Paradise (almost!) (Belize)

Member Name: emmdee

Product:	Belize
Date:	08/10/01 (678 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap , Amazing wild life

Disadvantages: Belize City

Belize,

My girlfriend and I visited Belize a few months ago whilst on a backpacking holiday. After catching a bus from the Mexican border we endured a bumpy bus ride to the Capital – originally called Belize City. Whilst on the bus the driver had the local radio station blaring out reggae music, after one such song an advert from the local tourist board came on – (apply strong Jamaican accent):

‘As we all know tourism means money, each tourist in Belize will spend at least 1000 Belize dollars, so make them feel at home’

We were sat on the back of the bus (the only whites), and after the announcement several of the passengers turned around in their seats to say ‘hello and welcome’, a genuinely friendly act, which put me fully at ease (well almost!).

Belize City is one of the worst places you would want to end up in. To look at it’s not bad at all, but there is a fair amount of gang warfare and racism. It’s certainly not one of the safest places I have stayed.

Upon arriving at the city we met up with some other backpackers (from Oz) who were looking to take the ferry from the port to one of the near by Caribbean islands, namely Caye Caulker. However, it seemed that because most of us had just come into the country we needed some local currency. So we set of to the bank only to find that none of the ATM machines would work, a local told us that this was due to commonwealth day! (Of all things it was our own country’s fault)

So with no money we had a small problem, and being a group of white tourists, were attracting the attention of some of the less desirable people in the not very desirable city. Some of the locals began hassling us and telling us that they knew of hotels and places to eat. A nice gesture, until these people begin demanding money from you. As the crowd grew we must have attracted the attention of the ‘Tourist Police’, a young local G
arafuna with a ‘Tourist police’ T-shirt and a pedal bike. He sent the unwanted tour guides on their way and took us to a local hotel, explained the problems we were having and organised rooms. We still had no money, but it was agreed that we would pay the following morning.

As the evening progressed we decided that we would use the small amount of currency we had between us to buy cigarettes, rum and a pack of cards to amuse us. So me and one of the larger Ozzies ventured out on to the streets to buy our goods. We were out of the hotel for about 5 minutes, enough time to have racial abuse shouted at us from a local bar, be spat at by a local bum and have someone tell us that he didn’t like whites and that he would kill us! Great!

Anyway after the rest of the night (spent inside the hotel!) we awoke in the morning, paid the hotel owner and set of for our Caribbean Island.

Caye Caulker is a small (about 1 mile by half a mile) island, and about a 30minute boat ride from Belize City. We found an excellent place to stay on the northern end of the island called ‘Lorraine's’. We had a small hut on the beach, with a double bed, fan, shower room and mosquito netting, costing us 10 Belize dollars per night (after a fair amount of bartering). We also had access to our own pier, which is essential, due to the fact that the beach is covered in sandflies, mosquitoes, crabs and iguanas.

Most of our time on the island was spent sat on the pier soaking up the rays, swimming and generally relaxing, with a couple of blokes from Yorkshire who had been on the island for a few weeks. On one such occasion (after a splif or two) one of the Yorkshire blokes, slowly got out of his seat and pointed, mouth wide, to a log like shape slowly floating towards us. He said he saw a crocodile, we didn’t believe him, until about 5 minutes later when the very same Croc’ (a 3 meter beast) swam right past the end of our p
ier, where I had just been swimming! We were told later that this was a very rare occurrence and it was nothing to worry about (same as everything else on this island).

The food on the island is excellent, plenty of fresh fish (barracuda, red-snapper etc) with Caribbean spices and sauces. There are about 10 restaurants. The best food, beyond all doubt, is cooked on the main street, by a big fat raster on a big barbecue. He starts the cooking at about 6pm; its good to get there early as he normally gets a lot of orders as the evening progresses.

The best bar on the island is the swing bar (on the northern end), named due to the fact that most of the seats are swings or hammocks. The bar is on 2 levels, so if it gets hot it’s a nice place to catch the breeze. They have a pulley system so you can get your beer from the lower levels by using a bucket, without moving. Two things to watch out for here. One, don’t drink too much and fall of the swings (easily done I can tell you), and two, beware of the toe biting raccoon!

The other main activity on the island is the snorkeling and diving. The island is surrounded by some of the world’s most amazing coral reef, and has some incredible wild life. We went for a trip one afternoon (costing about 10 Belize dollars) with a small group. We were taken by boat about 500 meters off shore. As the boat comes to a stop you firstly notice the gray objects floating in the water – Sharks! These are reef sharks (between 1 and 2 meters in length) and are not harmful to humans, in fact as soon as I was in the water, they swam away. After about 30 minutes of snorkeling around the various corals, looking at the fish, we got back on the boat and headed toward a sandbank to swim with the StingRays. This is one of the most incredible experiences of my life. As you get in the water you notice dark patched approaching you. There were at least 20 rays, each about 1 – 1.5 meters in wingspan.
They come right upto you and rub against your legs (a lot like a cat would), they are incredible creatures, with a real look of curiosity and interest in you. This is certainly one not to miss, and you don’t need any diving experience so there is no excuse.

Over all, the island is a beautiful easygoing place, with great wild life, great food and friendly people, all at a very reasonable price. Unfortunately you need to go through Belize City, but as long as you have some money you need not stay there for more that a few hours.

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