Corozal and Cerros, Belize

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Bienvenido a Belize

Picture it: the breeze is coming off the Caribbean, making the palm trees sway. You're on the beach, body tired from diving the Technicolor reef, swimming with manta rays and all sorts of exotic fish. In front of you, the water is crystal clear, turquoise like you've only seen in tourist posters. The air is filling with the smell of grilled lobster from the barbecue down the beach. Somewhere in the distance somebody puts on another reggae CD. Some locals walk past, chatting in the soft patter of Creole, recognizable but at the same time utterly foreign. Welcome to Belize.

It's not all lying around soaking up rays, though - Belize is a small country, but packed with things to do. Out west there are caves to explore and rivers to raft. Down south you can get down with the Garfuna, surely the funkiest dancers in all of Central America. The jungle is dotted with important Mayan sites, many of which you'll probably have to yourself. There are national parks all over the place, where you can look for wildlife, go hiking or just have a swim in a natural rock pool.

Intro to Corozal

This breezy seaside town definitely has a Caribbean vibe - if the wind is right, you can walk all over town accompanied by a reggae soundtrack. A prosperous farming town blessed with fertile land and a favorable climate for agriculture (sugarcane is the area's leading crop), it's also a popular stop with travelers busing their way in from Mexico.

History

Though Maya have been living around Corozal since 1500 BC, modern Corozal dates from only 1849. In that year, refugees from the War of the Castes in Yucatan fled across the border to the safe haven. They founded a town and named it after the cohune palm, a symbol of fertility. For years it had the look of a typical Caribbean town, until Hurricane Janet roared through in 1955 and blew away many of the old wooden buildings on stilts. Much of Corozal's cinder block architecture dates from the late 1950s.

Our Experience

Our taxi driver from the Belize border to Corozal recommended a nice little hotel near the water for a decent price, so we took him up on it. No a/c, but it had a fan that worked pretty well. This was the first time we were able to use our credit card to pay for a hotel. It was nice.

Corozal was basically just a small border-ish town with not all that much to see or do. We walked around, walked by the water, ate an entire pizza (at a place that had a/c but didn't have it turned on argh), got a 4 oz ice cream dessert, had a beer, relaxed by the water (with a breeze that was almost cool - surprising for this time of year).

The next morning we woke up early because we wanted to catch a tour from Orange Walk to the Lamanai ruins (more on this later). Now, we weren't exactly sure how to get out of town as we weren't sure that Corozal had a bus terminal. We eventually found it, however, and made our way south to Orange Walk.

It's funny to note here that, in case anyone was wondering, we now know where all the old US school buses go to die. They go here. And they don't die. They get repainted and become the national Belize bus system. It was interesting to say the least.

I also literally saw a chicken cross the road. Lila didn't think it was all that entertaining. Actually she thought I was an idiot for thinking it was interesting at all. I've never seen a chicken crossing a road. I really couldn't stop laughing for a while. I mean come on. "Why did that chicken cross the road? To get the hell outta the way of the old repainted US school bus barreling towards it." It's funny because it's true.

Up Next...

Orange Walk and our expedition to Lamanai

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Photos

Our Route Through Belize
(subject to change)

Comments

[Patricia]

Chicken
Too funny about chicken on road, or trying to get off road!