Last Saturday dawned bright and dry and I decided to take a boat to Ambergris Caye, the main tourist destination in Belize.
San Pedro is the honeypot for tourists; it's developed, it's commercialised, and it's none the worse for that.
I enjoyed my day there immensely, wandering round pleasant shops, dabbling in a spot of retail therapy (bliss), relaxing over a proper coffee (oh joy), and dining under a swaying palm by the beach. My lunch of jerk shrimp with cucumber and carrot salad and pineapple dressing was just delicious, and with a bottle of lager and a handsome tip my bill came to less than a tenner.
Oddly, you can eat out on good food very reasonably, but supermarket food prices are quite high, for instance a packet of bran flakes is about four quid.
I met a young American who was selling timeshares, and he helped me through the minefield of buying a local cell phone. I'd been anxious to get one as using my Orange contract mobile phone has been costing me a fortune. How I wish I was technologically competent and could use Skype!
Travelling alone is a wonderful opportunity for people watching, and on a boat is best. You can hide behind your shades and study your 50 or so fellow passengers at leisure.
There will be the inevitable European or American backpackers, unshaven and dressed like tramps, struggling under impossibly huge and heavy state of the art rucksacks (and that's just the girls). You'll probably also have a couple of American tourists (active senior citizens) in shorts and sensible footwear with camcorders and expensive digital cameras.
Your other companions will be Belizeans, some of them distinct representatives of different
ethnic groups, others a glorious mix of different ethnicity. Elaborate hairstyles are popular; cornrows, braids, dreadlocks, the slick-gel look etc; and bold jewellery is favoured by many. Clothing in the main is either white or bright. Although you'll occasionally see an older person in what I assume to be traditional Mayan dress, you'll more often see American fake designer jeans and tshirts, mostly tight-fitting and figure-hugging.
For a country the size of Wales Belize has a remarkably mixed cultural background. Pay attention now while I give you some facts and figures.
The largest ethnic group, which makes up nearly 50% of the population, are the mestizos, descended from American Indians and early Spanish settlers.
Creoles, descended from Africans brought to the West Indies as slaves and early white settlers, make up nearly a quarter of the population.
The Maya account for about 11%, the Garifuna(descended from shipwrecked and escaped African slaves) number just over 6%, and East Indians (descended from indentured labourers) form about 3% of the population.
Another significant group is the white Mennonites, (4%) who to me resemble the Amish, and have revolutionised farming methods in Belize.
The total population of Belize is around 295,000, and in addition to the groups mentioned already there is a small percentage of Chinese and Taiwanese, and a growing number of Central American immigrants, refugees from war and poverty.
Luckily, English is the official language of Belize (formerly British Honduras), and I haven't met anyone yet who doesn't understand me. Spanish is widely spoken, and the most common language is Creole. I love to hear the lilting sounds of Creole being spoken, which is quite often, because if two Belizeans get together they immediately lapse into it. The words sound familiar, but strangely you can't just quite grasp what's being said.
I seem to have drifted of my subject, the weekend tourist, and getting back to my theme, I wonder what my fellow passengers thought of me?
Bye for now.
Viv
Thursday, 29 November 2007
Monday, 26 November 2007
Home Sweet Home
Today I want to tell you a little bit about where I live.
If you walk down my street when it's quiet ( that would have to be before 7am) you'll see big potholes, unfinished pavements, rummaging stray dogs, rusting heaps of old vehicles, and a collection of ramshackle clapboard houses. Many of the houses stand precariously on stilts, and most look as if they haven't had a lick of paint since they were built. Weeds grow up underneath the houses, and you'd probably think that this was a ghost town, deserted after the last hurricane blew through and wreaked destruction.
Walk down an hour later, and the street will be buzzing with people hurrying to work, children dressed immaculately (girls with elaborately braided hair, in white school uniforms, boys in white shirts and pressed trousers) and on their way to school; streetsweepers, taxis, bikes, street vendors selling breakfast, and delivery vehicles. It's a mystery how these seemingly uninhabitable houses are really homes turning out normal people who have a purpose and a destination. Now you'll notice signs on some of the buildings indicating that they are small bnusinesses; Chinese restaurants, tyre repair shop, undertaker, beauty parlour.
My house is different to the others. Solidly built, painted white, gravel-drive lined with palm trees, manicured gardens and lush vegetation all around, and flowers in pots even along the fence. Insect screens on all the windows keep out all but the most determined tiny creatures, and my apartment is way more than I could have hoped for.
It's on the ground floor, and consists of a living room with a kitchen area, dining table and chairs, and a sofa. My bedroom has a comfy single bed with a wardrobe, chest of drawers, and an ensuite shower room. There are windows on every wall, so I can check what's going on all
around without stepping outside.
I have no aircon though I have a fan to keep me cool.
I don't have running hot water (I don't know many people in Belize City who do), but enough said for now - heating water and my daily routine can be another chapter!
If you walk down my street when it's quiet ( that would have to be before 7am) you'll see big potholes, unfinished pavements, rummaging stray dogs, rusting heaps of old vehicles, and a collection of ramshackle clapboard houses. Many of the houses stand precariously on stilts, and most look as if they haven't had a lick of paint since they were built. Weeds grow up underneath the houses, and you'd probably think that this was a ghost town, deserted after the last hurricane blew through and wreaked destruction.
Walk down an hour later, and the street will be buzzing with people hurrying to work, children dressed immaculately (girls with elaborately braided hair, in white school uniforms, boys in white shirts and pressed trousers) and on their way to school; streetsweepers, taxis, bikes, street vendors selling breakfast, and delivery vehicles. It's a mystery how these seemingly uninhabitable houses are really homes turning out normal people who have a purpose and a destination. Now you'll notice signs on some of the buildings indicating that they are small bnusinesses; Chinese restaurants, tyre repair shop, undertaker, beauty parlour.
My house is different to the others. Solidly built, painted white, gravel-drive lined with palm trees, manicured gardens and lush vegetation all around, and flowers in pots even along the fence. Insect screens on all the windows keep out all but the most determined tiny creatures, and my apartment is way more than I could have hoped for.
It's on the ground floor, and consists of a living room with a kitchen area, dining table and chairs, and a sofa. My bedroom has a comfy single bed with a wardrobe, chest of drawers, and an ensuite shower room. There are windows on every wall, so I can check what's going on all
around without stepping outside.
I have no aircon though I have a fan to keep me cool.
I don't have running hot water (I don't know many people in Belize City who do), but enough said for now - heating water and my daily routine can be another chapter!
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Island in the Sun
Just a few quick words about my first visit to the cayes.
On Sunday I went with Allison, an American volunteer at CARE, to Caye Caulker, which is a small island about 35km out to sea from Belize City.
As the day was very hot we spent our time wandering aimlesly but enjoyably around the sand streets and along the beach of the small village.
If you like to fish, dive, snorkel, or mess about on a boat, this is the place to be.
The reef is close enough to explore (but not to swim out to because of the speedboats that whizz up and down with no regard for anyone else in the water), though we were content to stay ashore and soak up the sun on this occasion.
White sand and swaying palm trees helped to create that ambience you imagine all Caribbean islands are blessed with, and I enjoyed a lunch of lobster quesadilla (which was strangely delicious) at a restaurant on stilts overlooking the turquoise ocean.
If you're reading this in the rain and cold, just picture me frantically applying cortisone cream to the bites around my ankles - acquired on the day I arrived before I had chance to apply insecticide.
More soon.
Viv
On Sunday I went with Allison, an American volunteer at CARE, to Caye Caulker, which is a small island about 35km out to sea from Belize City.
As the day was very hot we spent our time wandering aimlesly but enjoyably around the sand streets and along the beach of the small village.
If you like to fish, dive, snorkel, or mess about on a boat, this is the place to be.
The reef is close enough to explore (but not to swim out to because of the speedboats that whizz up and down with no regard for anyone else in the water), though we were content to stay ashore and soak up the sun on this occasion.
White sand and swaying palm trees helped to create that ambience you imagine all Caribbean islands are blessed with, and I enjoyed a lunch of lobster quesadilla (which was strangely delicious) at a restaurant on stilts overlooking the turquoise ocean.
If you're reading this in the rain and cold, just picture me frantically applying cortisone cream to the bites around my ankles - acquired on the day I arrived before I had chance to apply insecticide.
More soon.
Viv
Saturday, 17 November 2007
Journey through Hell to Paradise
Dear All
No need for me to bore you with a blow by blow account of the horrors of Homeland Security and Immigration Control at Atlanta Airport. All I want to say is, if you ever come to Belize City take a boat, take a train or even take the chicken bus. Just don't come via Atlanta, as life is too short to spend four hours, yes four hours, shuffling behind 1500 other people who like you only want to show their passport, give their dabs and get on with their trip, but are made to stand meekly in line, missing their connecting flights in many cases, until the officials see fit to let them through.
By contrast, after a greeting of "welcome to Belize" at passport control immigration at Belize City airport took 10 minutes from getting off the plane to walking out of the terminal building.
Evan, the director of CARE Belize, met me at the airport and took me straight to the office to meet all the staff, who were very friendly and welcoming. (I don't start work till Tuesday (20th November) as Monday is a national holiday.)
After collecting some essential supplies (groceries etc), Jackie, the PA at CARE and my 'landlady' took me to my temporary home on Racoon Street.
The house is much grander than I expected, and the apartment is everything I hoped for and more, with a lovely garden. I've met the family dogs and cat, and settled in comfortably.
Lots of homes though look derelict and as if they might fall down at any time. To me it's all part of the charm of the place; shanty-chic, although it can't be pleasant for the people who live in these houses, and as always there is the huge contrast between rich and poor.
The streets of Belize City are noisy with birds calling, dogs barking, and music coming out of every door. Insects are everywhere, though it's the sandflies and not the mozzies that have given me my first scars of honour (glad I brought cortisone cream). I surprised a cockroach in the bedroom when I put the light on at 5.30am this morning, I managed to wrestle him to the ground and imprison him under a beaker before he knew what was happening. I eventually evicted him when he'd had time to realise who was boss.
I've been wandering all over the city today to get a feel of the place, and now it's time for me to head home before 6pm, my self-imposed curfew, ie, when darkness falls.
Viv
No need for me to bore you with a blow by blow account of the horrors of Homeland Security and Immigration Control at Atlanta Airport. All I want to say is, if you ever come to Belize City take a boat, take a train or even take the chicken bus. Just don't come via Atlanta, as life is too short to spend four hours, yes four hours, shuffling behind 1500 other people who like you only want to show their passport, give their dabs and get on with their trip, but are made to stand meekly in line, missing their connecting flights in many cases, until the officials see fit to let them through.
By contrast, after a greeting of "welcome to Belize" at passport control immigration at Belize City airport took 10 minutes from getting off the plane to walking out of the terminal building.
Evan, the director of CARE Belize, met me at the airport and took me straight to the office to meet all the staff, who were very friendly and welcoming. (I don't start work till Tuesday (20th November) as Monday is a national holiday.)
After collecting some essential supplies (groceries etc), Jackie, the PA at CARE and my 'landlady' took me to my temporary home on Racoon Street.
The house is much grander than I expected, and the apartment is everything I hoped for and more, with a lovely garden. I've met the family dogs and cat, and settled in comfortably.
Lots of homes though look derelict and as if they might fall down at any time. To me it's all part of the charm of the place; shanty-chic, although it can't be pleasant for the people who live in these houses, and as always there is the huge contrast between rich and poor.
The streets of Belize City are noisy with birds calling, dogs barking, and music coming out of every door. Insects are everywhere, though it's the sandflies and not the mozzies that have given me my first scars of honour (glad I brought cortisone cream). I surprised a cockroach in the bedroom when I put the light on at 5.30am this morning, I managed to wrestle him to the ground and imprison him under a beaker before he knew what was happening. I eventually evicted him when he'd had time to realise who was boss.
I've been wandering all over the city today to get a feel of the place, and now it's time for me to head home before 6pm, my self-imposed curfew, ie, when darkness falls.
Viv
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Viv in Belize
Dear All
Just 17 hours to go before I embark on my journey into the unknown with only my Rough Guide to Belize for company!
I fly from Gatwick to Atlanta just after noon Thursday 15th November, arriving in Belize City on Friday about 1pm. The trip includes an overnight stay in Atlanta, so the jet lag shouldn't be too bad.
I've just found out it will cost me £1.75 a minute to make a mobile call to the UK, and £1 a minute to receive one, so please don't phone me! Best stick to text messages which cost 50p to send and are free to receive.
When I arrive I'll check out the possibility of using a landline, which will work out much cheaper. In the meantime, there's always email.
There's not much else to report before my adventure begins, so I'll end with a final "thank you" to everyone who has supported my plans in any way.
Love
Viv
Just 17 hours to go before I embark on my journey into the unknown with only my Rough Guide to Belize for company!
I fly from Gatwick to Atlanta just after noon Thursday 15th November, arriving in Belize City on Friday about 1pm. The trip includes an overnight stay in Atlanta, so the jet lag shouldn't be too bad.
I've just found out it will cost me £1.75 a minute to make a mobile call to the UK, and £1 a minute to receive one, so please don't phone me! Best stick to text messages which cost 50p to send and are free to receive.
When I arrive I'll check out the possibility of using a landline, which will work out much cheaper. In the meantime, there's always email.
There's not much else to report before my adventure begins, so I'll end with a final "thank you" to everyone who has supported my plans in any way.
Love
Viv
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