We got the idea of going to Belize from Erin, with whom I lived in my first year in Cambridge. Belize is just south of Mexico, on the Caribbean side. They have the second largest barrier reed system in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We stayed for 10 days in San Pedro (from the Madonna song La Isla Bonita) on the island of Ambergris Caye. Actually, we stayed at the Cloisters, which is about a 30min walk north of town. We had a two bedroom beach front unit with a kitchen and cable tv and wireless internet and our own personal beach cause we were the only ones there! That's the advantage of travelling in the off-season.
So this is what we spent our time doing:
- Most of our days were spent hanging out at the hotel, exploring the wildlife (crabs, fish, birds) on our beach, and cooling off in the pool;
- Walking into San Pedro town at the hottest time of day is not recommended (we did this a number of times before we learned our lesson);
- We ate out about once a day (Fido's was my favourite), and usually had breakfast and lunch in the hotel. They don't have much fresh food at the stores, mostly long-life stuff like cans and pasta, so we ate things like spaghetti or mac and cheese. We did get a lot of fresh fruit (watermelon, bananas, pineapple) from the stalls on the street though;
- We watched the NBA Western Conference Finals - Go Nuggets! Too bad they lost 4 games to 2 against the Lakers;
- We felt the earthquake in Honduras early on Thursday morning. I guess they had another, smaller one today too;
- One day we took the water taxi to Caye Caulker, the next island over, and went snorkelling on the reef. We saw loads of fish and corals, and got to swim with the stingrays!
- Then we went on a day trip to Lamanai, one of the many Mayan ruins in Belize. This one was occupied from about 1500BC to 1500AD, so about 3000 years! On the way we saw loads of wildlife like crocodiles, manatees, dolphins, spider monkeys and howler monkeys;
- We went on a fishing trip off our island one day. By 'we' I mean that Hilary and Paul went fishing (Paul caught 4 fish - 1 snapper and 3 barracudas!), then they came back to pick us up. Our guide cooked the fish for us for lunch, and then we went snorkelling at Mexico Rocks in the afternoon.
Then Euan, Hilary and Paul left me in Belize City for two days alone (again, not recommended). Belize is a really poor country (the guide book says that 1/3 of the people live in poverty), and this is really obvious in Belize City once you leave the more touristy islands. It's not un-safe, just not what we're used to, and there's not much to do in town all alone. So, what I did with my two days alone was:
- I went to the Belize Zoo. All the animals there were orphaned, injured, given from other zoos, born there or confiscated because they were being kept illegally as pets. All are animals local to Belize and none could have survived if they were let back into the wild, so it's a great opportunity to see them up close. I took the bus there, which was cool cause all the buses there are old school buses from the US;
- I went Cave Tubing and I was the only one on the tour! The owner admitted that he can't make a profit off every tour, an he does the job because he loves it, so he took me even though he lost money. It was funny cause his whole family came along too. They didn't do the tubing part - they just swam in the river;
- I went to the casino. Just for an hour or so to play some jackpot party (mine and my mom's favourite game).
The night before I left, my host at Freddie's Guest House gave me 3 mangoes from the tree in her backyard and they were so yummy! Then I flew back to London via Houston. It's sunny and warm here today. Not as nice as Belize, but a nice welcome back. You can see some of my photos on facebook.
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