You Better Belize It

“You Better Belize It” is a cute motto in Belize that you see everywhere, from t-shirts to WiFi passwords. I recently spent a week in this Central American country with a small tour group. We sampled a variety of experiences to get a good taste of this Caribbean destination. The stickers on the map above indicate where we went.

Belize is not small at nearly 9,000 square miles. However, it has a population of less than a third of that of Trinidad and Tobago, though its growth rate is one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere. English is the official language, while Spanish, Creole and Mayan dialects are commonly spoken.

We flew to Belize City via Panama and spent the night at a seaside resort located at the mouth of the Belize River, very close to the airport. Here is where we learnt that the coastline is mostly mangrove wetlands, and you don’t swim in the sea because of crocodiles. We also tasted the warm hospitality and good food that was apparent everywhere we went.

The next day, we flew on a small Cessna plane to popular San Pedro Island. After checking in at our hotel on the coast, we had a quick lunch and then headed to board a private sailboat for a lovely, relaxing trip to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. We were served rum punch (after swimming) and fruit. My kind of boat!

Belize boasts the second longest barrier reef after Australia, and the largest “living” barrier reef in the world, according to our skipper. No fishing is permitted in the reserve which covers about 5 square miles. One of our drivers complained that they strictly enforce the no fishing rule with huge fines. He is no longer allowed to fish outside his house which was a source of income for his family for generations. Maybe that is why I kept finding that fish was not available in restaurants when I tried to order it.

We arrived at a popular snorkeling site, judging by the amount of other boats already moored to buoys there. Once outfitted with masks and flippers, we were in the water with our snorkeling guide. He herded us together as best as he could, though sometimes we collided with other people. We came very close to a sedate barracuda at one point. My group was impressed with the coral and variety of colourful fish, though they do not compare to my snorkeling experience in The Philippines a few years ago.

The best bit was when we moved to a different site and we were encouraged to get into the sea quickly. That’s when they began pouring in chum to attract Nurse Sharks. That was an experience! These are harmless sharks that are nevertheless scary to be close to as they are around 6 to 8 feet in length. We were warned not to damage them by touching them, but they were that close. I enjoyed the leisurely sail back with the sun setting on the horizon.

The next day was the highlight of the trip. We flew over the famous Great Blue Hole. This is a sink hole over 400 feet in depth that was once on dry land. It filled with water when sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago.

Again we boarded a Cessna and the pilot was also our tour guide. This is one of those experiences that can’t be described adequately. You have to be there. We were awed by the beauty of the reef and atolls everywhere, as we flew over them. Some had vegetation forming on tiny rows of islands. It was like seeing how creation happened. Then we were flying round and round the stunning Blue Hole. I felt so emotional that I cried. So did at least one other member of our group. We could see a boat in the centre of the Blue Hole and that must also be an awesome experience, though a full day tour.

We got back to our hotel with a free day ahead of us. So three of us decided to check out the famous Secret Beach that everyone was talking about. Apparently, the island (and the country?) lost almost all of its beaches to storms (climate change perhaps?). But San Pedro still has one swimmable, sandy beach. It is on the north-west of the island inside the swamp with its crocodiles and mosquitos. As it was only accessible by boat, they recently built a long, sandy road connecting it to the tourist areas.

It took us 45 minutes to get there by taxi. Along the way, we passed numerous tourist-filled golf carts. That would be a very long, hot, uncomfortable journey on that mangrove-lined, bumpy dirt road, I am sure. Golf carts are the popular way to get around the island. In fact, in the town, there were usually traffic jams caused by the narrow roads being clogged with golf carts. No one bothers with safety features like seat belts. I guess you can’t do much damage at such low speeds.

Then we rounded a corner, and it was like …. Miami Beach! There were bars and restaurants and rows of beach chairs and loud music. We settled into loungers side-by-side and soon the waiter took our drinks orders. We told him we would like to have our lunch in the water. So, he dutifully set up a plastic table with an umbrella and plastic chairs so that we sat waist deep in the sea. And he served us right there in the water. So cool. All this development on the island happened very rapidly within the last 5 years. I couldn’t help thinking of beautiful, unspoilt Tobago with so much more to offer, but so few tourists. Thankfully, our taxi returned to pick us up early. We had a booking for dinner.

Our group decided to visit the much- acclaimed Caramba fish restaurant that evening. That was quite an experience too. It’s a good thing we booked, since there was a line of people waiting to get in. Right outside the front door, there was a fishmonger with a long table filled with all types of seafood. The idea was to pick what you wanted, he would weigh and price it, and you took that plate inside to be cooked as you wished. There were other options available from the menu. Our waiter hurried us up as this was clearly a feed-them-and-get-them-out fast-turnover type of establishment. Long tables of noisy customers crowded the room. It certainly had a high-energy atmosphere. The food was delicious!

The next day, we hopped on another Cessna to fly back to Belize City. We then headed for the charming village of Placencia. We had lunch at our hotel by the sea, and the rest of the day was free. Some of our group took advantage of the free kayaks available and explored the nearby lagoon, returning just before sunset. We decided to sample one of the local restaurants and struck lucky with Wendy’s. Having ordered a variety of dishes between us, we all agreed that it was the best meal that we had eaten so far.

We checked out the next morning for a long road trip to San Ignacio. We commented on the wonderful highway with barely another vehicle in sight. The driver said it was built during the pandemic to replace the existing dirt road. We were glad for that.

On the way, our minibus developed engine problems. The driver called for a backup and limped to a service station. We had to wait for about an hour for the replacement minibus to arrive and the driver laid a sheet on the grass for us to rest on. We bought snacks in the shop and someone had the brilliant idea to buy small bottles of champagne to share. I don’t think our driver could get over our happy group of Trinis toasting with champagne in plastic cups, and eating all sorts of snacks. A memorable moment.

We got to our hotel later than expected so we just ate there, planning to have dinner in the village the next night. The next morning, we headed out to the Xunantunich Archaelogical Reserve which are Mayan ruins close to the Guatemalan border. This involved crossing the river on a manually-operated pontoon.

Our driver was also our tour guide and he answered all our questions effectively. Of course, we climbed up onto the tops of the well-preserved structures and admired the complexity of the buildings and their history. Most of the people here are descended from the Mayans and had that distinctive look about them. We saw where they played a popular ball game. It has been said that the winners or the losers were then sacrificed, but that is not likely true.

After lunch, we drove down a long dirt track to Barton Creek Cave at Mike’s Place. This cave was an ancient burial place for the Mayan civilization. Again our driver was the tour guide, and he distributed helmets (with a light) and life jackets. We set off in canoes with three people in each. We switched on our headlights as we entered the cave. Our guide pointed out interesting stalactite/stalagmite formations and even where a baby’s skull was visible on a high ledge. We could see broken Mayan pottery on several ledges. At one point, we turned off our lights and just took in the darkness and quiet of the caves. It was a meditative moment.

It was raining quite heavily when we came out of the cave. A bit later, crossing the river fords on the way out might have been challenging for our vehicle. We abandoned the idea of walking down to San Ignacio Village that evening, and so ate at the hotel again. The next day, most of our group was supposed to hike then swim into the popular Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave (ATM) close by. Unfortunately, this tour had to be cancelled due to the rising floodwaters. So we did the easier, alternative tour, featuring a most interesting visit to a traditional Mayan village.

The women of the village had formed a co-op to restore the traditions of Mayan pottery making and cooking. They greeted us warmly and led us to a large room where their best potter, a man, demonstrated how to make pots using a potter’s wheel. Of course, the Maya did not have such technology, but it certainly speeds the process up. He explained the traditional process as well. It was the women who decorated the pots and fired them in the kiln. A couple of our ladies tried their hand at the wheel, but clearly he made it look much easier than it was.

After that, we walked across to the open kitchen where the cooks had lit a log fire clay stove. They slapped chicken parts on the open grill and also sauteed various vegetables and beans (for me) in frying pans. We were then treated to a lesson on making tortillas from whole corn kernels. This involved mashing the different coloured corn on an ancient granite stone into a paste, which was then shaped to make the tortillas. Of course, our ladies had to try that as well. We all hand-rolled and cooked our own tortillas and they were delicious. In fact, this was one of the best meals I have had on this trip. I loved the local juices everywhere too, favouring soursop juice when available.

After buying a few things in the gift shop, we were on our way to the Green Hills Butterfly Ranch. This is a conservation and commercial operation to breed about 40 types of Belize’s indigenous butterflies and export their pupae to butterfly centres in the United States. The business provides local employment and is a popular tourist attraction. It is set in about 250 acres of tropical rainforest with very diverse flora and fauna.

As we entered the butterfly enclosure, these beautiful insects were all around us, even sitting on us. It was fascinating to see them struggling to emerge from their pupae, and to learn how the eggs are collected. I was particularly taken by the artwork made from the wings of dead butterflies, which was on display for sale. Afterwards, we sat in the hummingbird garden, enjoying the peaceful ambience of the place.

The final part of this day’s tour was a visit to a Mennonites community. Mennonites are a Christian group who started settling in what was then British Honduras in the 1960’s. You might mistake them for Old Order Amish, since the traditional women wear bonnets and long dresses, while the men wear blue overalls and straw hats. The modern Mennonites dress like everyone else and use machinery, while the orthodox ones use a donkey and cart for transport. They have contributed immensely to the Belizean economy through farming, carpentry and engineering, even being involved in the small oil industry.

We sampled the Mennonite’s ice cream at every opportunity. It turned out that we were all ice cream lovers and their products were made from creamy milk straight from the cows on their farms. Delicious!

We left the next day for Belize City to catch our flights home. On the way, we passed through the capital, Belmopan, which is a small city consisting mainly of government buildings. The capital was moved here in 1970 after Belize City was battered by a hurricane in 1961.

I think we received a good feel for what Belize has to offer. It was a unique experience all round and I recommend it.