We be likin Belize!

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Well crossing the border to Belize turned out to be a mini-adventure. We were too late to get a bus across so had to get a taxi from Chetumal in Mexico to the 'frontera'. After exiting the mexican bit, we crossed to the Belize side and got our stamps, said adios to the taxi driver and then realized that it was half nine at night, there was nobody about and we were standing outside the Belize border control with no transport to the next town (about 15km away). In the end this old guy and his friends arrived in a pick up and asked if we wanted a lift to Corozal, the next town, so the three of us hopped in the back and took the bumpy lift to the next town..fair play to them they were awful sound to take the three of us with them and sure we had no other way of getting there (other than walk-which probably wasn't the best idea at that time of night).

Practically everyone we met in Belize was genuinely friendly and helpful, but it was sometimes a bit too freaky, like in Orange Walk, the next town we visited after Corozal. Everyone seemed to know our exact movements at all times-we were thinking it felt something like the Truman Show-very weird. The creole-type of english they speak here is really cool though. Took a trip to see another ancient Mayan city (called Lamanai) but this time we had to take a motorboat up a river for about two hours to reach it..that was cool but our guide made it a brilliant trip. This guy knew how to tell a story, he was so animated and enthusiastic about everything, going out of his way to show us some amazing wildlife along the river. It was a savage trip.

Leaving Orange walk we headed to San Ignacio, or Cayo as it is known. Here we did some cool canoeing trips along the Macal river to some waterfalls and did a really amazing caving trip to the 'ATM' cave - I won't even try to write the correct Mayan name! This was a really brilliant trip, again we had a great guide and we had to do a short trek through the jungle to reach the cave entrance, crossing rivers a couple of times and again seeing some amazing wildlife. After swimming and wading through most of the cave, climbing and squeezing through gaps in the rocks, you finally arrive at an area where the Maya practiced ritual offerings to their gods and this included several human sacrifices, the remains of which are still in their original place. It was a really special trip.

Some strange things in Belize

The beer: Belikin is the only beer here (wouldn't be the best)..and they have their own home-brewed Guinness in a bottle-tastes fairly shockin.
Chinese Food: There are chinese restaurants all over the place in Belize-a bit odd but we weren't complaining.
Mennonites: Belize is really a melting pot of cultures..One group is the Mennonites-Germany speaking and originally from Europe but have been constantly moving from place to place, apparently arriving in Belize in 1958. They are a really hardworking group of people, most living a very simple life with strict rules and their own religious beliefs. They speak an old type of German and are recognisable from their really fair looks and the men wear straw hats and dungarees.

Well after hanging out inland for a few days we decided it was time to be brave and hit the coast again, so we headed east to the islands and the barrier reef....

Hope I'm not boring you all with the stories..Terry is telling me I should only be putting pics up! x

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