Sunburn in November 3: Belize

[hauntedheadnc]

We left Cozumel and headed off to Belize, where we saw the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich just outside the towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena, and then got a good look at Belize City from the inside of a tour bus.

The nation of Belize, formerly known as British Honduras, gave me a lot more hope than did our next stop at Honduras. Though Belize City itself was squalid, and had had most of what grandeur it ever possessed erased by a hurricane in 1932 and Hurricane Hattie in 1961, the country itself is doing everything in its power to ascend the ladder of development. Our tour guide was as proud as she could be of the educational system and explained that Belize has an enviable literacy rate of almost 90%. She explained that the country is extremely environmentally conscious and is putting everything in place to host large-scale economic improvement without destroying this small nation's natural glories -- including its only-one-in-the-world jaguar preserve. All it needs, basically, is some major outside investment -- it's ready, willing, and educationally able to face the future.

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Belize: Cruising With Lunatics

Here are the ruins at Xunantunich (aka "Tuna Sandwich"), outside the towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena. As you are surely aware, several leading insane persons have deciphered clues in ancient Mayan calendars and have concluded that the world will end next month. Several of these people were on the cruise and were visiting the ruins to do... something. Perhaps to feel something. I don't know, but whatever it was, was terribly spiritual. I left them to it.









Our tour guide at the archaeological site seemed exasperated by the 2012 prophecy nuts running around the ruins.



















That's San Ignacio down there.







That would be Guatemala there in the distance.





The tour guide walks on the wild side.





















You've got to take a ferry across a muddy river to get to the ruins.





San Ignacio and Santa Elena are side by side, and one runs into the other.



















































En route from San Ignacio to Belize City.






The nation of Taiwan is doing something or other in conjunction with Belize. As to what it is, it involved agriculture and that's all I know.



Now entering Belize City.





















































































Follow me around the Caribbean!

Florida
Cozumel
Honduras
Cayman Islands

[Kingofthehill]

Yeah, Belize City definitely is a pit. Otherwise, thanks for the great tour! As both somebody of Caribbean ancestry, and a Spanish speaker, I am never quite sure what to consider Belize. Caribbean? Latin American? Most of the Belizeans in LA are English-speakers, of African descent, and seem to be culturally compatible with Caribbeaners. Also, nice indirect coverage of the proliferation of Chinese merchants in the developing world. They're everywhere!

[brickell]

I made the same trip when our cruise ship docked, except we rented a car. Not a lot of tourist make it all the way out there. Anyway, I had been to Belize when I was younger and it's interesting that you picked up on the same positive attitude as I did. It was my first time out of the country and I found Belize to be pretty gritty at first. But then we took a trip across the border to Tikal. You could still feel the effects of the civil war over there. The indigenous peoples living like it 1899. You could literally see the pain in their faces. Came back through to Belize and I specifically remember seeing a group kids waiting fora school bus. They were all laughing and smiling. It's a small thing, but I tear up just thinking about it. My encounters there were always positive and with mostly happy people.

From my experiences in country and with expats, they're definitely Caribbean. Most of the population lives along the coast and they are straight up no different that Jamaicans or anyone else in the islands. There's some Garifuna down south and out west and north there's more mixing and Hispanic types, but they make up a relatively small portion of the population. Not too much exchange with Guatemala from what I could tell, but a lot of back and forth through the northern border with Mexico.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by brickell

Came back through to Belize and I specifically remember seeing a group kids waiting fora school bus. They were all laughing and smiling. It's a small thing, but I tear up just thinking about it. My encounters there were always positive and with mostly happy people.

The schools were what cinched it for me. We passed by several and at every one you could see students either inside learning or out in the yards playing, and on the way out there that morning, kids in school uniforms were everywhere at every bus stop.

I keep comparing it to the next stop in Honduras. There were kids everywhere there too... except they were begging and trying to sell trinkets and bracelets. We asked our tour guide about that and were told that there are so few schools that they have to hold it in shifts, and those kids out in the morning would probably go to school that afternoon. Still though, the optimism was not there, and there seemed to be neither the will nor the infrastructure in place to change anything. I got the feeling that if someone were to come into Belize with serious money, it would quickly stairstep its way up toward becoming the Singapore of Central America. I never got any feeling like that at all in Honduras.

[bunt_q]

There is a ton of money coming into Belize, between tourism and remittances from the states. What Belize doesn't have is people. It's a tiny country. 350,000 is going to make it tough to attract much in terms of industry.

Great experiences there though. You shoulda gotten outside the tour bus and on to a local bus!

I hitchhiker into/out of the jaguar reserve you mentioned. Completely alone through the jungle. Got a lift out from a ranger, the only other guy in the park. Caving solo without a soul nearby. Only in Belize. Really a fascinating place.

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures! Interesting seeing Belize. It's too bad that you couldn't get out of that bus and walk around for a little bit.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

There is a ton of money coming into Belize, between tourism and remittances from the states. What Belize doesn't have is people. It's a tiny country. 350,000 is going to make it tough to attract much in terms of industry.

Great experiences there though. You shoulda gotten outside the tour bus and on to a local bus!

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Nice pictures! Interesting seeing Belize. It's too bad that you couldn't get out of that bus and walk around for a little bit.

True enough, although I imagine if some serious foreign investment was coming in, it wouldn't be long before Belize started to also see some serious reverse migration. I really do wish them the best. It just seemed hopeful and that's rare in this world.

Yeah, I suppose it was too bad, although everyone -- to a person -- told us that Belize City wasn't safe to walk around in if you didn't know where you were going first. Besides, cruise ship excursions don't last all that long most of the time. Not a lot of time to really explore the country.

[LSyd]

thanks for the pics. i kind of want to go now.

your description of the 2012 nuts reminds me of the kennedy assassination conspiracy theorists who'd gather in dealey plaza every now and then.

it's sad but true: San Ignacio (and a lot of the other pics) reminds me of rural Georgia and South Carolina near the coast.

-

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by LSyd

thanks for the pics. i kind of want to go now.

your description of the 2012 nuts reminds me of the kennedy assassination conspiracy theorists who'd gather in dealey plaza every now and then.

it's sad but true: San Ignacio (and a lot of the other pics) reminds me of rural Georgia and South Carolina near the coast.

-

You're welcome. Glad you liked them.

I grew up in Appalachian poverty and I could have also found parallels if I was looking for them, sadly enough.

[Nineties Flava]

Again, interesting photos of somewhere I've never seen in here. I had a Belizean neighbor when I still lived in East Oakland, I think he was from Belize City.

On Belize City, honestly I think the "squalidness" depends on what one is comparing it to. What immediately jumped out to me were the sidewalks (the fact that they're there at all) the paved roads, the name-brand cars that are newer than 1990, the glass on the windows of the houses, the overhead electric wires... relatively-speaking it looks pretty nice as far as urban centers of third-world countries go. It almost surprised me how much some sections reminded me of sections of Miami or even parts of my former neck of the woods in East Oakland other than the foliage.

[arkitekte]

Adding this to future places to travel. Nice set.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

On Belize City, honestly I think the "squalidness" depends on what one is comparing it to. What immediately jumped out to me were the sidewalks (the fact that they're there at all) the paved roads, the name-brand cars that are newer than 1990, the glass on the windows of the houses, the overhead electric wires... relatively-speaking it looks pretty nice as far as urban centers of third-world countries go. It almost surprised me how much some sections reminded me of sections of Miami or even parts of my former neck of the woods in East Oakland other than the foliage.

On the other hand, our tour guide pointed out that there are seven traffic lights in the nation of Belize, and our tour bus was going to pass by a landmark -- one of the two traffic lights in Belize City. It was the one that didn't work.

From what I've read, Belize City used to be considerably nicer, but there were those two hurricanes... and Hattie in 1961 finished off what the one in 1932 didn't destroy. There is even a town halfway between Belize City and the new capital city of Belmopan called Hattieville where refugees from the hurricane in 1961 evacuated to, and then refused to go back.

Originally Posted by arkitekte

Adding this to future places to travel. Nice set.

It's worth it.

[bunt_q]

I do think pound for pound Belize city is probably as shady as any other city on earth. I mean, it's only got 50,000 or so people. It is impressively scary for a city that small. Didn't stop me from walking around pretty much everywhere though. I sat through a tropical wave there too. Those streets turn into rivers real quick. .

I totally agree about the sense of hopefulness. Friendly outgoing people, full of optimism, proud of their little country. It doesn't hurt that every single person there has friends or family living in the US, which makes for an easy conversation starter for Americans.

[brickell]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

On the other hand, our tour guide pointed out that there are seven traffic lights in the nation of Belize, and our tour bus was going to pass by a landmark -- one of the two traffic lights in Belize City. It was the one that didn't work.

My first time there, we got stuck in a quagmire of what may have been the only stop light at the time. I'm not even sure why it was there as everyone just ignored it.

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

It's worth it.

Also to temper the good feelings, a friend says the drug violence and random crime is getting too bad. You're probably fine in touristy areas, but Belize isn't immune to the same problems infecting it's neighbors.