The country which is UnBelizeable. You'd better Belize it. Local puns aside this country was the one country on our central american tour which we had
expectations of. We thought the country was popular with expat's and tourists and had many great beaches with glorious coastline and pristine waters.
What we came to experience was not far from the truth. The water was glorious and warm, there were also many tourists and expat's. There was not however
any good or great beaches. This was a surprise to us and thankfully we didn't have an endless amount of time on the islands as we would've found it
difficult to relax in the towns when not in the water.
We also weren't aware that Belize was the only Black country in central american. Almost the entire populace here is of Jamaican decent. They speak
Jamaican English or Rastafarian. The wear Jamaican colours, smoke lots of Gangja and Sensimillia and listen to reggae music. This is in stark contrast
to its direct neighbours to the north where we had come from, Mexico. Where they were sombreros and drink tequila.
Our first stop in Belize was the small island of Cay Caulker. This island was located in beautiful, still, clear, blue waters and a very laid back
lifestyle. The only type of motorised transport allowed on the island is a golf buggy. This leads for a peaceful environment. I can imagine though
that in high season the island would become overcrowded and unbearable.
During our limited time in Caye Caulker we went out on an entire day snorkelling trip to the Hol Chan marine reserve. During our time here we saw
many turtles, lots of reef sharks, stingrays, eels and of course many many fish. The visibility in the water was also amazing and led to this being
a truly great experience. We also got to watch the sun set from the end of the island where a previous hurricane tore a rift through the centre of
the island effectively splitting it in two. There was a bar here were we could enjoy a beer or two while watching it.
Next up was the town of San Ignacio. During our time here the majority of the tour decided to head over to the ATM cave. As per
our usual outlay we didn't follow the trend here, partly because of the unBelizeable amounts of money they wanted for this and
the fact that there were over things in the area that we wanted to see.
We had planned during our time here to visit the Xunantunich ruins. We had planned to bike both there and back but were unable
to find bicycles. In the end we took the chicken bus and it was certainly an experience and made us sure glad that we weren't
sharing the road with the bus on a bicycle.
Upon arrival at the entrance to the ruins a security guard had to hand row a ferry across the river to meet us and then row us
back across to the other side. After a 30 minute uphill walk we eventually reached the official entrance to the ruins. From here
we realised that there was only a handful of us in the ruins. Upon climbing to the top of the ruins we were greeted with a
fantastic view over Belize and Guatemala. The ruins here are the second tallest building in Belize. During our time chilling out
on top by ourselves we were joined by several Belizean army guys who had climbed to the top on their lunch break in order to
escape the heat of the jungle border with Guatemala were they were stationed. Atop of the forest you can really feel cool breeze.
Thankfully with English being the national language in Belize we were able to have an in-depth conversation with them as we all
enjoyed the view, the unusual company and the cool breeze. We didn't know it at the time, but this would actually become one of
the best experiences we were to have on this continent. It is hard to describe but sometimes the best things one can experience
while travelling is those which are unexpected and unique. A thousand people could visit those same ruins and not have the same
experience as we did and even as ourselves we have been to many other places and not had a unique experience. Some of the time
you have to make your experience unique by not following the trend, but you cannot predict and or anticipate the actions of others
on your travelling plans and experiences and this are the ones which change a unique experience into a magical one.
We will always remember Belize as the country were we could've so easily made the wrong call, but thankfully our travellers instincts for avoiding tourist traps and hunting the real experience of a country led us to have a wonderful experience. When people say Belize this will always be my first thought, and this is good in a country that could otherwise be easily forgotten against the backdrop of its neighbours. Next stop, Guatemala.
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