Area Traveled: Belize City to San Ignacio, back to Belize City and to Caye Caulker
Lodging:
San Ignacio:
Log Cab-inns - Quaint, clean and a little rustic the log cabins are on a pretty forested hillside just outside of the little town of San Ignacio. Nice restaurant on site provides tasty food and cold beer. Host Carla is truly one of the nicest people we've met; she'll pack you a sack lunch for the day and loan you a cooler to keep things cold. Rates are $55 a night and up depending on how many meals you want with your stay. Web-site
Caye Caulker:
Tree Tops - One of the best bargains ever! We had a clean and neat room with a shared bathroom on the beach, in a good location for $30 (it's a little higher now). Our hosts Terry and Doris Creasy were very helpful and their pack of Jack Russels were very cute. Web-site
Outdoor Travels Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Thumbs Up:
- Belikin Beer, the "national" brew is quite good! Guiness is also easily available!
- For English speaking travelers - Being an ex-British Colony, English is their main language
- The cuisine of Belize is largely stewed fish, pork or chicken with rice and is quite yummy!
- All areas with Belize City being the exception, felt very safe
- Do-it-yourself transportation is easy
- Lots of opportunities for outdoor activities such as canoeing, caving, rafting, hiking, biking, diving, etc.
- Diving is incredible around Caye Caulker
- Belizian people are by and large very friendly
- Caye Caulker is such a low-stress island, you'll forget what day it is while pondering another Belikin beer!
- Ruins are by and large not crowded with tourists, especially if you visit during the morning
Thumbs Down:
- The beaches of Caye Caulker were hard hit by a hurricane. If you expect an ideallic setting, you won't find it. But you will find beautiful water, white sand and cold beer.
- Belize seems to have a split personality - I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets ever while standing by a smoldering pile of burning trash right off of the beach on Caye Caulker.
- (Thumbs Up and Down) Although relatively developed for a Central American country, the "resort crowd" will not find Beliz'es culture and infrastructure that nice. If you are one of these types, stick to Cancun.
Lessons Learned:
- Rent a car at the airport and see the country for yourself, on your own terms. Driving in Belize is safe and easy. They only have two major paved roads!
- The ride to Caracol is rough! You'll need a high clearance vehicle like the little "Jeep thing" we rented. The ride is MORE than worth it!
Travel Diary: Belize - Rain Forest, Ruins and Beaches
By Kelli Farnsworth
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Diving Caye Caulker
Belize Trip Log
By Kelli Farnsworth
Day 1
Dana and I arrived in Belize City at about 2pm (its only about a 3 hr flight from Miami to Belize City) and got us a small rental truck. Belize is a small country, about 200 miles long by 90 miles wide. We were on the coast, planning to head inland to San Ignacio near the Guatemalan border. There is pretty much only one road, so we headed off. On the way, we stopped off at a place recommended by the guidebook and had our first Belikin beer. They're pretty cheap and pretty much the most prevalent kind of brew in the country. You can find Guinness and another Belize beer, Lighthouse - Belikin was cheap and tasty! The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the drive through the countryside. Belize was a colony of England until 1981 and so everybody speaks English there, unlike other Central American Countries. And Belize is pretty safe to visit as well. Once we arrived in San Ignacio, about 50 miles or so from Belize City, we found our Lodging, The Log Cab-Inns. It was a rustic place with 3-6 rooms to a Cabin, with a big porch and hammocks hanging. The walls, ceiling and floors were all wood and the rooms were not fancy, but they were very hospitable and well kept. The Hostess, Carla, was helpful and friendly. We settled in and then went to town for dinner. They have pretty good food if you like stewed chicken and rice. That is pretty much what they eat, and its quite tasty! Carla recommended the "Little Chicken" in San Ignacio. It was a restaurant on the second floor of a building with a staircase that went up the side. Inside there were booths along the wall and a few TVs in the corners. The locals there were fascinated with the basketball game going on. People just wandered in to watch the game. I'd recommend the place to anyone who wants good food there, though. That night we heard a funny call from the woods. So the next morning we investigated. It seems that in the wee hours of the morning the Chachalaca starts calling, and quite loudly! Its call sounds just like its name. We heard every night we were at the Log Cab-Inns.
Day 2
We had some breakfast at the Log Cab-Inns and headed out to Xunantunich, an ancient Mayan Ruin near San Ignacio for a day hike. To get there, you have to take a bridge-boat that pulls your car over to the other side by a crank that is manually operated. It was a new experience. Then we took a rough dirt road up to the entrance of the Ruins. We parked our little truck and headed in. It was a beautiful, hot day and we seemed to be the only people around that morning. We actually only saw about 6 other folks walking around the pyramids and ruins. No crowds at all. Very cool! They are still excavating the ruins and actually they have covered a few sides of the pyramids with molds of the ancient carvings to "preserve" the original one behind it. I am not sure I agree with this idea, but its their ruins to do with as they see fit. Anyway we could see for miles and miles from the top of the pyramid! We hung out for about 3 hours, then I got hungry (as usual) and we headed out. It was getting to be about noon and getting hotter anyway. So, once we got back across the bridge, we stopped at the restaurant across the way. Lucky for us, a big Charter bus pulled up and let off a ton of people just as we had left Xunatunich. One of which looked just like Santa Claus (this story to be continued). We ate some stewed chicken and rice, and beer of course, after we realized that the items listed on the menu are not necessarily available. That seems to be the way there. The restaurants have all kinds of items listed on the menu or painted on the wall, but they are not actually available to order. Odd, 'eh? But such is life, the stewed chicken was good! As we headed back to the lodge, there were a bunch of cows in the middle of the road. So Dana honked and pretty much just got stared at by the cows! Quite a sight! Dana staring at a cow staring at him! Carla had mentioned a waterfall we should go see on our way. Well, it was more like a few rocks in the stream that caused a very small rapid. Not exciting but there were some very cool birds that were strutting around there, and they had cold Belikin! Back at the lodge, we hung out in the hammock and played set (a card game we love) and drank a few more Belikin till it was time for dinner. Then out to San Ignacio we went, in search of another place to eat. We found a "Mexican" restaurant and stopped there. Guess who came in right after us? Santa Claus and his family. They sat at the table behind us. I guess in a small town it is easy to spot the tourists! The food was great and I think the place was called Ednas, or something like that.
Day 3
We planned to visit another ruin, Caracol. It was a good 2 ½ hour drive down a very bumpy dirt road (only 60 miles, but we couldn't drive it without 4WD and going very slowly). Carla, our hostess, packed us a lunch and we were off. On the way, we came across a lodge and stopped for a drink; the Pine Ridge Lodge is the name of it, I think. The people who run the place were from Ohio and they had quite a nice little place. There were several bungalows all with hammocks and a nicely landscaped yard, nestled in the forest. We stopped for a beer and headed on to Caracol, me holding on to my boobies so they don't bounce too much and Dana taking my picture and laughing hysterically! There were only 3 other cars there once we arrived. Definately not a touristy site yet. The site is being actively excavated and the archeologists live there from January to April, until the rainy season begins. The place was huge and largely deserted. It cost about $10 for us to enter, but once we were in, we just walked and walked and walked. It was very peaceful. Many of the pyramids had not been excavated yet and looked like big hills, covered in grass and weeds. Others had been partially or fully excavated and we climbed all over them looking far off into the west toward Guatemala. It is not overrun by tourists, we only saw about 4 other people there all day, not including a few of the archeologists (I am guessing because it is so hard to get to). It used to be a main city with over 150,000 people living there at one time. IF you're an adventurer, and you go to Belize, I would recommend that you go to Caracol. On the way back we stopped off at the Pine Lodge and got ourselves another beer! What's an Outdoor Travels adventure without a few cold beers? Once we were back in town, we went to a place called Martha's Italian Restaurant. They had a nice patio and we sat outside and stuffed ourselves of lasagna - very good lasagna at that!
Day 4
After breakfast, we headed back to Belize City to catch a boat to Caye Caulker (pronounced Key). On the way, we stopped off at the Belize Zoo and walked around a bit. It was a surprisingly nice Zoo, except for all the kids that day! Then we stopped off at the place next door to the place we stopped at on our first day driving to San Ignacio, that's along the Hummingbird Highway.
Back in Belize City, we dropped off our rental car and then caught a taxi to the dock. The boat ride was about 45 minutes to Caye Caulker. We got there about 4pm and found our place. We stayed at the Tree Tops. A German woman named Doris and her British husband, Terry, owns it. They have three very adorable jack russell terriers and very affordable rates. We had a nice room with a shared bath for $30 (I believe the rates are a little higher now). We had a view of the sea from our window! There are no cars on the island, only golf carts since the island is quite small and not touristy. We walked everywhere and Dana didn't wear shoes the whole time! Most restaurants had sand for a floor. Right at the dock is a restaurant called the Sand box. We stopped in for dinner after watching the sunset. BEAUTIFUL!
Day 5
We hung out on the other end of the island at their "beach". It used to have a dock and there's a ½ built resort that lost its funding just at the edge of the beach, but there was a hurricane in October 2000 and destroyed the dock and washed away a lot of the beach area. The builders lost their funding and abandoned their project of the resort too. But there is a hut with a bar called the Green Iguana and they serve ice cold Belikin Beer. So Dana and I hung out at the beach and snorkeled around the edge of the fallen down pier and swam and sun bathed and drank beer for the day. Quite relaxing. The water is crystal clear and the fish are abundant, we saw a puffer fish and tons of yellow tail snapper that one island native was fishing for off the pier (I think it was his lunch). Later that day, we cleaned up and found an Italian restaurant. They had phenomenal food and it is the only Italian place on the island, though I cannot recall the name.
Day 6
Dana decided to go scuba diving and I stayed at the beach, read my book and snorkeled the day away. You'll have to go to the scuba section to learn more about his underwater adventure in Belize. It was voting day and the whole island was pretty much closed up and there was a long line in front of the government building that afternoon. Everybody takes voting seriously there. It is great to see that. When Dana returned from his dive, we stayed at the beach to watch the sun set then headed back to clean up for dinner. We found a BBQ restaurant on the water with disco bulbs in the center of each table glowing different colors. Odd décor for an island. Lo and behold, Santa and his family came in to eat dinner there. Now we were thinking this is pretty weird. Everywhere we go, we see the same family. Belize is a small country! We even went to a non-touristy island! They were quite a nice group of folks and pretty much bumped into them every day on our vacation!
Day 7
Our last day full day on the island, we had to move to another hotel. It seems I messed up our reservation and the Tree Tops was booked solid. So we decided to find a place near the dock so we could catch the water taxi in the morning to the main land. We found the hotel (it cost about $40) and headed back to the beach. It is a small island and that is really all there is to do. It was a nice relaxing way to spend our honeymoon! On a side note, there are tons of dogs all over the place. They leave you alone for the most part, but the Belizeans pretty much warned us not to pet them. On the island, they sleep in the middle of the "road" and run around chasing one another and there are some dogfights too. It doesn't seem to me that many people have them as pets per se, but somehow they are fed, though they're pretty thin. Well, at the end of the day, we cleaned up and headed back down to watch the sun set on the beach and there was Santa and his family and Dana's diving partner with some locals at the Green Iguana. We all hung out then headed to the Sand box for an impromptu group dinner. The sunsets are magnificent, the water is clear and brilliant shades of turquoise, the jungle and ruins are spectacular the food and beer is great and the people are very friendly. It is a wonderful place to vacation.
Day 8
Well, we didn't sleep much because our room smelled like gasoline from boat engines (I think that was the reason anyway) and it was very loud too. But the next morning we hung out on the hammock and drank our last going away beer and caught the water taxi back to Belize City. From there, we caught a cab to the airport for our flight home.
Dana the beer quaffer and a friendly local wino in Madrid
