Blogs from Belize District, Belize, Central America Caribbean - page 3

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

Disaster struck yesterday! We have been staying on the Island of Caye (prounounced "Key") Caulker since Sunday night on the recommendations of some friends and people we met in Belize City. It's a gorgeous little tropical paradise, complete with lizards, pretty little fish, Rastafarian drug dealers and brightly painted buildings in pink and green and blue. The ocean is painfully beautiful when the sun is shining, turquoise and tanzanite. The first day was walking along the beach, exploring the jungle, and finding friends among the tourists. We've met a young couple from New Zealand who tell us we have to come visit their family's winery (!) when we head towards Australia. We've also met several others we may meet up with again in San Ignacio or further down the road. Yesterday, after I remembered to charge ... read more

I really didn't know how I was going to go on when I woke up in Houston, I was so exhausted and my head hurt. Thankfully once I was off the plane and got some food I was feeling much better. Exhausted still but not ill. We arrived in Belize which had blue skies and big white puffy clouds. As expected it was humid but I did not realize how hot it was going to be. I'm not complaining, I am so happy to have escaped the long cold winter of Spokane. We took a taxi to our guesthouse, it cost $25 US which seemed like a lot. The driver was nice, he sounded like he was from Jamaica but he said he was born and raised here. Seaside, our guesthouse isn't as nice as the ... read more

July 16 - Today was a good day. I got up at 6:00am and had some cereal, and then headed to the water taxi for the 7:00am boat. At the dock in Belize City I met Major Tom and the two other people on the tour with us, Fran and Jim from Philly. We had to drive quite a way to get to the boat that would take us to Lamanai, one of the Mayan ruins in the area. Belize is full of Mayan ruins, and Lamanai is a special one, in the rainforest. Much of it is still covered with jungle. The Mayans set this site up about 1500 years ago, and it was one of the last inhabited sites. The boat ride out there wasn't ideal. It started to rain along the way, and ... read more