Belize

My Belize travel summary:

Visited: August 2015

Duration of visit: 4 days

Capital city: Belmopan

Population: 375.000 (2015)

Belize travel blog reading time: 5 minutes

• Unimpressive ex-capital Belize City, which looks as it hasn’t recovered from the Hurricane Hattie in 1961.
• Snorkeling around small limestone coral island Caye Caulker.
• View over the rainforest from El Castillo in Xunantunich.

Belize was one of two countries which I didn’t visit during my American Big Tour in 1997, which started in New York City and finished in Buenos Aires 15 months later. It didn’t catch my attention at the time because it was off the main route. I traveled to Belize in 2015 after finishing a business meeting in neighboring Guatemala.

Belize also felt very different from the rest of the Central American countries, both historically and culturally.

Formerly known as British Honduras, Belize gained self-government from Britain in 1964 and was renamed in 1973. It achieved full independence in 1981.

With only 375,000 people living in an area of 22,966 kilometers, Belize has the lowest population density in Central America. An average of only 15 people per square kilometer.

Being such a small country in size and population, tourism has a big impact on its economy. Approximately one million tourists visit Belize on a yearly basis, vast majority from the USA.

I found it quite curious that, during my Belize travel experience in 2015, the country didn’t have a single McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks, or KFC in the entire country.

I crossed the border into Belize from Guatemala by land, and migration control was straightforward. After a short ride to San Ignacio, an exciting journey on a Bluebird bus took me to the old capital, Belize City. We stopped so often that the trip took more than three hours, even though it normally lasts just two.

Usually, capital cities in third world countries are places where most of the capital, infrastructure, business and culture is concentrated. Hurricane Hattie in 1961 destroyed approximately 75% of Belize City and the government decided to move the capital to the interior of the country, to Belmopan.

With just over 12,000 inhabitants, Belmopan is the smallest capital city in the world!

Belize City still seems far from fully recovered after the hurricane. Since the government moved to Belmopan, investments have been split between the country’s two main cities. For me, Belize City served only as a brief stopover on the way to the Tobago Cays.

In the few hours I spent there, I couldn’t highlight any particularly interesting places to visit. There was no landmark or activity that truly felt worth the stop. I had a simple lunch in a restaurant, took a short walk around downtown, visited the central market, and stepped inside a church.

After that, I was ready for a boat ride to the Caribbean Sea, where almost all of Belize’s main attractions are located.

A water taxi ride to Caye Caulker was smooth and straightforward. I didn’t book accommodation in advance and arriving in the evening made it quite difficult to find a decent guesthouse. I walked along the main sandy street where most of the guesthouses, hotels, bars, and restaurants are located. It didn’t take long to find a decent, though expensive, room for three nights.

Bicycles and golf carts are the only transport available on the island. The relaxed atmosphere, shaped by a strong Rastafari influence and a focus on tourism, defines the island’s character. Watersports, fantastic diving, and snorkeling have become its most recognizable trademarks.

I took a snorkeling trip every day during the time when I was based at Caye Caulker.

One of the most fascinating animals I saw underwater was the manatee. These large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals are often called sea cows.

They spend much of their time feeding with water plants and resting on the shallow bottom or on the surface of the water. The easiest area to spot them is the Swallow Caye Reserve, which is dedicated to protecting manatees.

I was also lucky to spot them in other areas as well, but they were not as common and easy to find. Sometimes I had to be patient and really focus, because they can easily blend into the light sandy bottom of the sea.

There are many excellent diving spots along the coast of Belize; Half Moon Caye Wall, Great Blue Hole, Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve and more. Most dives are boat dives that leave either Caye Caulker, Ambergris Caye or Placencia heading for the local barrier reef.

The Belize Barrier Reef is composed of an impressive variety of corals stretching along 300 kilometers off the coast of Belize.

As the world’s largest living barrier reef, it was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996 and it is truly a wonder.

Belize became the first country in the world to completely ban bottom trawling in December 2010. In December 2015, Belize banned offshore oil drilling within 1 kilometer of the Barrier Reef. Despite these protective measures, the reef remains under threat from oceanic pollution, mass-bleaching events, hurricanes, global warming, uncontrolled tourism, shipping and fishing.

On the way back to Guatemala, I visited Xunantunich, one of the most impressive Mayan sites in Belize. There are over 900 Mayan sites in Belize. Most of them are in ruins and/or with very difficult access in the jungle.

The archeological site at Xunantunich is composed of three major ceremonial plazas surrounded by numerous temples, palaces and house mounds.

The tallest building, El Castillo, is the second largest pyramid in the country. It rises 41 meters above the courtyard. Xunantunich sits within a tropical forest, and climbing to the top of El Castillo reveals beautiful views above the jungle. Besides being one of the most impressive Mayan ruins in Belize, Xunantunich is also reasonably easy to visit comparing to most of the other pre-Columbian sites in the country.

I travelled by bus from San Ignacio, and crossed the Mopan River by ferry. From the riverbank I walked uphill to the entrance of the archaeological site. I explored the entire area alone, although a few workers were still busy with ongoing renovations, moving piles of sand.

“Hola amigo, como estas? Bienvenido!” was a warm welcome that I received from them.

“Todo bien, gracias amigo!” I replied them politely.

Standing on top of the El Castillo pyramid and admiring the surrounding rainforest was an incredible feeling. I felt like one of the ancient Maya rulers who governed these lands centuries ago before they suddenly disappeared along with their people.

Writing this summary after visiting Belize, I came to an interesting conclusion. I usually prepare for a trip trying to get as much information as possible about a country, history, habits, places to visit and things to do. Before visiting Belize, I had done the same homework, but the trip was short and included a business meeting in Guatemala. I simply assumed that Belize City was still the capital of Belize.

Only later, when I sat down in front of my laptop and started writing about my experience during the Belize trip, I realized, that the capital city since 1961 was moved from Belize City to Belmopan.

I never visited Belmopan, which gives me a good reason to return to Belize one day. It remains the only capital city I have not visited among all the countries I’ve explored so far.

Nevertheless, my Belize travel adventure cannot be compared with the much more rewarding journeys through other Central American countries, where there are more fascinating places to visit and enjoyable things to do.