February 2004. The transportation for this trip turned out to be a bit more complicated than some of the others. Because of flight schedules we drove to Portland, Oregon for an overnight stay, then a shuttle to the airport for an early morning flight to Chicago. After a 3-hour layover, the next leg was to Miami, and another overnighter. Next day we finally boarded our flight to Belize City and arrived there at midday. We were escorted to a beautiful hotel called the "Radisson Fort George Hotel". It was certainly more than adequate. What stays in my memory is that there never was a Fort George there - someone just thought it sounded good.
The next morning we met our Belizean guide and a couple of the bus drivers we would be travelling with and took a short trip to the Belizean National Zoo. This is not exactly the type of zoo that we are used to seeing in the US; instead of being just a collection of birds and animals from various places in the world, it was more of an animal rescue center. Each animal in the Zoo had been injured or abandoned in infancy and had been brought to the zoo to be raised or recovered, and if possible, to eventually be returned to the wild. Some of them for whatever reason could never be released and would spend their lives in captivity.
The next stop on the way to our resort was for lunch at a ranch called "Banana Bank Ranch", but in order to get there we had to cross a small river on a ferry. We were thoroughly familiar with ferries (we thought) because of the Washington State ferry system with its huge motorized ships, electrically controlled docking systems and immense parking lots.
Consider this: a small pontoon-shaped boat with planks hanging off each end (drive on-drive-off), capacity two vehicles, parking in the roadway where one could pass opposing traffic carefully, a "waiting room" consisting of a palm-thatched roof and a plank bench; and an elderly, very muscular gentleman who hand-cranked the ferry back and forth many times a day!
The Banana Bank ranch is owned and operated by Bill Carr and his wife Carolyn. She is a self-trained oil painter who has achieved a world-wide reputation as an interpreter of the native population. Bill successfully raises corn, sugar and horses. When we first met him, Rose said she thought he looked like a Montana rancher. In conversation it turned out that she was right, not only had he come from Montana, but he was a friend of some of her relatives. (Just can't get away from them!)
On the way to the main building we went by a huge parrot cage. Some of the parrots were brought out so that we could admire the beautiful multi-colored birds. Some of them thought that tourists would make good perches, so we got some excellent pictures of the birds checking us out. Because of this episode, Rose and a friendly cockatoo now adorn the back page of some of World Wide Country Tours' brochures.
After a light but excellent lunch and a chance to admire some of Carolyn's original paintings we were back on the road (and on the ferry) on our way to our residence for the next four nights.
The interior of Belize has some low mountains, not high enough to overcome the everpresent jungle, but at least with enough altitude to offer some comfortably cool nights.
In the foothills on the way to Chaa Creek we passed some large citrus groves - oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes. These are a relatively new endeavor in Belize and are evidence of the ongoing recovery of the country from its colonial days when it was mainly ignored by the mother country (England).
Chaa Creek Lodge was one of the earliest jungle resorts in Belize, and it has been developed to a point where it is gorgeous! We were housed in large thatched huts, with tiled floors, antique furniture and a complete lack of flying insects.The outside of a thatched roof may look weathered but it is neat and clean when viewed from inside. The huts were built so that any slight breeze was captured and helped to cool us. Stone paths wandered by each hut and to the lodge and dining room. All else was broad, sloping lawns.
The dining room was open air also, and served a choice of local or "American" food. It was invariably good. One morning I broke down and tried a "country breakfast" I had never before had a breakfast that started with bean soup, but it was mighty tasty!
The resort is located just above a small river and one of the available activities was a canoe ride down the river for a few miles. I opted out, but Rose decided to try it. After several hours she showed up at the hut and collapsed in a hammock, saying "Don't even talk to me until I cool off!" Did I mention that Belize is in the tropics? And between the river banks there was no breeze at all. Other activities available were horseback riding and a spa with massage and body treatments.
Next day we took a side trip to the town of Spanish Lookout, established by a group of Mennonites. They are a living example of what energy and common sense can do with a backward area. They have huge vegetable gardens, also flocks of chickens and herds of dairy cattle. From the milk they get, they have set up one of the very few ice cream plants in Belize, and ship their product all over the Caribbean area. To illustrate their sound economic sense, they kindly allowed us to buy some ice cream cones.
On another side trip we were taken to see a study of a butterfly known as the "Belizean Blue". Our local guide, Miguel, who has the double distinction of being the number one guide in the country as well as the leading biological scientist gave us a description of the life cycle of these amazingly brilliant blue butterflies. He also took us into the large cage where they went from egg to full-blown butterfly to end-of-life. There were thousands of them, and in the midst of this riot of color were young Belizean women counting eggs. Imagine counting hundreds of eggs attached to each small leaf, and doing it all day long. The purpose of all this is not only scientific but also economical, as eggs, pupa and live caterpillars are shipped to other scientific establishments world-wide.
The next day we started on our much-anticipated trip to Guatemala to see the Mayan ruins at Tikal. It happened to be the only rainy day we had in the mountains, and our two vehicles slipped and slithered their way to the Belize-Guatemala border. There we tourists sat and waited while our passports were checked, re-checked and scrutinized. Eventually after much discussion we were allowed to cross the border. What a change! We went from an English-speaking country to a poverty-stricken Spanish-speaking one. We had thought that some of the Belizean towns were pretty poor, but in Guatemala we saw real poverty. As we drove slap-dash through the tiny barrios; pigs, kids, drunks all scattered. It appeared that most of the people had nothing to do, so they just stood around and spent their days. The gravel roads, while not all that great in Belize were well-nigh impossible in Guatemala. At one point in trying to get through a pass in the hills we came upon three huge semis. The first had gone off the road and was mired up to its hubs. The others were unable to get by it. Didn't stop our drivers - in fact it hardly slowed them down!
Well, we got safely to Tikal. I had seen pictures of Mayan and Aztec ruins so I thought we were about to see a temple. Instead we were in the midst of an elaborate, magnificent, stone city, partly recovered from the jungle. There were not only temples, but buildings that had been living quarters, administration headquarters, even sports complexes!
Tikal is a Guatemalan National Park and is administered by the government. One of their rules is that only their people are allowed to guide tourists. So Miguel had to trail along mutely while Franco did all the talking and explaining. Not that there was anything wrong with that; he did a great job. The Central-American jungle is so ferocious that the buildings have to be cleaned of new growth three or four times a year, and since government rules prohibit mechanical means, workers have to pull up weeds, grasses, even small bushes by hand.
A group of current-day Mayans was holding a religious service around a huge fire and we were requested to not interfere with them. From the smell of the copal they were burning it was no great sacrifice for us to keep away.
After walking around in the rain for a while it was time to return to the border. There again there was a complete check of our passports and lots of discussion, even a few phone calls. Eventually we were allowed to proceed. I noticed Miguel heaved a huge sigh of relief. He explained that there was considerable bad feeling between the two countries because Belize held a section of the border country that Guatemala claimed belonged to them. They had been known to close the border occasionally for no known reason, leaving folks on the wrong side.
Next day we closed out our stay in the mountains, and rode those gravel roads again. Rather than return to Belize City we went to Dangriga, a small city on the south coast, with a population made up mostly of Garifuna.
Technically the people themselves are called Garinagu, and their culture Garifuna. They have a strange history; they are descendants of two ship-loads of Nigerian slaves who were shipwrecked off the coast of St. Vincent Island in the eastern Caribbean, and intermarried with the native Caribs. England and France were competing for control of the island. The Garinagu supported the French; the English won. Many of the Garinagu were killed, the English deported the rest and they eventually arrived on the coast of Belize. Being expert farmers and woodsman they thrived in the coastal lowlands and now number over half a million.
Rose had a long and interesting conversation with a Garifuna lady named Mercy Sabal, who is doing her share to keep her heritage alive by making and selling dolls representative of their lifestyle on St. Vincent. Of course Rose bought one of the dolls.
After lunch we went to the local airfield and boarded small commuter planes for a flight up the coast to Ambergris Caye (pronounced key), a small island off the coast of northern Belize, where we were to stay for the remainder of our time in the country. We had been told that we would have lodgings at Banyan Bay, a beachfront hotel. Our hotel room turned out to be a three-bedroom two-bath condominium, (just for the two of us) with a huge swimming pool just outside!
On Ambergris Caye is the town of San Pedro, a small, bustling tourist-packed place. There are three north-south main sandy thoroughfares, named sensibly enough Front, Middle and Back Streets, and with many cross streets. Front street, the oceanside one, is crowded with new hotels and resorts, along with gift shops and some older commercial enterprises. During one of our walks we saw workers loading tons of oranges from trucks into large bins, then moving the bins on board a smallish ship. I asked one of the men where the cargo was going. The answer? "Miami"!
To make the stay in San Pedro more interesting, the organizers of the tour took us to see some of the major sights of the city. One was the desalinization plant which turns seawater into fresh potable water. Huge pumps force salt water through filters, forcing the salt to remain behind. Not very scenic, and very noisy. Another stop, probably more interesting to us than to others on the tour was at a school run by the Seventh Day Adventists. It was pretty much a non-sectarian school, taking students from all walks of life, and featured the cleanest, neatest, brightest and most attractive bunch of kids that I have ever encountered. (My family excepted, of course)
Another was a boat trip out to see the reef which borders the whole country. Saw multitudes of sharks and rays, also some coral formations.
By far the most interesting activity on Ambergris Caye was simply walking along the beach or in the town. Lots to see, from palatial new resorts along the beach to crowded little shops on the sandy streets. The indigenous people were without fail friendly and courteous. In fact all the people we met in Belize were outgoing and courteous.
Final impressions - Hot! which was nice in February. Thick jungle, beautiful beaches, hot!, world-class tourist facilities, friendly people, and did I forget to mention hot?