Blogs from Belize, Central America Caribbean - page 8

I've wanted to visit Belize for longer than I can remember, but I can't remember why! I'm sure there was something that made it stand out to me all those years ago. One of the added appeals now was that not that many people visit. It's often missed from backpacking tours for being too expensive, but I was very excited to get here and explore! I didn't really know what to expect, and how the food and culture would vary from Mexico, but I also didn't want to research too much as that would ruin the surprise! I can say I've been very pleasantly surprised! As soon as we crossed the border the landscape seemed to change, which was strange. We were greeted with fields of sugarcane, a far cry from the endless cacti driving through ... read more

Dear All Hello again, and greetings this time from Northern Belize – writing this one up from pretty much the remotest, quietest, most peaceful place on my trip so far – a small backpackers’ lodge just outside a tiny fishing village called Sarteneja, on the north-eastern tip of Belize. This really is off-the-beaten track, and it’s actually been pretty much this way for the last four days since I left Belize City. I feel like I’m exploring a part of the country which is little known to tourists, and this also being the low-season in Belize, it is especially quiet and remote. I have only met two other travellers like myself over the last four days, an English-Spanish couple based in Southampton, and they were on the same bus as me from Orange Walk to here, ... read more

After the four of us catch an early taxi to the Roatan airport, we head through security for a brief wait, before walking outside and boarding our 12-person puddle jumper to Belize City. We've never been on such a small plane, but sitting directly behind the pilot and looking at all the instrumentation and watching the co-pilot nod off for an hour was a bit unnerving. Luckily the skies were blue and the ride was smooth, it was almost like being on a tour as the plane flies quite low, although you certainly feel every bit of turbulence in every cloud as you fly through. We land in Belize City, meet up with the 2nd half of our crew, Steve, Anya, and Mel's brother Trevor. Make it through customs, pick up our minivan rental car, and ... read more

HE SAID... This afternoon we were travelling northeast from Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve to Caye Caulker. On the drive from Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve to Belize City, derelict concrete houses dotted the highway, with little to no immediate reason why they had ever been built in the first place. On our arrival in Belize City at 4:15pm, our new driver (who replaced our street fighting driver who was sent home at breakfast) suddenly started making calls back to San Ignacio asking where the ferry terminal was. Not a good sign when we had a 4:30pm ferry to catch. We drove down roads, doubled back, asked service station attendants and finally found the ferry – only to be told by a policeman to move because we were blocking the road. Luckily, the policeman promised a parking spot ... read more

Our 10th and last country on our journey: Belize. Another surprise. Before this trip, only beautiful beaches came to mind when thinking about Belize, but it has so much more to offer. Basically it has most of the Central American attractions combined in one - beaches, Mayan and other archeological sights, jungle, authentic villages, coffee plantations, and adventure tourism (zip lining, tubing, caving, horseback riding, etc) to name a few. The one thing missing is a volcano. We decided to first spend a few days inland, in the Belize jungle, and then another few days on the beach. The first place we stayed at, was an amazing place near San Ignacio, Ka'ana Resort (we decided we could spoil ourselves somewhat the last week). We relaxed beside the pool, went horse back riding to Mayan ruin Xunantunich, ... read more