Belize City
Settled 300 years ago by English pirates, Belize City, with a population of 70,000 people, is now a mixture of weather beaten colonial and Caribbean style wooden homes, propped up on stilts, desperately in need of a new coat of paint. The city does have its share of petty street crime, because it's crowded and congested, so they tend to act differently.
Don't worry, there is a redeeming charm about this dilapidated city. For the most part, the residents are friendly, honest, hard working, and humble. Belize city is just the opposite of the rest of the country, which is calm, peaceful and rural. It's OK to hate Belize City and still love Belize. In fact, you can live in Belize and never have to go to Belize City. On the other hand you may go there and never have a problem.
Hundreds of uninhabited, palm-lined cayes dot the coast of Belize. Of the inhabited ones, Ambergris Caye is the largest, most populated and developed. Only a narrow channel separates Ambergris Caye from Mexico.
San Pedro is the main town, really the only town. This is the most "touristy" place in Belize, with its seaside restaurants, ultra expensive resorts, souvenir shops and three nightclubs. The once quiet sandy streets are now filled with taxis, ATVs and golf carts (used for transportation not golfing). It has become, the hideaway for the European and American jet setters and was once featured on the "lifestyles of the rich and famous". Unfortunately all this has raised prices.
Caye Caulker just south of Ambergris Caye, is less developed, but just as beautiful and offers low cost accommodations and dive packages. Here is, an affordable tropical island paradise and only 20-miles from Belize city. Its population of about 800, is quite a blend of Belizean lobster fisherman and families, mixed with artists, retirees, back-packers and hippies, from all over the world. The beaches here, are littered with enormous, glistening pink and purple conch shells. Caye Chapel and Caye George are located just nearby, and are less developed but just as beautiful.
Half Moon Caye Natural Monument lies in the midst of the Lighthouse reef atoll, 60 miles east of Belize City. The reserve features a lighthouse and sanctuary, built in 1848, for the red footed boobie and over 100 other bird species. The Lighthouse reef atoll is near to the great Blue Hole, a natural phenomenon, stretching 1000 feet in diameter and 400 feet below the sea's surface and offering spectacular cave diving.
The Belize barrier reef, is the second largest in the world and largest in the Western Hemisphere. It is part of a complex and largely intact coastal ecosystem of exceptional value. Three coral atolls lie outside the barrier reef, where the continental shelf of Belize ends abruptly, in a drop off that sinks to over 10,000 feet. The barrier reef runs, 200 miles, the entire length of the country and supports a tremendous number of patch reefs, shoals and over 1000 islands called "cayes. Huge forests of mangroves, protect most of these cayes and the entire coastline of Belize. The barrier reef along Belize's coastline is the country's most well known and popular feature, among divers and fisherman, from around the world.
Corozal is the northern most town, in Belize, only 9 miles from the Mexican border. The moment you cross the border, from Mexico into Belize, you can feel the difference. Corozal is located on the shoreline of Chetumal Bay, with a population of 10,000. In 1955, Corozal was destroyed by hurricane Janet, when most of the town consisted of adobe homes. Today, Corozal is a mixture of Mexican cement block and Caribbean wood stilt homes.
The residents are primarily Hispanic, most speaking Spanish and English. During the 1800's, thousands of Mestizos and Indian refugees, fled Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, to British Honduras, to escape the caste war. Today, their descendants make up a majority of Corozal.
These refugees, were experienced farmers, so soon after their arrival, Belize began exporting sugar, to England. As production increased, additional processing capabilities were required, so a libertad factory was built in Corozal. The sugar cane, produced in Belize, is noted for its high sucrose content, the highest in the world, due to climate and soil fertility. The word Corozal, was derived from the Spanish name, for the Cohune palm tree, the Mayan symbol of fertility.
The "high jungle" of the Cayo district, is known for it's broad-leaf rain forest, its waterfalls and breathtaking views. It's a good base, from which to explore the Mountain Pine ridge and vast Mayan ruins, in the area.
The town of San Ignacio, is built in the Cayo hills, where the Macal and Mopan rivers converge, to form the Belize river. The highest suspension bridge, in Belize crosses the Macal river in town. If you're looking for gifts, there is a myriad of small shops in town; you can find anything, from carvings from local hardwoods, to T-shirts.
The most unique tour of the jungle, is the Panti Mayan medicine trail. Rosita Arvigo and her husband, came to Belize 25 years ago, from the states. They are both doctors of napapathy and operate a research center, on their 35-acre jungle farm. At their farm, they work with groups from Washington, DC, to find natural cures for cancer and other diseases. They also organize, conferences on traditional healing, medicinal plants as well as run a practice in alternative medicine.
Although their farm is remote, visitors from all over the world come to see their Panti Medicine trail. Along this half-mile jungle trail, signs provide, the names of many of the most common medicinal plants and trees found in the rainforest. Volunteers, interested in helping with research, can sign on for three-to six months. Don't laugh. Of the world's commercial medicines, fully 25% are derived from plant-based chemicals in the rainforest today.
A flock of keel-billed toucans are perched on a high rainforest canopy. Hummingbirds, hover over crimson hibiscus, the size of dinner plates. A tapir, the piggish national animal, roots and snorts among the vines and scrubs, for food. A jaguar quietly strolls by, eyes fixed on you, then disappears into the jungle. Sights such as these are abundant in the rainforest. As a guest, at one of the jungle lodges or retreats, you can encounter these natural spectacles.
One of these, amazing jungle retreats, is Jaguar Creek. A world class environmental research and education center, incorporating Mayan architecture and the latest in environmental technology. It is located next to the Blue Hole National Park and serves to advance, the protection of jaguars, toucans, tapirs and the rainforest. It is also the base for the Christian Environmental Association's global stewardship study program and functions as a retreat.
On the Hummingbird Hwy, 12 miles south of Belmopan lies the Blue Hole National Park. It's a wonderful place to hike jungle trails, swim in the blue hole, explore underground caves and rivers. Nearby, at the Caves Branch Adventure Camp, as the name suggests, the big attractions are the caves. The underground river systems, allow guests, to float on inner tubes, spelunking through miles of caves, where they pass magnificent stalagmites, sparkling like diamonds. Also in this area is, St. Herman's cave once inhabited by the Mayans.
One of the best values in Belize, is the Five Blue Lakes National Park, located 45-miles south of the capitol. The 4200-acre rainforest national park is named for its five deep-blue lagoons.
In 1971,the planned city of Belmopan, was established inland, as the new capitol of Belize. After Belize city was reduced to rubble, by hurricane Hatti, in 1961. Most of the best Mayan artifacts, found in Belize, are located here in the capitol. Belmopan has a small population of about 6000 civil servants and city workers.
A few minutes out of Belmoapn lies Guanacaste National Park, one of the oldest reserves in Belize. Nearby is the YWAM (youth with a mission) base, where students come for missions training. The Belize Zoo, is also 30 minutes away on the Western Highway, best known for its unique approach in allowing the animals to roam freely, within their natural habitat.
Stann Creek, which encompasses Dangriga, Hopkins, Sittee Point and Placencia, is beautiful, wild, and largely uninhabited and undeveloped. Real estate opportunities are diverse, from isolated farmland, to beachfront properties and riverside hideaways. The next building boom, in Belize will be in this region, particularly in Placencia.
Dangriga is also known as Stann Creek, population 8000. It is the largest town in southern Belize and is mainly home to the Garifuna or black Caribes, a blend of African and Caribbean island natives. They celebrate their arrival here, in 1823, every November 19, with drums, music, dancing and just plain getting' down. The name Garifuna, means "standing water", in Garifuna. The citrus industry thrives here in Dangriga, where Sunkist, also owns orange orchards.
Just south of Dangriga is the Coxcomb Basin Jaguar Reserve, a wildlife sanctuary, below the jagged peaks of the Maya Mountain's Cockcomb range. Home to nearly 60 jaguars, including the ocelot, margay, tapir, keel-billed toucan and scarlet macaw. The lush jungle of the basin is a birder's paradise, with over 300 species recorded. The basin is managed by the Belize Audobon Society.
Dangriga is not as beautiful,as its southern neighbor Placencia. The tiny village of Placencia, is fast gaining popularity, for its fishing, diving and some of the best beaches in Belize. It may currently be, the country's fastest-growing area, for tourists and already offers, several small hotels and lodges.
If you're looking for a relaxing getaway, where you can sun yourself, or grab a hammock, on the nicest beaches in the country, come to Placencia. It is sixteen miles of wide sandy beaches, that looks like a tropical island, but is really a peninsula, surrounded by water on both sides. With one dirt road, that runs the length of the peninsula, it makes it seem like an out-of-the-way escape.
Placencia must be one of the most laid-back places in Belize. The main street is actually a single concrete sidewalk running through the village, built some 30 years ago, as a means of wheel-barrowing fish, without fighting the sand. It still serves, as a main artery of life in town. It ribbons its way, past numerous houses on stilts, camp grounds, local businesses and one of Placencia's oldest structures, the octagonal Anglican church.
Huguenots gave the name, Placencia, shared by the village and its peninsula. Members of this strict protestant sect, fled religious persecution in Europe and immigrated to Belize, in 1740. The Huguenots, eventually beaten by the tropical heat, abandoned the settlement in 1820.
Placencia was restarted, as a fishing village, in the mid 1800's and with the wealth of marine life and proximity of the barrier reef, prospered. Although, many of the fisherman have given up their lines for dive gear, the village still celebrates June 29, as fisherman's day, with a boat parade and a blessing of the fishing fleet, followed by a town-wide party, where visitors are welcome.
Kayaking and canoeing, in the Placencia lagoon, is one way of silently viewing, the tremendous amount of wildlife. Though unpredictable, the manatee feed in the extensive grass beds and calve in the secluded bays and rivers emptying into the lagoon.
Punta Gorda, is the southern most town of any significant size in Belize, with a population of 4000. It's about, 200 road miles from Belize City and sits on the beautiful, Gulf of Honduras. P.G. (as referred to locally) started out, as a remote fishing village. Today, there are a lot of Peace Corps and Voice of America workers for Central America.
Punta Gorda, is a true tropical rainforest, with over 150 inches of rain per year. It's not as bad as it sounds, because, it usually rains at night and you almost always wake up to clear skies. It's true, it does get very muddy and the Southern Highway, is very rugged and may be impassable during the rainy season. However the government has promised, to begin paving the road, to Punta Gorda soon.
* Government: Parliamentary Democracy
* Ethnic Groups: Creole, 39.7%; Mestizo, 33.1%; Maya 9.5%; Garifuna, 7.6%;, Other, 10.1%
* Religious Groups: Catholic, 62%; Protestant, 30%; Other, 8%;
* Languages: English (official), Spanish, Maya, Garifuna (Carib).
* Population: 229,143
* Area: 22,960 Km; Land area 22,800 Km;
* Capitol: Belmopan
* Tourist Board Office: Belize Tourist Board, Belize City (501-2)77213
* Terrain: Flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in South.
* Climate: Tropical; very hot & humid; rainy season: June - Oct.
* Telecommunications: Country Code: 501
* Time Zone: 2 hours, Eastern Standard Time
* Currency: Belize Dollar (approx 2 BDs to 1 U.S. Dollar)
* Local/Nat'l Airline: Belize Trans Air (501-2)77666); Tropic Air (501-2)45671; Maya Airways (501-2)77215
