“I am leaving on a jet plane. I don’t know when I will be back again.” ---John Denver.
The flight from the Bahamas to Belize connected through the Miami Airport. Miami, not unlike the Bahamas, were experiencing an uncommon cold front, which would follow us to Belize. From what we heard from people on the plane the entire continent was experiencing strange weather patterns. Though it was cold, we were quite happy that we were not shoveling the snow that hit Michigan two days earlier.
We made it to the Belize Airport and through customs fairly quickly. It was getting late in the afternoon and we didn’t have much time to make a decision on where to stay for the night. We had two choices- stay in Belize City or head to one of the islands (cayes) just off of Belize City. The guidebook and the local Belizian woman on my flight told me that Belize City was not a city to visit because of its crime problem. Her advice was to get to one of the cayes and enjoy the laid back atmosphere.
We were sold. We hopped a taxi and raced to the boat ferry station. The last boat to the islands left at 5:30pm and we only had forty minutes to get there. What we didn’t know was that there was a storm heading to Belize and because of that the last ferry was going to leave at 5:00pm. Somehow the travel gods looked down upon us and smiled because we were able to get on the last ferry to Caye Caulker. We found a cheap cabana ($12 US a piece), a good dinner ($5 US) and we settled in for the night. Then the rains came.
Belize is a country that I recommend to many of my friends that are just beginning to travel in Central America. It is a good place to get your travel feet wet. The country was a British colony until 1954 so English is spoken throughout the country along with Spanish and Creole. It allows the novice American traveler the opportunity to experience Central America with the safety net of their primary language.
The country’s currency is set to the American dollar at a 2:1 ratio so the American buying power is good. Finally, the country offers a variety of things to satisfy each type of traveler-scuba and snorkeling off the beaches of the cayes, historical Mayan ruins through out the mainland and great hiking and wildlife watching throughout the countryside.
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