Belize it or Not

Getting to Belize was rather uneventful. I got to the airport by 7:15, and already had my boarding pass printed out from the UNCC computer lab, so just went straight through the security check. I didn't even have to go through the body scanners; I just went through the metal detector. I was sitting at my terminal before 8 am, and my plane boarded at 9.

My flight went smoothly and we landed at the International Airport in Belize a little earlier than estimated. I passed through customs with no problems and sat outside the airport waiting for another tourist to share the price of a taxi with to Belize City (the airport is 15 miles outside the city).

While waiting, I started talking to another arrival, an American who taught local kids in Benque, a small border town with Guatemala. He had already taught for a year and was returning to begin teaching for another year. He was being picked up by two other American teachers from the same school and offered to give me a ride to a nearby road to flag down a bus towards Belize City (Benque was the opposite direction on the same road). I accepted and got a ride to the road, where they dropped me off and invited me to come to Benque if I wanted to, and they told me there are volunteer opportunities in Benque helping to build and construct homes and buildings. I thanked them and got out of the van.

I saw a Belizean dude standing across the street (the side of the street where I would need to flag down a bus towards Belize City), and headed over to him. I asked him about the buses and we talked for a little bit until the bus to Belize City arrived, which I promptly waved down and boarded.

The bus was very crowded, mostly by locals, with most seats full and only three or four of the seats with only one person in them. I made my way back and sat down on the first available seat. The bus smelled like marijuana. Not the smoke but the plant itself, which I found amusing. Eventually one of the bus attendants made his way back to me for me to pay my bus fee (I was hoping I would escape unscathed, but alas, not). I handed him an America twenty and I received $37.50 belize dollars back (the set currency ratio is US$1 is equal to BZ$2). I sat back, relaxed, and watched the Belizean countryside roll by.

I rode the bus through Belize City until it arrived at the bus terminal, where everyone who hadn't trickled off earlier in the city began to exit the bus. Once I got off the bus I headed towards an old dude wearing a Columbia hat and tourist shirt while digging a travel guide out of my bag. I had no clue where in the city I was, so once I had flipped to the map page for the city in my guidebook, I approached the old guy and asked him if he could show me we were. He asked where I was going and it ended up that we were both going to the same hostel, so we started heading towards it.

The mans name was Al, and he was from Oregon and traveled for three weeks every year. He said he usually went to Mexico, but was getting bored and wanted to try something different. He also went on vacation to Europe with his wife every year as well, but was here by himself. We had to dodge all manner of people begging for spare money or trying to tell us where to go and found our way to the hostel, the Seaside Guest House. Al told me that we were walking through a bad section of town on our way to the hostel and he was glad that he had company.

The tourbooks and many different online sources all proclaimed that Belize City isn't a fun city for tourists. Crime is pretty bad and there are not many activities for tourists to do or any real night life. They have a museum but it mostly just demonstrates what you can find around the country and there is no point in visiting it if you plan on traveling throughout Belize.

Al rented a private room with bath for US 40 bucks, but I went with a dorm style room with three beds and a common bathroom (used by multiple rooms) for US 20. I had the dorm style room to myself and it had a nice view of the bay with a pleasant sea breeze blowing in through the open window. The bay was only 50 yards away and I heard the rustling of the water as it flowed against the dike (there are reefs and islands all along the shore of Belize, so no real waves make it this far). Once we were settled in, Al went to go look at a museum (which ended up being closed) and I went to find a general store where I could buy a few things.

I wanted to buy some soap, razors, and a pocket knife and went to a place called Brody's Pharmacy… after much searching, I ended up getting some soap, razors, and peanuts. After leaving the store, I walked over to the Water Taxi station to inquire about when the Water Taxis headed out to Caye Caulker.

While returning to the Hostel, a very persistent local started talking to me. I had trouble understanding most of what he was saying, but after several times asking him why he was walking with me to the hostel, it seemed he was convinced that I was going to give him some money which I had left in my room. I told him no, and that I would give him some Belizean coinage. He said he would take it so I gave him about 30 cents Belizean (although there was a US nickel in there too). Upon seeing how little it was, he cursed and tossed the change all over the street and walked off. I just left the change on the ground and walked back to my hostel (making sure the dude wasn't trying to follow me).

Upon return to the hostel, I went up to my room and began pouring through the hard copy guidebook and the guidebook which I downloaded to determine how I am going to continue my journeys. I decided that I will continue to Caye Caulker and spend a few days there until I am tired of it and then check out Ambergris Caye, at least for a night. Then return to Belize City and immediately catch a bus for San Ignacio. San Ignacio is the best city for tourists to explore the jungle and nature. They have hikes, caving, kayaking, white water rafting and Mayan ruins all over the area. Also Benque isn't too far from San Ignacio so if I decide to stop in and visit the teachers who game me a ride, it isn't too much of a hassle.

For dinner, I ate in the common room of my hostel. One of the women who work at the hostel cooked up some chicken wings stir fried in a Caribbean sauce, a tomato/cucumber salad, and some banana fritters (the house specialty). I also got a delicious fried crab cake, some ginger drink (not as weak or sweet as ginger ale and not as strong and acrid as ginger beer… it was delicious). I also drank a Belikin, the locally produced beer, which wasn't bad at all.

After eating I went up to my room, read for a little bit and took a shower, washing some of my clothes while taking the shower :D. I hung my clothes on some rungs in my room and watched part of a boring movie on my computer until I fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up and looked through my guidebooks for a little bit before I headed towards the water taxis and booked passage to Caye Caulker.


Alright... let me know how you feel about this post. I think it is rather boring in trying to describe every minute thing which I did. Should I just focus on the more exciting parts or is it fine as it is? Let me know what you think I can do to improve the blog. Thanks.