The A-Z of My Favorite Travel Destinations — Belize

The Letter “B” is for Belize— A Caribbean country on the northeastern coast of Central America.

I accepted the A-Z of my favorite travel destinations challenge from Adrienne Beaumont. This is #2 of 26. Wow, I have a long way to go.

I’ve been to three “B” countries, including the Bahamas, Barbados, and Belize. Since Belize was the most recent of the three, I chose it, figuring my fading memory would be more robust.

We took a seven-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Caribbean Princess Cruise ship in 2016. The port-of-calls included Belize, Cozumel, Roatan, Honduras, and Costa Maya, Mexico. All places my wife and I had never been.

However, Belize was in the news during this period in 2016, and not for a good reason. An ABC News reporter Ann Swaney, an avid world traveler, had been killed while doing yoga, and she wasn’t the only one. Belize was third in the entire world for the highest murder rate. Something they were downplaying and trying to get out of the news.

But once a news anchor was killed, there was no stopping the story. An American doctor died while fly fishing, a Marine and his girlfriend were strangled, Paul Signorino was killed with a machete, a Canadian film producer was stabbed, and many more.

Robberies, kidnapping, murder, and sexual assaults were prevalent involving tourists. And they were happening in broad daylight and in places you would expect to be safe. As much as I wanted to visit Belize, my wife and I were nervous as the ship pulled into this spectacular and beautiful port. The lush green mountains, emerald green and turquoise water, and brightly painted shops were gorgeous, but what dangers lay hidden?

The buzz and talk around the buffet line were about “how safe was Belize?” I overheard several couples talking about staying aboard for this port visit while others had canceled their shore tours.

I usually liked to walk towns and avoided organized tours. I never enjoyed taking pictures out of the window of a moving bus as it sped past something I was interested in. Don’t get me wrong — we have done many organized tours, but have also been disappointed on occasions.

But this time, we opted for an organized tour which included the Mayan ruins, a river cruise, and lunch. Safety in numbers I’m thinking.

We boarded a tour bus for the ride from the pier through the scenic Belize River Valley to pick up the guided river safari tour. While there was a tour guide on the bus, he spoke fast, and after every few words, static would break his dialog over the PA, so you were only getting a few words at a time. I can tell you nothing about what he said on that trip. But one thing did stand out to me.

Looking out the bus window, I saw Belize has a fair amount of poverty, as many places do. But the school children were dressed in crisp, starched, and pressed uniforms, with hair that was neatly combed. The boys had starched white shirts, neckties, and double-breasted blazers. Girls had skirts and white blouses with vests that matched the color of the boy's jackets. I would see a group in one place in perfect navy blue blazers; then, around the turn, there was a group in burgundy with the school crest on the front pocket.

I thought to myself; these must be children going to private schools. No, they were all going to either public schools or catholic schools. Nearly two-thirds of Belize’s population are teenagers or younger, so I saw a large number of children wearing perfect matching uniforms on their way to school.

The river cruise was 30 minutes and started amazingly. I saw howler monkeys swinging from tree to tree, trying to keep up with the boat as we traveled. Then high in the canopies of the vast Ceiba trees, there were birds of every type, including parrots. Crocodiles with just their eyes above the water until a couple got into a splashing fight over territory.

And then the rain came. Some of the more intelligent people brought rain gear. We had none. So $10 later, we were sporting thin poncho-style pieces of plastic that did absolutely nothing. Within ten minutes, we were soaked to the bone and cold.

We boarded another bus, only soaking wet this time, to the Lamanai Mayan ruins. There are around 30 different Mayan sites in Belize alone. We visited only one of them. The name Lamanai translates to “submerged crocodile.”

Lamanai is known for its exceptionally long occupation spanning three millennia. Much of the site was unexcavated until the mid-1970s. Archaeological work concentrated on the Mask Temple, Jaguar Temple, and High Temple. The summit of the latter structure affords a view across the jungle to the New River. Our tour description says we will be amazed at the views. But there are signs everywhere saying, “Stay off the ruins”. I’m still trying to figure out how we were supposed to get that fantastic 125-foot panoramic view.

Back on the bus, and much dryer now as the sun had been out for a couple of hours, we headed to lunch at the Avinha Eco Park, which is a fancy way to say the area that has been staged to feed many tourists.

Usually, food on organized tours isn’t very good, but this was great. They had a stewed- braised chicken with lots of Caribbean spices; I hadn’t had anything quite like it, and it was very delicious. Red beans and rice, potato salad, greens, and tropical fruit for dessert. Everything was delicious. And despite the weather, they kept hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

The wife went shopping in the many local kiosks that were set up around us. I had the feeling, as I often do in places like this, a kickback is paid to the tour operators for bringing in buses of tourists. But that's the cynic in me. Sandys bought a cane; she has MS and trouble walking at times. A beautiful handmade cane with brass on the handle.

We were tired, and it was time to return to the ship.

While the title says My Favorite A-Z, I’m still sticking to my choice of Belize. You can’t blame Belize for the weather, maybe the crime, but I think there has been improvement in that area.

But we saw plenty of wildlife, interesting countryside, and an enjoyable lunch, and the Mayan ruins were terrific.

Hope you enjoyed my little Belize Ballad.

Postscript:

Belize was removed for a period of time from cruise ship itineraries, but checking the Princess website 10-14-22, Princess Cruises are stopping in Belize now.

The State Department list Belize as — 
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
Belize City
Level 3: Reconsider Travel

I try to keep some perspective on these, as there are US cities I would avoid — including parts of LA which are right up the road from me.