Belize – August 13-17, 2023

[Martin Hash]

Finally, on my wife, Gwynne, and my trip from the Arctic Ocean to the Panama Canal, we entered a country I hadn’t been to before: Belize. We came in via Mexico so Gwynne used the leftover pesos to buy three 6-packs of beer, a bag of Ruffles potato chips, and a package of Chips Ahoy cookies. I put them on the floor in front of me to repack when we got to our night’s campsite. At the border; the passengers got waved through but the truck needed a contraband inspection. It took awhile; when we reboarded, my beer was gone. There was a wet spot on the floor a few empty cans, as were our newly purchased potato chips and cookies. I heard later that border control had planned on taking the truck’s entire kitchen larder but changed their minds; I hope it was because of the party in my seat.

Belize City

Belize was claimed by the Spanish in the 16th century and settled by the British at the beginning of the 19th. It didn’t get independence until 1981. English is the official language and the U.S. dollar is accepted everywhere. It has 450,000 people, including Mennonite & Amish settlements. Belize is the only Central American country without a coastline with the Pacific Ocean. It’s considered part of Latin America due to the Mestizo population, and the Caribbean due to its African immigrants. Belize City is primarily Caribbean while the rest of the country is Latin & Maya. The vast majority of the people are Catholic.



Altun Ha

You’d think, “Seen one Maya ruin city, seen them all,” and you’d be right, but given the chance to see a new one, we took it to Altun Ha, an hour north of Belize City. First we rode inner tubes through a mile long limestone cave but there was still time for a Maya ruin. We were the only ones there; in fact, they closed the gate behind us; that made it doubly worth it.



Caye Caulker

Tourists to Belize go to the islands off the coast. It’s an hour by water ferry to Caye Caulker, the most youth oriented of them. Gwynne & I took a day trip there to snorkel & eat lobster. We swam with the sharks while manta rays brushed against our legs & hand fed large fish and birds flying overhead. It wasn’t too hot and the food was delicious.



Belize Zoo

A new zoo has moved into my Top 10 most macabre: Belize Zoo. To begin, it’s in the middle of the jungle, an hour away from any urban center; secondly, it must have been zoo day for every third-grader in the country; the parking lot was full of hundreds of kids; and thirdly, it was occupied only by indigenous species, all of which were taking a mid-morning nap out of view. Though we saw few moving animals besides the lizards, the enclosures were completely integrated into the surrounding jungle; we were amazed just by the flora. It was also clear that the zoo’s caretakers took great pride in the exhibition; there were cute signs and photos everywhere. Entering the zoo, we were greeted with an autographed picture of the late Steve Irwin; the tapir area was empty except for the preserved skeleton of its former inhabitant, April, along with her obituary, and a photo of a dead tapir killed while crossing the road. On an up note, one pen with a creature we could see was occupied by a crippled stork that had fallen from its nest when young.