Trip to Belize City,
by Marilyn Beckstead
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When I arrived in Belize, I quickly
learned that if you want to do anything in this country, you have to consider the
"Belize Factor." That is, apply Murphy’s Law - - Squared! That was
certainly the case on my first trip to Belize City in December, 1999.
Mary and I had planned to travel to Belize City
via the Gulf Cruza Ferry. At that time, the boat made runs south from Belize City to
Honduras on Fridays and returned to Belize City on Mondays. (Note: Belize City is no
longer included in the Gulf Cruza's run.)
The Monday of our planned trip was very windy and
the water was extremely choppy. Kevin insisted that the ferry would not run that day
because of the weather, but since he really didn’t want Mary to go, we scoffed!
Besides, Mary had called the Ferry Service office - - twice - - once at 10 a.m.,
and again at 1 p.m. Both times, the voice at the other end of the wire informed her that,
yes, indeed, the boat was on its way.
So, off we went at 2:30, dragging our half-empty
suitcases behind us along the sidewalk to the dock. (The suitcases were half-empty because
we planned to fill them up with Christmas goodies in Belize City.) We settled ourselves at
J-Byrd's Bar at the dock to await the arrival of the boat. We waited and waited . . . and
waited. By 4:00, we had to concede to Kevin that he was right. No boat would be traveling
to Belize City on this day.
Not wanting to admit defeat, Mary and I then
dragged our suitcases along the road to Percy’s and hired him to take us to the
airport. We caught the last flight out and reached Belize City in 25 minutes.
A short cab ride later, we arrived at a landing on
the Belize River where we had been instructed to find a doorbell attached to a tree trunk
and ring it 3 times. We were a little skeptical, but did as we were told - - and it
worked! About 10 minutes later a boat arrived to transport us across the River to the
Belize River Lodge.
I must say that the Lodge was something of a shock
after the sandy, palm-treed tropics of Placencia. My first impression of Belize River
Lodge was of being transported to a lakeside Canadian fishing lodge. Definitely not what I
expected in Belize - - but I soon recovered as we were shown to a beautifully finished,
well-furnished and very clean two bedroom, two bath cabin that included a small living
room.
That night, we had a wonderful dinner in the
beautiful main lodge which has a spacious screened-in lounge with a bar (and a fly tying
table) and a large, well-appointed dining room. Meal service was excellent, food well
prepared, tasty and accompanied by an excellent bottle of wine. Even better, we were
entertained throughout dinner with humorous tales of Belize by our congenial host, Mike
Heusner.
 On Tuesday morning we
headed to Belize City, the country’s largest city with a population of 70,000 souls.
Belize City was the capital of Belize until Hurricane Hattie leveled it in 1961.
After Hattie, the capital was relocated to a
location further inland where Belmopan was built. However, Belize City remains the
commercial and cultural center of the country with many government offices such as the
Belize Supreme Court still located there.
 We started our walking tour of
the City along the harbor front in the Fort George area where British colonials built
large homes and where elite tourist establishments and embassies now reside. However elite
parts of Belize City like the Fort George area might be, Belize City is still part of an
emerging nation and Memorial Park (shown below) reflects the efforts of Belizeans to
present their best face to travelers and diplomats.
 Like
Ottawa in Canada, Belize City is a city of bridges. The Belize River slices through the
downtown and empties into the Caribbean Sea. The Swing Bridge, where boats anchor and form
a picturesque panorama, links the opposite sides of the River in downtown Belize City.
The main commercial area is like any other
Belizean town, only bigger. Narrow, cracked sidewalks run beside open storm sewers.
Traffic is heavy and somewhat disordered. Shoppers mingle with street vendors, office
workers, students and idlers. We chatted with a woman at a street stand purveying an array
of natural remedies that are widely used here and seem to be effective. She showed us what
to take for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and liver dysfunction, among other ills.
Belize City shops are a mixture of high-end
boutiques and poor relations of North American discount stores. For example, Angelus Press
is large, air conditioned and well stocked with office and school supplies. Conversely, in
a store like Liberty on Queen Street, you never know what you will find.
But, with the limited shopping opportunities in
Placencia, either end of the spectrum is a treat for us "yokels" from the south.
You should have seen our excitement when Mary and I discovered several items on our
shopping list at Liberty - - including a tape measure, plastic canisters, Christmas
lights, fabric and a heat diffuser for a gas element on my gas stove (it's the little
things in life
. . .).
Having oohed and aahed over plastic canisters,
imagine our joy when we stumbled upon a party store where we were able to purchase
supplies for our Millennium celebrations including a piñata in the shape of an apple. (We
planned to use it to emulate the ball falling in Times Square.) Next, we visited Brodies,
the Belizean version of the Bay in Canada or Macys in the State. There we found
decorations for our new miniature Christmas trees - - purchased in a camera and
electronics shop!
For lunch we reentered the Fort George area and
dined at the Four Fort Street Restaurant. We sat at a table on a wide verandah and enjoyed
a quiet, leisurely, well-prepared meal and attentive service. Far from the hustle and
bustle of downtown Belize City, our lunch surroundings could have been located at a
tropical vacation spot almost anywhere in the Caribbean.
As we walked back to the main shopping district
after lunch, a Garifuna woman stepped in front of us and began speaking rapidly. She told
us that she didn’t want money but asked us to buy lunch for her children. She also
informed us that she had just been released from the Hattieville prison and had come to
the city for a job interview that had taken longer than she expected.
Now, you have to understand that there are many
excellent con artists in Belize City (very few panhandlers, just lots of con artists).
They can spin a tale and dance around your questions quicker than a permit can flip tail
and run, but you're usually safe if you don’t make eye contact. It was Christmas, so
feeling generous, we dug in our pockets for some small bills. We had none, so Mary gave
her a twenty and told her bring back the change. (Hey, it was Christmas, remember?). We
waited for a few minutes and then moved on, as we were quite certain that we had seen the
last of her. Sometime later, as we passed the front of the building where this exchange
had taken place, a security guard rushed out, calling to Mary. To our amazement, she
handed Mary $11.00 in change which the woman had returned. Imagine - not one, but two
honest women in one day!
On Wednesday, we decided to return to Placencia in
two stages, first by bus to Dangriga, and then by plane from Dangriga to Placencia. I
wanted to experience the bus between Belize City and Dangriga because I had never traveled
this route by land.
The bus trip between Belize City to Belmopan was
quiet with the bus partly empty. The scenery was very commonplace along this road. In
fact, if you take away the palm trees you could be driving along any rural road in North
America. The road is paved, however, and the trip is pleasant.
The bus station at Belmopan definitely ends the
commonplace portion of the Belize City-Dangriga trip. The station's parking area for buses
is lined with vendors and people watching provided great entertainment during the short
15-minute layover in Belmopan. Vendors set up little wooden shelters and sell everything
and anything- - clothing, produce, household items and fast food Belizean style (plates of
beans and rice, garnaches and tamales - - watch the tamales though, they'll probably
include chicken feet - - much loved by Belizeans). You can even get your shoes repaired.
Hawkers carry baskets of snacks, juice and water to sell to travelers. The hawkers board
the buses and add to the general confusion as new passengers make their way down the
crowded bus aisle to their seats.
The trip from Belmopan to Dangriga along the
Hummingbird Highway is a beautiful drive, passing through the Maya Mountains. The
mountainside is mostly cloaked in jungle except where it has been beaten back by Mayans
who have claimed small agricultural plots, live in thatched homes and carry out
subsistence farming. Larger areas along the highway have also been cleared for citrus
groves which fill the air with scents of oranges.
The Hummingbird Highway was about 98% completed
last year (and is finished now), so the ride is smooth and fast, but also heart stopping
at times. The drive reminded me of the highways through the Allegheny Mountains in
Pennsylvania where transport trucks come roaring down the steep inclines. Usually I'm in a
small passenger car being overtaken by these roaring monsters, but this time I was aboard
the vehicle that was doing the roaring. Although fully paved now, the Hummingbird is still
narrow in spots and the many bridges are single lanes. From the bus window, you sometimes
look down on straight drop-offs into a canyon or river below. Not being particularly fond
of heights, I decided to avert my eyes from some of the more heart-stopping scenery and
observe my fellow passengers instead.
The bus was crowded when we left Belmopan. Across
the aisle from us was a Creole mother accompanied by a young boy of about five and holding
a baby girl less than a year old. She unceremoniously handed the baby to Mary while mother
and her son ate their barbecued chicken lunch. Then she reclaimed the baby and breast-fed
her.
Standing in the aisle was a tall, thin, bearded,
stoop-shouldered, fair-haired, blue-eyed farmer wearing a straw hat and a dark green,
long-sleeved work shirt and black button-fly pants - - unmistakably a Mennonite. The
Mennonites form a large segment of Belize’s rural society, having founded settlements
in the agricultural areas early in this century. Soft-spoken and polite, the farmer gave
up his seat for a woman with a bundle in one arm and a baby in the other.
The Mayans on board were also easily identifiable.
These short, black-haired people rarely speak and try to be as unobtrusive as possible.
The women carry the children and the men carry huge bundles on a tump-line across their
foreheads. They were returning to their farms from a day of selling goods in the city,
usually baskets, carvings or woven cloth.
School children travel long distances to attend
class without the benefit of school buses. There were many of these young people on board
by now. Their uniforms identify them. Each school has its own colors- light and dark blue,
brown and beige, white, light and dark green and so on.
There were also tourists, Mestizos and Creoles on
the bus. I could hear the Mestizo man behind me telling a British tourist that Britain is
no longer an important country, rather it is like an old lion that has lost its teeth. The
young back-packer listened politely but didn’t have much to contribute to the
conversation as the litany of criticisms of England continued throughout the ride.
We arrived in Dangriga and were whisked to the
airport by taxi. From there, we flew to Placencia, a fifteen-minute plane ride. We left
Belize City at 12:30 PM and arrived in Placencia at 5 PM. Not bad for a one hundred and
forty mile trip! |
