Go Slow (Belize)

Belize really stood out from the other Central American countries. The first thing that hit me once we had crossed the border was that I could understand the conversations of strangers. For more than six months I have been in non-English speaking countries, so it felt strange when it was all around me in the busy bus. There was a novelty in listening in and understanding the conversations of the locals.

Belize speaks English because it was part of the British empire. The country has a laid back Caribbean vibe – its national motto is ‘go slow.’ It has a population that looks different to the rest of Central America because the majority of their ancestors were slaves brought over from Africa, so most of them are negro. There are a lot of Rastafarian guys lazily stumbling around the place too. It’s a small country with a population of less than 400 thousand people, so going slow and taking it easy is not hard to do.

 

 

I got a taste for this the first afternoon in San Ignacio when we went to a local market to buy fruit. I heard some music (probably reggae) so I followed the sound down to the river where a huge crowd of people were out swimming, adults chilling on the bank under a big beer tent, the kids jumping off the bridge into the river, and people just lying about wherever. A typical weekend afternoon for the Belize.

 

Near the town of San Ignacio we stayed at an ecolodge which featured little cabins spread throughout a big property and compost toilets. It was here that the basic accommodation got to some people. We had to move along a big spider and then a short while later a scorpion, but the place was alright compared to some of the other dives I’ve stayed. Safe to say I’ve been desensitised.  

Here we had beer for breakfast, spent time in the nearby river, played Frisbee golf and cooked up a BBQ at night.

To get around Belize we caught the chicken buses, as we had done in Guatemala. These buses look like a typical USA school bus that has gone through hell and come out the other side with a new paintjob. It’s a great way to travel around the place, get to see lots of interesting characters get on and off.

Another thing to mention is that no-one in our group was robbed while in Belize.

Belize City was interesting to see, however briefly. This is the epitome of a Caribbean capital city. The buildings are all low and slightly shackish looking, things move at an appropriately slow pace, and everyone is friendly and relaxed. If we weren’t informed about the excessive violent crime and hurricane disasters here I’d think it to be the most laid back capital in the world.

From the small capital we caught a ferry out to Cay Caulker, and island on the Belize Barrier Reef. This is the second biggest reef is the world, and the islands along it are pure Caribbean fantasy; not just the cliché palm trees, powdery white sand and turquoise waters, which were no doubt impressive, but it was the whole mood of the place that made it; the streets of sand, the meaningless of the clock, bicycles instead of cars, the hand painted restaurant signs with words misspelt, the purposeless meanderings of the locals, the rickety jetties, the waves breaking on the reef on the horizon.

And Caribbean food of course, the highlight of which was the jerked chicken. The main road of Cay Caulker was white sand and halfway along the front of three streets people would come out with their big half gallon drums, find a good spot near some shade, put up their little sign, and BBQ throughout the day, serving up spicy jerked chicken with coconut rice and coleslaw. You eat it there on the side of the road, under the palms, a few metres from the water. It doesn’t matter how much it makes you sweat because you can go jump in the water right after. The setting of a good street food meal is rarely this luxurious.

We had three days on the island to swim and wander around. I liked that it wasn’t too developed or touristy. We also went out to the reef on a sailing boat and got a chance to swim with stingrays, sharks and turtles. The reef itself wasn’t nearly as nice as I’ve seen is Australia, but the wildlife was good. I’ve swam with rays and sharks before, so what appealed to me the most was the Moray Eel. And ugly, gnarly creature that one. Cruising back to the island after a few hours of snorkelling we drank rum punch and made stops to dive off the top of the boat into the water. It was a long afternoon that would blur into a longer night.

Oh Belize, you taught me that it’s a sunnier world when your one responsibility is to go slow.