Blogs from Belize City, Belize District, Belize, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Geo: 17.4977, -88.1867It's always hard to start these entries in a way that not only let's you know what we are up to, but is also interesting for you to read. So I will skip through quickly. Morning in the hotel, free breakfast, uneventful flight, land in Belize airport with still no idea where we want to go first. I quickly learned, no one will hassle you when you keep saying, I don't know. Even the Belize immigration officers told us, well you have to pick somewhere. We ended up changing course in the taxi to the bus terminal and went to the water taxi. We took a 45 minuted high speed boat ride and ended up at an awesome island called Caye Caulker. ( or something like that. It is more of a beach village ... read more

I couldn’t imagine myself on a cruise but never say never and when a package with a cruise sort of dropped into my lap back in December and the rain kept falling and Suzanne and I still had time to do some travelling together we thought “yes let’s do it”. A flights sale in January had us picking up a bargain and so it was we flew off to Tampa on a not too full flight even bagging 3 seats each so lots of space to lie down on the 9+hour flight. A good night’s sleep in a nearby hotel and the next day we were on a shuttle bus to the port. As complete novices to cruising we had no idea what to expect ( we are ... read more

Doing most of my travels in Asia, I didn't expect at all to get out of a bus in Belize City, without getting loitered by hundreds of Taxi drivers and ferry-ticket sellers. But no one seemed to be interested in our arrival on this colourful painted wooden Bus terminal. “Its not supposed to cost more than five US for a taxi to the harbour” our Israelian mate Ian says. I nod “allright” not feeling like bargaining at 7 am, after a night in a Bus and a border crossing full of negotiations with Mexican customs at 5 in the morning. We were all sure that they cant charge us 30 US to get out of the country, but well, they could. At least the Belizians didn't charge us any money to get into theirs, but did ... read more

Tuesday 16/10/12 – Our first night in Belize was everything that we expected: hot, noisy and exhausting. We awoke when the sun rose as our room had no curtains – and trust me it rises early here (they don’t observe daylight savings). We walked up to the local dive shop which backs on to the main river of Belize City. Seeing the city in the morning at high tide is really something special. The ocean is right at the edge of the road and at people’s door steps. The city is situated right at sea level and apparently when it rains at high tide the water doesn’t run off into the ocean so people get around in canoes! The city is intertwined with over 200 canals which are always full of water and rubbish. The city ... read more

A midnight ride on the comfortable air conditioned Mexican ADO bus service brought us down the Yucatan Coast to Belize City. Arriving at first sunlight, we witnessed the city awaken from an antique taxi to our $15 a night guesthouse. The proprietor welcomed us with smiles and small talk, explaining the building was built 200 years ago during English colonial times. In fact Belize was noted as a perfect pirate hang out, raiding Spanish galleons heavy with gold and silver. English pirating eventually led to an English colony which makes Belize one of the few English speaking countries in a predominately Spanish neighborhood. Venturing from our guesthouse, we walked a short distance to downtown Belize, a dilapidated, worn and weathered city that seemed struggling to survive. A bit intimidated by the begging and decrepit conditions, most ... read more