Belize
Facts:-
Our entry into Belize was very smooth (we had only noticed in one of our guidebooks the evening before that we might have to pay an exit fee at a Mexican bank - and today was a Sunday...), but no fee was required and we were even able to change all our Mexican Pesos for Belize Dollars at a reasonable exchange rate at the border. We immediately both had a feeling that we were going to enjoy Belize. Arriving in our first Belizean destination (Orange Walk) we checked into St Christopher?s Hotel, which was a really decent place (chosen so as to provide some comfort / protection from hurricane Emily). Just to be sure we chose a room virtually in the basement. But the weather was still fine and sunny, so we went out to explore this small town, eventually sitting down for a quick beer on the riverside at 2:50pm. However, by 2:54pm the sun had gone, by 2:55pm the wind had picked up so much that we needed to leave - just as the rain started lashing down. We had visions of being subjected to torrential rain for the rest of the day and night, so went to try and find some food and drinks - but no chance... Eventually (actually after less than 10 minutes - it just felt longer) we made it back to the hotel completely soaked. So we settled in - Nikki found the weather channel on TV - so was very happy (if a little hungry) and was looking forward to "exciting weather" for the next few hours. The rain eased and Ian found that the hotel reception sold drinks - so picked up a few. Then, after only a couple of hours, and much to our surprise, we noticed that it wasn't raining any more. The town actually re-opened and we were able to get dinner at one of the many Chinese restaurants. Unfortunately, the highlight at the Elizabeth Resturant wasn't the food, especially as almost nothing on the menu seemed to be available. Ian finally settled on "pineapple shrimps" - both local ingredients so hopes were high. Initially pineapple didn't seem to be available either, but the owner's daughter went shopping and came back with pineapple, to be freshly removed from the can and cooked - we've no idea how fresh the shrimps were - but the signs weren't that good!). The highlight was in fact the alternative entertainment available here - provided by the local drunks... Admittedly the restaurant didn't look top notch (not much did in Orange Walk) but it seemed to be the preferred hangout for a number of locals (although such arrangement was not blessed by the management!) Our first drunk was obviously experienced - he was in the restaurant, and without pausing had reached for a bottle of Belikin (the staple beer of Belize) and had the bottle top off (we have no idea how) and the bottle vertical (upside down - of course) in his mouth before the restaurant owner had noticed him (about 2 seconds). He was quickly ushered outside, but not before disposing of more than half a bottle! The second drunk's tactic was only slightly less subtle, veering into the restaurant and slumping at the bar, slurring at the bar staff and expecting to be served. This was obviously a regular occurrence as the staff simply ignored him. He even left a couple of times and tried again, before getting somewhat annoyed and abusive. No wonder we were the only diners! Breakfast from a street stall - 3 chicken tacos for $1 Belize (about $0.50) - fabulous - perhaps we wouldn't blow the budget after all... We had booked a guided day trip by boat with Jungle River Tours to the Lamanai Mayan ruins (after all, it had been 2 days since we had seen any!) - which, although over-budget, turned out to be well worth the cost. We thought we had been forgotten when the boat didn't come and pick us up at our hotel's jetty on (or near) the scheduled time - but it eventually arrived. The 90 minute river journey was entertaining in itself with our guide pointing out bats, iguana and various birds on route (but unfortunately no crocs that are often seen). After arriving at the site and having our picnic lunch of chicken, rice and beans (again), our guide started an excellent and informative archaeological tour - without giving us too much information so that we could still appreciate the various buildings. Unfortunately some yanks on the trip had brought their kids - the heat proved simply too much and their whining upset our guide and many of the party. Eventually their parents took the hint and entertained them elsewhere for a while. The Lamanai site itself is in the middle of jungle and it is easy to see how such sites became lost for several centuries. What this meant is that we could hear loads of wildlife - if not see much of it. We were lucky enough to see a couple of howler monkeys and Ian also saw a Green Billed Toucan high in the canopy. Once again we climbed the largest pyramid and got a great view of jungle in all directions Ian spent the boat trip back trying to avoid the spray created by the same annoying kids hanging first their hands, then arms, then whole upper body in the water as the boat banked to one side - resulting in deflecting gallons of water into the back of the boat. Occasionally they took notice of their parents' instructions to stop - but only for a few seconds - where's a crocodile when you need one? - Ian was secretly hoping one of them would fall in! Our second dinner experience in Orange Walk was altogether more satisfying than the first. Better food, better beer - Ian got to try out Belikin Stout - the same price as the "Regular", despite the "extra" ABV, with the taste a little like some Belgian or Czech dark lagers. This prompted a discussion with the only other diner, a Belizean working away from home somewhere near Orange Walk and we felt as though we had finally made (at least a little) contact with ordinary locals, rather than just buying something as a tourist. Another early start planned, but after the heat and exertion of hanging onto the back of the motor boat the previous day, we failed dismally. But another $1 Belize breakfast and a visit for Ian to the "Fabulus Barbershop" got us started. With Ian's new $5 Belize shorn look and a failed attempt to visit the local House of Culture (inexplicably closed), we rushed to the bus terminal for our short journey south. We had checked that the 9:30 bus took us to Crooked Tree (a community around which a bird sanctuary had been developed), but we arrived only just in time for the scheduled departure to see about 100 people on or queuing for the bus. As usual, this was an old US school bus with maximum capacity 84 - or at least that what the sign at the front of the bus said - but in Belize seats for two take 3 (or more if you are less than 5 years old). So with a bum cheek or a half on the edge of a seat we headed off! Fortunately we weren't going far, but being dumped on the side of the road at the Crooked Tree turning (apparently as close as the buses actually went!) was not what we had hoped for - although not entirely unexpected! Just as we had finished checking the guidebook - and yes, there were no more buses to Crooked Tree for about 2 hours and yes, we had a 3km hike with full backpacks ahead of us - a local waiting in a bus shelter nearby called us over to let us know that the guy currently "cutting" the grass around the bus shelter would shortly be collected by a pick-up that could give us a lift all the way to Crooked Tree. So we decided to wait. As promised, a pick-up arrived and we were somewhat surprised to be greeted by a guy with a broad Staffordshire accent (apparently ex-British Army, who had married and been living in Crooked Tree for 33 years - it must be nice...). After being dropped right outside the visitor centre and signing in (and being relieved of the customary entry fee!) we had a good chat with the warden. It was obviously a quiet day, something we were yet to realise, and he seemed grateful for the distraction. We decided to wander around the community, stopping at some of the accommodation options (there were only 4) and taking in some of the great views across the surrounding lagoons and trying to spot birds we couldn?t put a name to. We were able to leave our backpacks at the visitor centre and it was really good to be walking around without them, particularly given the temperature. After a short walk along the lagoon-side we had it confirmed that this was not a typical backpacker destination, everything was priced in US$ and way beyond our budget. We hoped that some other tourists may want to share the cost of a morning boat trip into the lagoon, but the few tourists around were just leaving. We planned to come back later in the day and try our luck again. Eventually (and following a bit of a detour) we found a cheaper accommodation option and went to the "Dog and Duck" for lunch (actually it was a small shack called Nora's in the middle of a field some way from the "main" track - we didn't actually meet Nora, but were entertained by the small
puppies and ducks occasionally wandering in and out of the bar area). Nikki's blistered feet were
still causing great problems, so we decided against a long walk (up to a boardwalk area, where we may
have got better bird watching opportunities) and instead just went to collect our backpacks and had
another lengthy chat with the warden along with one of his colleagues. Later we did some more walking
along the shore of one of the lagoons and spotted lots of vultures and other smaller birds, before
returning to find that so few tourists were around that the boat trip place had actually closed for
the day! Dinner was at the surprisingly named "Hilltop Restaurant" - neither was it anywhere near a hilltop,
nor was there much restaurant action going on - but we were able to get some food (Garnachos - a bit
like nachos) and drinks. Another early start as there didn't seem to be anywhere to buy breakfast - we had failed to find any sort of shop open the previous day. Back to the visitor centre where we sat expectantly by the side of the road hoping for a lift to the highway. We were lucky again as, within a few minutes, Abraham from South Carolina drove up in a large pick-up / lorry and offered to take us south. We chatted to him about Belize for a while (he seemed to have lived here for about 10 years off an on and he certainly had some opinions to share). At the highway he also picked up a local girl waiting for a bus and we all squeezed into the cab. The turning for Bermudian Landing, our next destination, was only a few miles south along the highway and we were dropped at the junction having taken about 30 minutes for a journey that we had given ourselves all morning for. Just as we were settling into the bus shelter and Ian was buying a Taco breakfast, a bus turned our way and took us to the next turning for Bermudian Landing. Unfortunately the bus shelter here was little more than 4 rickety wooden posts with 3 rusty pieces of corrugated iron with holes in on top (actually, it was nothing more than that!). This would have been great to shelter from the sun but we were not so lucky as, within 10 minutes, rain was pouring from the heavens. And it didn't look like stopping. Gradually we put more and more of our waterproof clothing on and covered our backpacks with their own waterproofs as best as possible. But everything still got wet. It could have been much worse though as after only 30 minutes or so a pickup, already with 3 people cowering under a tarpaulin in the back, stopped for us. Given how wet we were we jumped at the lift and, if possible, got even wetter. The reason for going to Bermudian Landing was to visit the Baboon Sanctuary (here "baboons" are
actually howler monkeys) and we were soon signed-in and off on our introductory guided walk. Our
guide picked up some cashew fruits and after a short walk into the forest called to a troop of
monkeys, mimicking their extraordinary howl rather well. These guys (the monkeys) obviously knew what
this meant and Nikki was allowed to feed one particularly greedy female a fruit. She had to hold onto
it for dear life, with juice dripping down her arm, so that we could get a photo but it was a great experience all the same! The weather was better, but still bad and we were unsure whether to try and walk some unmarked
trails ourselves or take a canoe trip along the river. In the end, we had lunch and met Miriam, a PhD student from Florida, who was undertaking fieldwork in the area. Shortly after, we found our B&B for the night. We decided to rest up and take a guided night hike later on. Just before dinner we found a marked walking trail from our B&B through the forest and down to the river, which was very pleasant - we even saw some 3 more howler monkeys, this time way up in the tree tops near the river. Our guided night walk was not so successful. The experience was great, wandering through deep
forest looking and listening for wildlife, but in 90 minutes we didn't see anything other than the
innumerable spiders whose eyes glistened at us everywhere we shone our torches. We cycled back to the
B&B but didn't make it before Nikki's excuse for a bike just gave up and the back wheel stopped
turning. However, the walk was not far and certainly better then the same walk with backpacks earlier in the day. Once again no breakfast - but only because the LAST (!) bus out of Bermudian Landing each day was
at 6:45am. We just managed to catch it, but not before being soaked once more in the rain. The bus took us straight to Belize City (actually not the capital - apparently it had been
flattened too often by hurricanes!) where our guidebook suggested we change buses and leave - so we
did! We did have just enough time though for Ian to pick up some fish, beans and tortillas from the market for breakfast (Hooray - a change from chicken, rice and beans!) We had been persuaded by the write up in the guidebook to stop at Belize Zoo and were very pleased that we did. Apparently it has never taken a wild animal into captivity and acts more as an education enter for the local population. Each animal / bird etc had a reasonably sized and natural-looking
enclosure and, let's face it, it was likely to be the only place we would see some of Belize's more
rare native animals. So that was how we got to see cats (including Jaguar and Puma), Crocodiles,
Tapirs, Eagles, Parrots, Toucans and much more. Within a minute of making it back to the highway we had a choice of buses and boarded one heading
further south. We weren?t sure how far we might get that day and eventually decided on taking it easy and over-nighting in Dangriga (a scruffy little town on the Caribbean coast and the Garifana capital of Belize). Again, the journey was comfortable enough - we were getting more used to these old US school buses! Once again we were successful in finding a room in our first hotel, although this one was so
small you had to rearrange the furniture to open and close the door! With all these early starts, we
were pretty tired and after a quick lunch crashed out in our room. Later we were awoken by a
combination of annoying British students outside (apparently living at least 3 or 4 to a double room and therefore spending most of their time outside our door) and the heavy rain hitting the tin roof above us. Later on, we had to move the bed (again) out of the way of a persistent drip from the ceiling - I guess that's what you get in budget accommodation! Fortunately we were saved from an evening of Karaoke in our chosen restaurant (chosen for its
proximity to our room in the rain, rather than any culinary recommendations!) as none of our fellow
diners appeared any more interested in it than we were! As it was still raining, we bought a couple of beers from a shop opposite our hotel and headed
back for a few games of Backgammon (for beginners - we had only just read the rules!) - Nikki won -
beginner's luck! We had checked out the buses south and decided on the 10am (rather than the 5:30am or 6:30am
options!). Unfortunately our fellow hotel guests were heading somewhere at one of these earlier
times, so we were awoken at about 4am... Our bus left reasonably on schedule and took us on an "interesting" tour of Dangriga before returning to the bus station where we needed to change into a dirtier and older looking bus with even more cracks on the windscreen. Eventually, departing at about 11am, we headed to Placencia for a few days R&R (this travelling is such hard work!). The road was good until the last 25km, where it turned onto the Placencia peninsular and became a typical un-surfaced track - it took over an hour for those last 25km. On arrival, raining again, we tried to find some decent yet cheap accommodation. Which proved more difficult than previously. We ended up getting some lunch and reassessing our options. Eventually we found a great, cheap and clean place called the Paradise Vacation Hotel and met a few othe backpackers, including a Belgian guy called Jan who couldn't quite get to grips with the high cost of travelling in Belize compared to Guatemala - so there is hope for our budget yet... After relaxing for the rest of the afternoon on hammocks on the waterfront, we headed out for drinks (apparently you used to be able to string 4 happy hours back to back around the town - but alas, no longer). Had a couple of beers at Sugar Reef and chatted to the new managers, Randy and Brandy (you'd never guess they are both American, would you?) Also chatted to Chip from Texas, who told us about his travels in Central Ameica a few years ago. Lobster fajitas for Ian at the Pickled Parrot then collapsed after another exhausting day! A relaxing day. Breakfast with great milkshakes. Then an internet stop and
investigating available activities in the area (mostly diving, snorkelling and kayaking etc.). Lay
on the beach and got rained on - but no sign of clouds above - Nikki was confused! A bit of a swim
and then went for great ice creams from Tutti Frutti. Caught the Tipsy Tuna happy hour (initially as the only customers) and played a bit of pool - the
first sandy floor pool hall we'd seen. Then back to Sugar Reef for dinner, where we met Harry. He gets a mention in our guidebook for sitting under his tree of wisdom, but that evening his wisdom was
perhaps more dependent upon his bottle than the tree! We ended the night "partying" at a fundraiser for a local guy who wanted to go to art school in
Toronto. Met Chip again with Emily and Katie, a couple more Americans. After a leisurely breakfast, meeting Emily and Katie again, we had decided on a bit of sea
kayaking. The wind was pretty strong, but we took the kayak around the closest mangrove island and
after that, for a bit of a rest, we went towards the lagoon, thinking we would paddle in and try and
see some Manatee. But we were pretty exhausted by the time we arrived there and still had to paddle back into the wind to return the kayak. So after a quick rest, we headed back. More ice cream for lunch and more hanging in hammocks outside the hotel. Eating again - an enormous and tasty plate of seafood rice for Ian (including lobster, shrimp and
conch) Another leisurely start, more internet - we are writing so much in the diary! Decided to avoid the un-surfaced road to the highway and opted for the Hokey Pokey water taxi from
Placencia to Independence, where, after a couple of hours by the roadside we caught the last bus
north to Maya Centre. Here was the access road to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (the Jaguar
Reserve) where we hoped to walk some of the trails (and maybe see a Jaguar - only about 6 tourists a
year actually do!) The sanctuary is about 10km from the road, so be opted to stay in Maya Centre and book ourselves
on a tour for the following day. We decided to stay in the Tutzil Nah Cottages which were able to provide us with a room, food and a tour so we were all set. We had Escapeche (a local Mayan dish of onions and chicken in soup) for dinner and headed to bed
shortly afterwards as we had an early start ahead of us. A 5:50 am alarm followed by a quick breakfast and we were on the look out for Jaguar by 6:30am. Ouscal, one of 3 brothers providing guided walks in the sanctuary from where we stayed, led us on some very scenic trails, pointing out medicinal plants and naming birds and butterflies for us. But no sign of Jaguar or any other animals for that matter! After a short rest, we headed on another trail and, whilst stopped and craning our necks to see a
bird high up in the canopy, we heard a rustling in the undergrowth and saw the tail of what we both
thought was just another lizard. But we soon saw it was in fact an Armadillo! It was busying itself
collecting leaves for its burrow and showed itself a couple of times before hiding away for good.
Perhaps not as exciting as a Jaguar, but we were very pleased to have seen it anyway. We asked to take the next trail towards a little waterfall, and saw a really fresh jaguar
paw print - as close as we were destined to get to seeing one. Even walking the trails slowly on the
lookout for wildlife was hot and sweaty work and we were pleased to have a quick swim under the
waterfall, before heading back for lunch and a final short trail. But the armadillo sighting proved
to be the highlight of our day in Cockscomb, and we weren?t too disappointed. A quick turn around and we caught the last bus north (again), changing in Belmopan (the Belizean
capital) and heading west to San Ignacio (Cayo) for a couple of days before crossing into
Guatemala. From Cayo it was only a 20 minute uphill walk out of town to Cahal Pech, another Mayan site. Here however, investigation and reconstruction only started in the 1980s. Nevertheless there were lots of
buildings to explore and climb. But before we did that we had a short chat to one of the team of
archeologists who were in the process of excavating a trench across the middle of one of the main
plazas. They seemed pretty excited about what they were finding, but to the uninitiated, there were
just few stone walls and a lot of earth! Exploring each Mayan ruin has been surprisingly different. Here we had the whole place almost to
ourselves (apart from the archeologists). The site itself was on a hilltop and space determined that
each of the buildings was back-to-back, so that hidden doorways and passages often linked the
various plazas. We decided to fill the rest of the morning walking to the confluence of the Mopan and Macal rivers,
just out of town. We were pretty sure we were headed the wrong way, but after about 30-40 minutes we
arrived and crossed the most rickety bridge we had seen so far. We took it really carefully as
several of the planks were missing but once on the other side we watched as a couple of locals cycled
over without a pause! We found a French bakery for lunch (no rice, no tortillas - fabulous!) and set about selecting a
trip for the following day. Eventually we decided on a canoe trip into a cave system and were pleased
with this. After a bit more diary uploading we went to a Sri Lankan (yes, Sri Lankan) restaurant for
dinner. It had a really pleasant atmosphere and some great food (red snapper and spicy shrimps
included!) After a rushed breakfast (running late as usual) we were met by Sandro, from Maya Mystic Tours, our guide for the morning. He drove us out to the Barton Creek caves, where we boarded a canoe. Apparently, these caves have been flooded since Mayan times when they were used for various religous ceremonies, mostly pertaining to the afterlife (the cave was considered the entrance to the underworld). The tranquil nature of the river here meant no paddling was required from us (Sandro did all the hard work!) as we travelled about a mile in to the cave system. Near the cave mouth, Sandro pointed out various Mayan artefacts, and further in, numerous rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites - we had the whole place virtually to ourselves. Back outside we took the opportunity to have a swim in the river and Ian used a rope swing into the water, also jumping in from high up some rocks (but even though not that high, he didn?t have the nerve to jump right from the top!). Our next stop was the Green Hills Butterfly Ranch, where various butterfly species are bred. We took a short tour with many different butterflies flying around us and stopping to rest on us - there were so many that it was difficult to avoid standing on them! Back to San Ignacio for lunch - a great little meal of posadas, tacos and garnaches at a roadside shack used by the locals for only $4B ($2US)!. More internet and domestic chores (we still need clean clothes occasionally!) before dinner. We went back to Hannah?s, and enjoyed another great meal. Ian was particularly jealous of Nikki?s enourmous quesadillas. As it was our 2-month anniversary, we treated ourselves to cheesecake (actually Ian did, Nikki only had a couple of mouthfuls!) Guess what? Back to Hannah?s for breakfast- we reckoned that when we found somwhere we liked that was also cheap we should make the most of it! Packed up again and headed down to the bus "terminal". We timed it so that we waited almost an hour for the hourly bus(!) and had to persuade numerous taxi drivers that we really did want to take the bus, rather than their substantially more expensive taxi to Xunantunich and on to the border. Eventually the taxi drivers got bored and we were left alone. The bus dropped us at a hand-winched ferry across the Mopan river, from where it was about a mile (mostly uphill) to the Xunantunich ruins. Fortunately we had been able to leave our backpacks at a roadside cafe, so the walk was rather pleasant. The ruins were pretty impressive, but as it looked likely to rain very heavily at any time (we had lingered in the little museum to avoid the first heavy shower) and as we had now seen more than our fair share of Mayan ruins (this was the sixth in little over 2 weeks!) we looked around relatively quickly. Indeed, when we were at the top of the largest temple the thunder got really loud so we headed back down and sheltered from the rain for a while, before exploring the rest of the site. Back to the ferry (in the rain - at least we had our waterproof jackets with us) and chatted to the guy at the cafe - apparently every cafe and restaurant in the area was actually closed due to a local dispute about some illegal street-side traders, so it seemed we had been very lucky to find somewhere to leave our bags for a couple of hours). Our bus arrived so we said quick thank-yous and headed for Guatemala. Of course no buses actually go to the border - they all stop in Benque de Viejo a couple of miles short, so hopped in a taxi and breezed through Belize immigration...Day 8 (continued) - Sunday 17th July 2005 - Hurricane Emily Day!
Day 9 - Monday 18th July 2005 - Lamanai
Day 10 - Tuesday 19th July 2005 - Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary
Day 11 - Wednesday 20th July 2005 - Bermudian Landing Community Baboon Sanctuary
Day 12 - Thursday 21th July 2005 - Belize Zoo
Day 13 - Friday 22th July 2005 - on to Placencia
Day 14 - Saturday 23th July 2005
Day 15 - Sunday 24th July 2005 - Kayaking in Placencia
Day 16 - Monday 25th July 2005 - on to Maya Centre and the Jaguar Reserve
Day 17 - Tuesday 26th July 2005 - Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
Day 18 - Wednesday 27th July 2005 - Cayo
Day 19 - Thursday 28th July 2005 - Barton Creek Caves River Trip
Day 20 - Friday 29th July 2005 - Xunantunich and on to Guatemala
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