Getting from A to B

Just remembered I said I'd tell you a little about transport in Belize, and after seven weeks here I've got a few observations to make.



Let's talk about getting around the country first. In a land roughly the size of Wales, there are only four main roads; the Western Highway, the Northern Highway, the Southern Highway, and the Hummingbird Highway (how magic is that name? it's just as pretty as it sounds as well).



The term 'Highway' is used loosely here. Don't think 'motorway', or 'autobahn', or even 'A' road - a road is awarded the name 'Highway' simply because it has a tarmac surface. So, these main arteries crossing the length and breadth of the country are just wide enough for two vehicles, have no pavements, hard shoulders, white lines, street lights, cat's eyes or anything else that would help make a journey easier and safer.



What they do have though is speed bumps, usually in places where you'd least expect them. If you see one too late you can either slam your brakes on in an effort to stop yourself being airborne, or hit it at speed and risk ripping off your undercarriage.



Most of the other roads in Belize, the ones that filter off the main highways into the towns and villages, are like the surface of the moon - rocky and bumpy, pitted and pot-holed, often waterlogged.



Given the state of the roads, it's surprising how many people make it their business to travel up and down the country on a regular basis. Not many ordinary people have the luxury of their own vehicle, and they depend on fleets of buses to get them around.



The buses are mostly worn out and decrepit old American school buses, sometimes cunningly re-painted to disguise their previous life. Imagine travelling on such a tatty bus, long past its sell-by date with no suspension to speak of and no seat springs, along the lunar roads with their holes and bumps; not a good combination if you have any respect for your spine.



Old American buses also provide the public transport around Belize City. This city of 75,000 people has just three sets of traffic lights, and no other traffic control to speak of, so you can imagine the chaos in the rush hour. Basically, it's just a free for all, with the biggest vehicles taking precedence and a fair amount of colourful language called out between drivers.

Bikes and dogs are a complete menace on the city's roads and streets. Both weave freely and unpredictably in and out the vehicles, give no signals, and frequently change direction with no warning.

Taking all this into account, you'll not be surprised that my preferred method of getting to work is on Shanks's Pony.

However, if I really don't feel like walking the two miles, I can take the metro for $1Bze (25p). The metro is a mini decrepit American school bus - designed no doubt for 16 first graders but used in Belize for as many commuters as can inhumanly be packed on. The record number I've counted on the metro so far is 48.

Taxis ply the city day and night, but it's $6Bze for a cab, so I try to use them only after dark. Needless to say, the taxis are also a joke when it comes to comfort, condition and roadworthiness. Most of them have enormous cracks in their windscreens and multiple dents on their bodywork. Some have tears in the upholstery, and some are indescribably filthy.

I try to use the same taxi for all my journeys - I count myself lucky that I have the acquaintance of possibly the only cabbie in Belize who actually uses his aircon. He also cleans his cab every day before he starts work.

Anyway, I shouldn't grumble about the roads, the vehicles or the traffic; it won't be long before I'm back in Blighty and joining the traffic congestion I've almost forgotten about.