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Belize

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    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 118

      Next stop: Belize

      January 3, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      New day, new country. We left Chetumal, our last stop in Mexico, and headed for Belice, our 4th country on the trip. Border crossing was easy, none of the scams you read about in other travel blogs happened to us.
      On the other side of the border, we noticed some differences straight away: one was that people talked English (the second official language here next to Spanish). Secondly, the roads were narrow with no shoulder and cars drove much faster - luckily, there's a lot less traffic here compared to Mexico.
      We went on to Corozal, the first village behind the border where we were going to stay for the night with Elden and his family. Elden is part of a network that supports bicycle tourists in Central America and had invited us to stay at his place. Of course, we didn't say no to this offer as it gave us the opportunity to meet locals and our butts another short day for resting.
      As we arrived pretty early in Corozal, we had some time to explore. First, we went to the House of Culture where we met some Americans who now live in town permanently and did some volunteering work. Then we had to exchange some money as we had some pesos left. As the Scotiabank didn't do money exchange, we had to go to a corner shop. I was expecting a huge scam, but actually got more Belizean Dollars than the official market exchange rate. So didn't complain 😉
      Next, we went to the Central Plaza where we could get free wifi to communicate with Elden. As he had to work til 4pm, we had some more time to look around, so we had a beer at one of the bars and went for a swim in the sea.
      The biggest difference to Mexico is the people. In Mexico, people were very friendly, but overall a little reserved. In Belice, people are totally outgoing and touchy - after half a day in town it felt like we knew everyone and had talked to pretty much everyone as well.
      At 4, we picked up Elden at his work at a restaurant where he got us a couple of coconuts including all the coconut meat for takeaway before leaving for his house which was another 2km or so along the road.
      Elden and his family are members of the 7th Day Adventist Church and celebrate the Sabbath as their rest day. It was Friday night, the start of the Sabbath, and they invited us to participate in the ritual of singing chorals and praying which was interesting for us to observe. While they were in church afterwards, we cooked dinner and set up our mattresses and mosquito net in the spare house/room that was available for us. Definitely a day to remember!      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 120

      A cloudy day

      January 5, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      Last night, some people told us that cold weather was coming and it will be chilly in the tent. For us, this actually meant that the tent did not turn into a greenhouse and we could sleep well, and today, it was great cycling weather with 25°C.
      As we didn't know yet, where to sleep the night, we looked for free WiFi in the next village. In Belize, you usually get a connection near some schools and usually the central square. In Burrell Boom, however, the central square was a basketball court where the locals were playing their Sunday morning game. We got some signal close to a bus stop yet (see photo).
      Sunday is also a big day for group cycling. And as there is basically only one paved road in Belice, we met many cyclists, sometimes several times as they were going back and forth on the road. So I guess we now know every road cyclist in Belice.
      Now that we are further South in the country, most of the locals seem of a Carribean background with dark skins and the related temper. Even kids greet is with "Hello my friend, how'r u doin'" and we get involved in conversations every time we stop.
      Once we got to Belmopan, the capital of Belice, we decided to stop at Guanacaste National Park to go for a short walk in the jungle and swim in the Belice River - really nice!
      Afterwards, we had to find a place to sleep which took us at least 3 loops around the city. Hotels were either fully booked (or just closed because it's Sunday - you couldn't tell from the signs) or ridiculously expensive (as it's a government town...), so we ended up in a motel. Generally, it's pretty dead here, as houses are very spread out and there's no town square or real city centre at all. Good we are only staying for the night.      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 121

      Belicean scenic route

      January 6, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      What a great day of cycling today! From Belmopan, we turned South in order to get to the Carribean again. The landscape changed to hills/mountains and jungle - really cool and scenic! After about 20km, we already had our first stop at Blue Hole National Park. For 8 Belize Dollars (4€), we could see a cave and visit the Blue Hole, a cenote in the middle of the jungle. And we were the only people there!
      Our next stop was a lunch stop in one of the villages along the road. The people were very friendly and wanted to know all about our trip.
      We were going to stop at a waterfall on the way, but as it there was an entrance fee again, we decided to continue and rather have more time at the beach later. As we finally had some nice tailwinds, rolling into Hopkins, our stop for the night, was quite easy. The town is very nice and relaxed. Quite some guest houses, but not packed with tourists. So a great place to stay!      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      1
      Day 122

      10001

      January 7, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      The goal of today was to get to Benque, the last town before the border to Guatemala. As it's too far to cycle, we decided to hitch-bike. So we cycled about 22km to the turnoff to Dangriga and tried to hitch a ride. It took about an hour until John Taylor stopped and offered to give us a lift to Belmopan. As he was on a company drive, he wasn't theoretically allowed to take us, but he did it anyways - lucky us. So we put the bikes on the pickup truck and went in the back with the bikes as well. That's traveling in Belice ;) Within less than an hour, we were back in the city - a section that took us a whole day on the bikes. Taylor dropped us of along the highway and we cycled to Spanish Lookout, a farmers community with quite some people of German background. The Welcome sign was in German even. The landscape reminded us of Germany as well: huge farms, agriculture, cows, some hills, no more jungle.
      To continue West, we crossed the Belize River by a manually driven ferry. The next town we passed was San Ignacio. Lucky us: it was Tuesday and there was a farmers' market. So we felt like being in heaven: lots of fresh and cheap fruit and vegetables, something that was hard and expensive to get in Belize before. And opposite of the market: a French bakery. So we spent the rest of our Belicean currency on food.
      Also, Jamie came over to talk to us. He works as a beer promoter for the local brand Belikin and gave us 2 beers for free - sweet! As it was not allowed to drink alcohol in the park, we decided to just stop along the road - which we did. Back on the bikes, I realized that we had our beer right at our 10.000th kilometer - what a coincidence! We stopped to take a photo, but as we rolled downhill, unfortunately a little late, so the computer had just changed to 10.001...
      In Benque, Raul, our host for the night, picked us up at the entrance of the village. We could stay at his sister's house and had a really great time with them: dinner and lots of discussions about bike touring and Belicean and German traditions.      Read more

    • Südamerika
      1
      Day 91

      Hallo Belize - ATM Caves

      January 24, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Gestern ging es über die Grenze nach Belize. Obwohl San Ignacio nur 15km von der Grenze Guatemalas entfernt ist, fühlt es sich schon wie eine ganz andere Welt an. Karibischer, sauberer, amerikanischer... Wir hören nur noch wenig Spanisch hier. Stattdessen Englisch und Kreolisch. Das "Peace" des Rastaman im Laden ließ daher auch nicht lange auf sich warten ;-)

      Heute wartete auch direkt ein Highlight auf uns. Wir besuchten die ATM Caves. Mit Helm und Stirnlampen schwammen, wateten und kletterten wir durch die Höhle, die einst den Maya für Opferrituale diente und nur von Schamanen aufgesucht werden durfte. Die Gesteinsformationen, Stalakmiten und Stalaktiten, aber vor allem die Überreste der Opferrituale (Keramiktöpfe, Blutplatten und Skelette) waren beeindruckend. Fotos dürfen dort keine mehr gemacht werden, nachdem einige der Artefakte durch unvorsichtige Touristen beschädigt wurden. Aber das ist auch gut so. Die Erfahrung ist auf jeden Fall in unseren Köpfen abgespeichert.      Read more

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    • Südamerika
      1
      Day 92

      Caracol Ruinen

      January 25, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      Caracol, einMaya Tempel / Stadt, die damals mehr Bewohner als das heutige Belize City hatte, hatten wir heute fast für uns ganz alleine ( ok, die 15 Touristen und Horden von Brüllaffen nicht mitgezählt) Auf dem Rückweg haben wir noch einem kleinen Abstecher am Rio Frio Cave und Rio on Pools gemacht...Read more

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    • Südamerika
      Day 93

      Karibik Flair in Hopkins

      January 26, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

      Nach einer schönen Busfahrt sind wir heute gut in Hopkins angekommen, einem kleinen verschlafenen Ort mit creolischem Einfluss - wir haben es uns am Strand und bei einem leckeren fangfrischen Fisch ( nicht der Stingray auf dem Foto!) gut gehen lassen 😎☀Read more

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    • Südamerika
      Day 95

      Tag der Wasserfälle

      January 28, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Heute haben wir die Umgebung von Hopkins mit dem Motorrad erkundet und konnten uns nach den kleinen Wanderungen im Dschungel immer wieder in natürlichen Pools abkühlen.... Wenn nur nicht die Mücken so hartnäckig wären...Read more

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    • Südamerika
      Day 99

      Schnorcheln statt Segeln

      February 1, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      Leider wurde unsere dreitägige Segeltour kurzfristig abgesagt, sodass wir unsere letzten Tage nun etwas umplanen müssen. Damit wir aber noch einen kleinen Eindruck von der karibischen Unterwasserwelt mitnehmen können, sind wir gestern spontan zu einem Schnorchelausflug mit der Ragga Queen aufgebrochen. Neben dem berühmten Rumpunch und leckerem Ceviche gab es Schildkröten, Korallen, Haie und tropische Fische zu sehen. Auch, wenn es nicht so lief wie geplant, haben wir den Tag in vollen Zügen genossen.Read more

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    • Belize and Guatemala
      Day 4

      San Ignacio - Day 2

      March 14, 2020 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

      It was the first day that we didn't need to get up at any specific time so we lazily lounged around our cabana until about 10:30am. And then hopped in the jeep and drove to Xunantunich, another ancient mayan site.

      To get there, we had to take the world's shortest ferry ride (a statistic i just made up), which holds just 4 cars and crosses a small river and is propelled by a hand crank. And free.

      The actual site isn't as expansive as other locations i have visited, but the main temple was massive. Alexa and i made our way to the top, and on the way up, we noticed some people were focused on the nearby jungle trees. The back of the temple was against a hill so we wandered off to take some pictures of the spider monkeys and some large iguanas. And then continued to the top. It was so high, people at the bottom looked like ants. Mom was pretty knackered from the walk uphill to the site and relaxed in the shade as we climbed up and down the temple.

      When we got back to San ignacio, we stopped at a large market and had some tacos for lunch. As we were eating, we saw Alan and Sharron from Indiana who we met at Lamanai a few days ago.

      Then went back to our hotel and relaxed in the pool. We decided going to Tikal, Guatemala was no longer viable because the border was likely to close soon and we didn't want to get stuck on the Guatemala side. Which was disappointing as it was the whole reason this trip was booked. So i spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out a new plan and where to stay.

      For supper, we drove into town to a really cool restaurant that a few people recommended and ran into Alan and Sharron again. Funny how that happens sometimes.      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Belize, Beliz, ቤሊዝ, بليز, بيليز, Belice, Wilisi, بلیز, Белиз, Belisa, Беліз, Belizi, বেলিয, བེ་ལིཛ།, বেলিজ, Belise, بەلیز, ބެލީޒު, Belize nutome, Μπελίσε, Belizo, Belici, Beliise, Belis, An Bheilís, Beilise, Mbelise, बेलिझ, બેલીઝ, Yn Veleesh, בליז, बेलीज़, Բելիզ, Belís, ベリーズ, beliz, ბელიზი, បេលីហ្ស, ಬೆಲಿಜ್, 벨리즈, बेलीज, Beliza, Belizɛ, ເບລິຊ, Belizas, Белизе, ബെലീസ്, बेलिझे, Beliże, ဘေလီဇ်, Berij, Huēyicopan, Bhelize, बेलिज, Beliiz, ବେଲିଜ୍, ਬੇਲੀਜ਼, Beles, بیلیز, بېلیز, Bilisi, Belîzi, Belėzos, බෙලීස්, Белисе, IBhelizi, Bélis, பெலீசு, బెలీజ్, เบลีซ, ቤሊዘ, Pelise, بېلىز, بیلائز, Bê-li-xê, Belisän, Beliis, 伯利茲, Белсин Орн, בעליז, Orílẹ́ède Bèlísẹ̀, 伯利兹, i-Belize

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