Carlos, the boat driver swore us to secrecy - don´t tell the ´rich´tourists who we were picking up 8 miles downstream how much we paid for the boat trip and the tour to Lamanai. We paid 80 Belizean dollars, the folks coming in from the Cayes (small islands just off the east coast of Belize) paid 260! Bargain. The 8 miles on the speed boat, powered by 2 massive outboard engines, were exhilarating. Snaking around river bends and small islands, my hair was truly windswept and blow dried after just 3 minutes. Skipper Carlos was an experienced and informed wildlife spotter. [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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From Playa del Carmen I took a bus down to the Mexican border and changed onto a Belizean bus to take me across the border, which was a completely painless experience. The change from Mexico to Belize was immediately noticeable - Belize was certainly more rustic and had a Carribean feel to it (not that I've ever been there!). The racial mix was also noticeable too, it is a complete melting pot, with the largest racial group being Creole (decendents of British pirates and African slaves) who speak a strange (and indeciphable) dialect of English, blacks and then amongst others - [View Full Entry]

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We left Mexico on Saturday morning and crossed the border by bus to Belize. Border crossing was a painless experience and after a very slow journey on the Belizean side (the bus likes to stop randomly about every 50m or whenever someone feels like getting on or off) we arrived in Orange Walk about 6pm. Orange Walk is a tiny little town that feels a bit like you are in some american western movie...with ramshackle old houses with return verandas and Ma and Pa sitting outside on their chairs. The streets have the funniest names like Flambouyant street, Lovers Lane and [View Full Entry]

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As soon as the border is crossed, no before the difference is evident. First a greater mix of races, then signs in English, then everybody speaking English, and the Queens head on the money. It took a while getting the truck across. We waited with the workers who were coming home from work and shopping expecting the bus or a ride. And finally joy of joys we drove into the night with the prospect of ’bush camping’ …. Karen had bought food. Imagine my relief when we stopped before the Victoria Hotel in Orange Walk. This was only slightly deflated [View Full Entry]

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It is hot in this country! Good thing we expected that, so its not a huge shock. Lets see, quick summary. We got into Belize city early afternoon yesterday and took a $25 (non-negotiable, it says so right on the official sign) ride into town to the bus station. There is no ticket counter because you pay the driver right on the bus. No ticket counter means no one to ask questions. Good thing the schedule is posted right on the wall. After figuring out that the bus standing with the designation "Chetumal" would pass through where we wanted to go, [View Full Entry]

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This weekend we found ourselves at the La Milpa Field Research station. The station is part of a large conservation trust, and run by The Program for Belize (partnered with the Mass Audobon Society). The site is run off of the power grid through solar pv panels, and all the sewage is composted. The bus ride was about 5 hours as we had to drive all the way to Belize City before we could head north, but it helped that everyone was in very good spirits. We arrived at about 7:30 and sat down to dinner immediately. Afterwards we had the [View Full Entry]

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After San Ignacio we went to Orange walk in the north of Belize. This was recommended as a great adventure. It wasn’t! Another boat journey through lots of mangroves and small estuary’s but this time on a speed boat, fairly exciting and then we pulled up outside more Mayan ruins Lamanai. The main difference with these is that they are the oldest ruins in the Mayan empire and they also outlasted every other settlement, they were continuously populated for nearly 3000 years! Interesting site as it was literally in the middle of nowhere and the civalisation would have been very se [View Full Entry]

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River boat tour We arranged to take a boat tour up the New River to another set of Mayan ruins - Lamanai. The boat trip up river took about half an hour. Our driver/tour guide, Javier expertly navigated us through the semi-narrow river at about 30mph! When we arrived, we had a few minutes before our tour began. Before we headed back along the paths, we were able to see a couple of Black Howler Monkeys that are apparently quite prominent in the area…these were the only ones we saw though. Javier, who wasn’t the greatest tour guide, had two interesting [View Full Entry]

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