Belize

For such a tiny country Belize has a ton of character and feels more like an island in the Caribbean then a central American country. The Diversity here rivals US with the country made up mostly of immigrants from around the world. The Mayans here only make up 10% of the population and the majority is a combination of Creoles (mixed descendants of African slaves and British), Mestizos (mix of European and Indigenous), Garifuna (Caribbean Blacks), Europeans, Americans, Indians, Chinese and even Mennonites (they look and live like Amish, are incredibly successful farmers and speak a form of German)! With the country so diverse it is no wonder that their national language is English – apart from being an ex colony and still bearing the image of the queen on their dinero. All of these groups are still very well defined - they look different, speak different languages, practice different religions and yet they live in perfect harmony. Belize is insanely laid back, the going here is slow and the whole country pretty much shuts down after noon on Sundays for Siesta.

There are so many different people that you hardly speak or hear Spanish here; the majority of people (the Creoles) speak a form of English that is nearly impossible to understand. It drove me crazy at first – the feeling I get when I´m listening to Ukranians talk. The Creole sounds just like English with a Caribbean Accent yet you can´t make out what the conversation is about.

With so many different people you would expect a great diverse set of foods. Sorry. The food in Belize is a mixture of world favorites – fried rice, tacos, pizza, burgers, pasta, with Rice & Beans with Chicken, Beef

or Fish topping every menu. One new food we got to try here is gibnut – a guinea pig like animal the size of a Rabbit. We had a chance to try it at a favorite local spot (Myrtle´s) in Placencia in South Belize. The meat was lean and surprisingly tasted good (not at all gamey). In this town we probably had the best food during our time in the country, complete with

conch fritters and delicious jerked chicken from a jolly sweet woman named Brenda who set up a grill and a table at the end of the main street by the old pier after her restaurant was destroyed a few years back by a hurricane. No matter what kind of meal you land in this country, even the simple rice & beans can be transformed into a tasty plate with Marie Sharp´s habenero sauce. Marie is a legend here and you will find at least one bottle with her name on it in any restaurant. The locals breathe it and she continues to pop out different varieties from her factory near Dangriga – we saw at least 20 at the store!

We started out our trip in Orange Walk, a small town up north and a starting point for a boat trip to the Lamanai ruins. Unfortunately the trip to the ruins was going to cost us 100 big ones and we figured that its probably not worth it – given that we have already done at least 10 sites and still had another 10 to go. Like in Asia with the temples and in Europe with the Churches the Mayan ruins start to look the same and you can´t help but develop the snobish ¨seen that, what else you got¨attitude. Our trip here wasn´t a waste as the folks in town were really nice and our first day we ended up meeting a guy from Texas whose parents moved down here with what sounded like 20 other familias and set up a little community out in the bush where they still live today with no electricity and a lot of crocs. Like I said its a colorful country!

From Orange Walk we caught a series of buses down to Hopkins, a small Garifuna fishing village south of Dangriga. The buses change drastically at the Mexican border town from nice Greyhound types to old school

buses. Some still have school bus rules printed in the front and most are at least 20 years old. The town has two major roads and the Garifuna people are very welcoming and are known for reggae style music which we still have yet to hear live. The folks here are kind, very laid back and lazy (in a great way). The unpaved main road is filled with people on bicycles riding by and greetings are quick and common. From here we decided to check out Placencia, a caye connected to the main land by a road, an hour south of the town. We started the trip with a 4 mile walk along a dirt track back to the main junction where we caught a bus and were out on the Placencia beach by lunch time. This town had a great feel despite the large community of American retirees that have settled down here and we spent the day eating good food, lounging in hammocks and getting toasted on cheap rum drinks during happy hour. Todd stuck to the famous ¨panty ripper¨, coconut rum mixed with pineapple juice.

Although the government here is stable (a novelty for Central America) a third of the people still live below the poverty line. Not a surprise to us as the food prices are on par with those in the US (a simple meal is at least $4) yet the salaries compare to those of their neighbors. Despite this the attitude here is amazing....and the people here seem to have a nice lifestyle proportionally mixed with work and hammock time! We´ll definitely be back some day for some diving off the cayes and more beach time. But for now, we´re off to Guatemala. Next stop, the ruins at Tikal.

See the following link for pics of Belize:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048673&id=1009299883&l=b282f9c882