Be it inland or island, Belize is a magical mix
By Jeremy Schwartz
Cox News Service
Posted: 12/21/2008 12:30:00 AM MST – Denver Post
Located in the center of the country and split by a river along the Caribbean sea, Belize City has been attracting generations of migrants for centuries. (Jeremy Schwartz, Cox Newspapers )
Located in the center of the country and split by a river along the Caribbean sea, Belize City has been attracting generations of migrants for centuries. (Jeremy Schwartz, Cox Newspapers )
BELIZE CITY, Belize — I knew Belize was going to be something different as soon as we got to the remote border crossing in southern Mexico. As we got off our bus to get our passports stamped by a sweating, chain- smoking Mexican customs official, a family of blond Mennonites waited to board. Wearing overalls and bonnets, they added their Low German to the cacophony of languages already on the bus.
My wife and I passed into the Free Zone, a no man’s land between Mexico and Belize that’s home to some dingy hotels, a broom factory and a large casino advertising Russian showgirls. Blasting country music, our bus finally passed through Belizean customs and into the country proper.
As soon as we entered Belize, everything felt different. Houses were made of clapboard wood, not painted concrete, the distances marked in miles instead of kilometers, the signs in jaunty English.
As we rolled through the countryside, hugging the Caribbean Sea in some places, an amazingly diverse group filled the bus: In addition to the American and European tourists, Mexican vacationers and the Mennonites, there were Mayan villagers, Chinese kids and black Belizeans, all speaking English with a distinctive Caribbean lilt.
Most visitors to Belize speed directly to Belize’s main draw: its postcard-perfect islands, called cayes (pronounced “keys”), that feature some of the world’s best diving and snorkeling. And while a vacation featuring turquoise waters, colorful reefs and grilled lobster sounds hard to beat, island hoppers risk missing out on Belize’s unique diversity and intriguing history.
Belize is a rollicking melting pot that grooves to a reggae beat in the middle of Central America. It’s unlike anywhere else you’ve been.
For inveterate people-watchers like myself, it was impossible to pull away from the bus window. Teenagers blasted dancehall music from car stereos, Mennonite farmers sold wooden furniture, Rastafarians hung out in front of Chinese supermarkets.
In the north Belizean town of Orange Walk, a vendor got on the bus urging us to “wahm up ya engines” with his “smokin’ hot tamales,” before translating his pitch into expert Spanish.
Belize is part of Central America, but feels more like a Caribbean island. Its unique history has set it apart from its neighbors, and its small size — just 300,000 residents — belies the racial diversity within its borders.
Belize was a British colony and was called British Honduras until 1973.
Given its location along the Caribbean Sea and its many strategically placed islands, Belize was long a haven for British pirates terrorizing Spanish galleons. Later, its forests of mahogany attracted British prospectors.
The country didn’t achieve independence until 1981, and despite being a majority black country for most of its existence, elected its first black leader only in February. More recently, immigrants from El Salvador and Honduras, drawn by the strong Belizean dollar, have made mestizos the majority.
The country is geographically diverse, too. In the flat, fertile north, Mennonites and British descendants live off farming.
Southern Belize, with its perfect beaches, is home to the Garifuna, descendants of African slaves and indigenous people who came to Belize in 1832. In the mountains and jungles of western Belize, Mayan ruins rival the best Mexico has to offer. And in the middle of the country, teaming, boisterous Belize City hugs the coast, where our bus arrived at the chaotic terminal in Belize City, a place most guidebooks urge tourists to depart immediately. But the city offers an unparalleled, if gritty, glimpse into Belizean culture.
After taking a taxi across the Swing Bridge, which since colonial times has separated the city’s poor and wealthy sections, we made our way to our hotel, the Great House. The century-old colonial mansion on the waterfront evokes images of British consuls in white linen suits fanning themselves on the veranda while sipping rum punch.
After settling in, we took a tour of the city, contracting with a taxi driver from the Radisson hotel next door. Daniel Itza took us down streets named after British royalty, past shops owned by Chinese and Indian immigrants, an old cricket club (soccer and basketball are more popular today), and the sight of the unfinished Marion Jones sports complex (the disgraced American Olympic star is the daughter of a Belizean mother and is still a national hero).
On the street, Itza told us, you can hear Spanish, English, Creole, Mayan and Garifuna. “Belize is like a big pot of rice and beans,” he said with a laugh. “It’s all mixed up.” Itza gassed up his minivan at $5.20 per gallon (yikes!) and took us through low-income neighborhoods where brightly colored homes sat on stilts and the smell of grilling chicken and fish wafted through the humid morning air (big, barrel-shaped grills are ubiquitous in Belize).
The sights and sounds of a city. That afternoon we checked out Neri’s, an institution for local cuisine. The grilled chicken was a delight, but the rice and beans, the country’s signature dish, were surprisingly dry and in need of salt.
Next, we stopped at one of Belize City’s many record shops and picked up a CD by Mr. Peters, the self-proclaimed Godfather of Bruckdown, a hard-driving music born in 17th-century logging camps.
Belize is a paradise for music lovers, and the tiny country claims a number of unique styles including drum-infused Punta music. Throughout the country, reggae grooves, African styles and Latin rhythms mingle in a unique and very danceable blend. Belize’s most famous (or infamous) musical export may be the rapper Shyne, who also happens to be the son of the prime minister. Shyne Barrow was a protege of Sean “P Diddy” Combs before Barrow was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a 1999 New York City nightclub shooting (Jennifer Lopez was the case’s most famous witness).
From Belize City, it’s just a short boat ride to Caye Caulker, the smaller and more tranquil cousin of Ambergris Caye, Belize’s most visited destination. No cars are allowed on Caye Caulker, so we rented a golf cart to check out the island’s colorful houses, dodging kids pedaling past on bikes and wandering backpackers. After a meal of barbecued whole red snapper, we got back on the boat for Belize City.
Then it was on to the capital city, Belmopan, where we had an interview scheduled with Prime Minister Dean Barrow. Belmopan is one of the hemisphere’s more unusual cities, made up mostly of federal bureaucrats in the middle of the jungle. When Hurricane Hattie razed Belize City in 1961, Belize’s politicians decided to set up shop in a safer place 50 miles inland.
From Belmopan, many tourists journey to San Ignacio to explore Mayan ruins and the jungle. But heavy flooding had cut off the western part of the country, so we headed back to Belize City, stopping at the Belize Zoo.
The zoo is an animal sanctuary set in a natural jungle setting that includes jaguars, howler monkeys and the beloved national animal, the mountain cow (or tapir), which looks like a cross between an elephant, rhinoceros and horse.
Belize, it seemed to me, was as unusual as its national animal — a raucous mix of cultures that once experienced, is impossible to forget. Too soon we were back on a school bus heading north to the Mexican border.
I looked out the window the whole way.
Jeremy Schwartz’s e-mail address is jschwartzcoxnews.com.
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Insider’s Guide
GET THERE: By air: Nonstop from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Belize City on American Airlines, Continental and United with one stop, starting at $330.
By land: Crossing by bus over the land border with Chetumal, Mexico, is painless and cheap. Americans aren’t required to have a visa to enter, but be sure to bring your Mexican tourist visa to leave Mexico. Tickets are available at Chetumal’s main bus terminal, and it’s about three hours to Belize City once you cross the border. If you drive into Belize, make sure you get your passport stamped to avoid big headaches when you leave.
GET AROUND: Belize’s internal bus system is made up of old American school buses that can be cramped and stuffy. Renting a car is expensive, and roads are in rough shape beyond the major north/south and east/west highways. Domestic flights reach nearly every corner of the country and are relatively cheap on Tropic Air and Maya Air. Boat travel to the islands is also comfortable and fast.
DINE: Beans and rice is the national dish and often delicious.
Anything grilled, particularly seafood and chicken is likely to be wonderful. And every meal is accompanied by Marie Sharp’s hot sauce, a Belizean staple found in every restaurant.
PLAY:
- Visit Mayan ruins. The Caracol ruins in western Belize and Altun Ha near Belize City are some of the many well-preserved sites.
- Snorkeling and diving are world-class on Belize’s islands, particularly at the famous Blue Hole diving spot near Half Moon Caye. There are more than 185 miles of barrier reef in Belize.
- Cave tubing. Floating through underwater rivers and riding ATVs through the jungle are fun activities for the adventurous. One outfitter is cave-tubing.com.
- Belize Zoo: Between Belize City and Belmopan, this wildlife sanctuary (belizezoo.org) is one of the hemisphere’s best. Check out the mountain cow and the cute howler monkeys.
