The crossing from Mexico at Chetumal was relatively uneventful and we pitched in for our first, with Sigrid and Peter, night in a wild camp next to the sea near Corozal.
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| Orange Walk |
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| Orange Walk |
Up until 1981 Belize was a British Sovereign State and was known as British Honduras until 1973. Despite now being independent for over 40 years, it has remained in the British Commonwealth and many British customs and features still remain. Their laws are based on British Law and their currency has the Queen on it, but best of all they Speak English.
We really didn't know what to expect in Belize, the first of our Central American Countries. To say we have been completely blown away would be an understatement. We absolutely love it. It's clean and beautiful. the people are very nice. There is very little garbage along the road side, the Sea is Turquoise blue and the scenery is a lush healthy green with palms, trees and banana plantations. The kids all wave as you drive by.
In addition to the Indigenous Belizian Maya, Belize is a melting pot of immigrants such as the Garifuna community who originate in Africa and the Caribbean. The Mennonites who arrived from Mexico in the late 50s and immigrants from neighbouring states such as Guatemala and Honduras.
More recently however, there has been an increase of arrivals from the USA, Canada, and Europe, who have made Belize their new home.
Belize has some of the thickest, densest tropical jungles on the planet. The British Army still send their guys here for training.
Deep within one of these tropical jungle regions is Belize Zoo. It is actually a rescue centre for native animals and birds that have either been injured or discarded pets.
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| Tapir |
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| White Tailed Deer |
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| Howler Monkey |
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| Jaguar |
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Jaguar.jpg) |
The town itself was very pleasant although somewhat more expensive than other areas. Nearly all the Supermarkets and Grocery stores are owned by the Chinese community, who very cleverly don't put prices on any of their produce and watch you go pale when they tell you the total cost. It had a strong Caribbean feel about it
We managed to celebrate Peter's birthday 3 times.
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| A good place to leave our bag when we went swimming. |
The small coastal village of Riversdale was a perfect stop, right on the beach. A lovely community feel. We waited for the small fishing boats to come in to buy our fresh Lobsters.
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| From this |
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| To this in 15 Minutes |
Hopkins is a very popular coastal town. It attracts both international travellers and locals. Again we got a prime spot on the beach
Over 60% of Belize is forest and jungle, mostly within the 17 National Parks. Mayflower Bocawina is a great example of this.
Hermans Cave was fun to explore and float on inflatable tubes through the underground river.
We mentioned the different Communities that exist in Belize and the Mennonites are present right across the country, but mainly in the two areas called Spanish Lookout and Shipyard.
Originating in Europe the Mennonites have migrated to many countries. The Belizian ones travelled down from Chihuahua, Mexico in 1958. If you are not familiar with them, the Mennonites are a deeply religious, insular community that do not ordinarily embrace modern technologies such as Electricity, Phones or Machinery etc. However, some of the groups within Belize have modernised and integrated with other Belizians.
They dominate the Construction, Engineering and Agriculture industries.
The more orthodox members in Shipyard can often be seen working the fields by hand and using Horses and Carts as their primary means of transport. They have their own languages called Plautdietsch or Mennonite Low German .
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| These three images are courtesy of Google We found ourselves slowly edging towards the border with Guatemala near San Ignacio, but couldn't resist a relaxing couple of days at The Big Rock Waterfall.       San Ignacio was our last stop before crossing into Guatemala. A very friendly town on the Macal River. Behind a very nice hotel was the Green Iguana Conservation Project      By Sheer luck, we arrived in San Ignacio at the same time as their annual Canoe Race called the Ruta Maya. About 70 teams, including the British Army, set off at 7am from the town's Wooden Bridge on a 4 day race finishing 170 miles away in Belize City. The prize money for winning is quite substantial so most teams took the event very seriously. |
We hadn't met Dan and Geraldine of Dolly's Diary's, but we had plenty of hours on the phone .
A relaxing couple of days with great food, drink and games occured at San Ignacio in Belize.
Crossing borders late in the day is not our preferred time as unforseen delays can put you under pressure. We usually like to stop close to the frontier the night before and cross the next morning.
Pat arranged to stop on a small farm with a familly about 20km prior to the Mexican border in Belize.
This turned out to be a very special moment in our journey that we will remember forever.
Magali Gladys and her Husband Alfredo own and run a small farm with cattle goats and chickens. Along with their three amazing sons Chris, Steven and Carlos, they work the land and care for the animals every day.
In addition to the livestock they also own a large collection of trees including the now rare Mahogany. Planting seeds and growing saplings has become another source of income.
Their hospitality was second to none. A truly inspirational family with huge hearts.
Belize is Beautiful.
The landscape is amazing and the people are lovely.
We didnt manage to go to the islands and Experience the Marine Life.
I can't help thinking that we haven't finished in Belize.
Next stop Guatemala
December 2024
This was our third time into Belize and its a country that we have really enjoyed in the past.
We had arranged to meet up with some dear friends Glady's, Alfredo and their three sons Carlos, Christopher and Steven. They live on a small holding not far from the town of Corazol. Steven and Christopher are currently studying Agriculture and Business at college just over the border in Mexico. They rode all the way back to spend an evening with us.
Glady's had identified an area for us to park in that didn't look too muddy. However, she couldn't have been more wrong and I didn't check.
With the help of their neighbour Carlos, who had a tractor we eventually got out. However, we didn't realise that the mud we collected on the inside of the rear wheel had damaged the Valve. A problem that would bite us a few days later.
Glady's and her family were the perfect hosts and we enjoyed a wonderful evening meal with lots of laughing.
Gladys is probably proudest Mum in the world and has dedicated her entire life to the education needs of her children. It was lovely to see her rewards.
About an hour after we arrived we discovered that the rear tyre on the truck was completely flat.
Having already had a few beers in the sun I decided that this was a job for tomorrow as the thought of lifting a a 10 ton truck and changing a 150kg wheel on soft sand was a job that needed a bit of preparation and thought.
That night, whilst lying in bed we felt the whole truck heave to one side. After a quick panic, we discovered that the tyre had completely detached from the rim causing the vehicle move.
The next day Karsten and I set to work and it went surprisingly smoothly and much quicker than we had expected.
We later had the tyre inspected and discovered that the the build up of mud from being stuck earlier had damaged the valve and caused the deflation. We were lucky it lasted for the drive to Hopkins. In fairness, this was the first flat tyre we had had in all of our travelling with this vehicle, so we couldn't really complain
A couple of nights with Sandie and Karsten was just what we needed.
Right at the start of this blog I mentioned that we had encountered several annoying issues with the vehicle upon our return to Mexico.
Our airlines were still leaking and our Air conditioning wasn't very cold.
We headed for the Mennonite town of Spanish Lookout as this is where all the engineering shops and parts suppliers lived.
We had the Air Conditioning re gassed and a few seals replaced.
After we left the workshop, heading for our nights camp some 2 km away, we discovered that all the electrics in the truck kept cutting out and coming back on again.
We crawled in the dark to the camp and soon discovered that the ignition key, which also controls the lights, had failed. Yet another annoying fault that was really starting to get Pat down.
The next day we managed to buy a new Key and Ignition switch, so we were back on the road quite soon
Our drive to the border of guatemala was long and dull. The grey skies and heavy tropical rain never ceased.
It was during this journey that our suspicions were confirmed that out 11 year old cabin batteries weren't performing as well as they used to and the decision was made to look for replacements.
We felt like we rushed through Belize, but had arranged to meet up for Christmas with some friends in Antigua Guatemala which we were looking forward to.
