said, "There isn't much to do here.  It's just a bunch of concrete block buildings and there aren't many good restaurants."  A young woman seated next to him immediately called him on this and proceeded to tell him all the good things that Belmopan had to offer.  This was the first Belizean we had contact with but she was not the last to demonstrate this straight-forwardness and pride.

Belize is definitely third world but one image sticks in my mind.  On the two hour bus ride  to San Ignacio it became dark so the run-down housing we viewed along the road became shadows with lights on.  One of them was nothing more than a shack but the unmistakable glow of a television inside was plainly visible. 

Television coverage there was totally unexpected.  All three major US networks were fed from New York City and just about every other cable channel including ESPN, Fox, CNN, History Channel, Comedy Central, etc were available.  Sometimes relief from the heat was only gained by retreating to our air-conditioned room and if a Pittsburgh Steelers football game happened to be on at the time, so much the better.

After the four days in San Ignacio we took the bus back to Belize City and then a 50 minute water taxi ride to Caye (pronounced "Key") Caulker where we stayed for eight days.  The island is inhabited by around 800 full time residents and is a thirty to forty minute walk from end to end on the east side.  We counted maybe five motor vehicles on the island.  Mostly people walk, ride bikes or drive golf carts.  As laid back a place as you will find.

Caye Caulker is about a mile from the second longest barrier reef on earth and about a thirty yard swim of a channel to the north part of the island which is almost entirely uninhabited as it is primarily a mangrove.  Snorkeling on the reef was spectacular but required a guide.  Snorkeling at the mangrove was almost as good and it can be done anytime.

We spent our final two days in Belize City which is a crowded, dirty town with most of the interesting things closed for the slow season.  We were warned to be alert for strange and dangerous people on the streets but we encountered nothing but an occasional bum with his hand out saying "Give me a dollar," a lot of people asking if we wanted a taxi, and many, many friendly people, some of whom would tell us "Welcome to Belize."  We walked everywhere we went in the city and had no problem at all.

Photos will give you an idea of what the place looks like and what we did.  Click on the photo to enlarge it.