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Belize

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Ambergris Cay

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Belmopan

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Orange Walk

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Recent Trip Observations

I spent most of my early 2004 trip in Belize and here are my thoughts from it:

I was in San Ignacio for two nights and saw Caracol from there. This is an impressive site and well worth the time and money to visit it. There were four other people where I was staying (the Hi-Et) who wanted to go to Caracol, so we had a guaranteed group. Unfortunately, the nearby office of the Snooty Fox was not open, so we arranged the trip at Eva's. The cost was $55 US and what the fellow there did was arrange to have Everald of Snooty Fox come and pick us up. I still wonder how much cheaper it would have been if we had been able to deal directly with him as a group.  For those who are alone and want to go on a trip to local sites, Eva's can be a viable alternative to get listed for one. 

High cost there is especially true for Internet, because Eva's is the highest in town, despite it being a mere dial up service. The cheapest place for Internet in town has older equipment, but only charged 5 cents Belizean per minute compared to Eva's $5 Belizean per 15 minutes. To find the cheap place, go past Pop's from the Hi-Et to the end of the street and turn left. At the end of that street it is directly ahead. There are a couple places in town that have satellite hook up and fancy equipment too, but they were still cheaper than Eva's was.

I liked breakfast at Pop's. Had I been around for lunch, I would have gone there too. Maxim's has pretty good Chinese food and non-Chinese as well. I was underwhelmed by Erva's (yes, Erva's) Restaurant, but it might have been more due to my then queasy stomach. By the way, I had bought some Cipro in Mexico for under $7 for 12 tabs, so my taking some for a few days sent my stomach back to normal. Presuming that I get back there, I will try the place in good condition and see how it seems.

I stayed two nights at Orange Walk, but one night or even less would have been better. If a person wants to see Lamanai and can get to the Reyes and Sons boat area right on the river south of town between 9-11 AM, it would be likely to join a group and it would not be necessary to spend more than one night there. One could even dispense with it entirely by getting dropped off at the bus station and heading off right after seeing the ruins. I had forgotten how much nonsense guides spout during their talks, but now after guided tours to this and to Caracol, I vividly remember.


What I liked least about Orange Walk was the lack of choice in restaurants. Juanita's was fine for breakfast and lunch. Otherwise there only seemed to be Chinese restaurants except for some market stalls if one were to hurry and eat an early supper, which I didn't. Being tired of Chinese food, I ordered a fish burger at a particular Chinese joint one night. It was more what I would describe as a fish cake sandwich with lots of breading. The next night I ordered a beef burger and it was more like a beef version of the fish cake. Fortunately I still had some granola bars.

I was at the Hotel Akihito and had cable TV and the hotel PC with Internet had Chinese letters on it along with the normal ones, so doing email was interesting.

I recommend seeing the Lamanai ruins. The boat ride through jungle is interesting in itself and the boatman pointed out interesting things along the way, including a crocodile.

I like resting up a bit at the end of a journey, so I headed to Placencia, which made it pleasant enough. I even abandoned my idea of later heading off to Hopkins and remained until it was time to go toward Belize City for my flight.

I enjoyed having a common kitchen at Lydia's Guest House. I checked out the locations of grocery stores and other useful spots, most of which are on the road. Most useful to me were the Every Day Market is on the right shortly after the small sign on the left for Lydia's Guest House. Next was Placencia Market. It has a freezer with affordable Belizean steaks and chops. The steaks there are sliced so thin that they are not as chewy as one might expect.

There are other stores, one on the right and Wallen's on the left. Wallen's has the best selection, a pharmacy on second floor and a hardware store next door, but it was rather far from Lydia's. I got a useful knife dirt cheap at the hardware store there and enough cheap chloroquine at the pharmacy to start the my next trip.

At the fishermen's cooperative, I bought shrimp and fish for two dinners. I found that the fajitas at the stand in front of Wallen's make a delightful and inexpensive lunch. I liked Flavours Restaurant near the Shell station for a meal. Their problem seems to be that many people are unaware that most of the seats are upstairs, so they think it is small and pass it up. I also enjoyed an inexpensive lunch at Omar's.

I did two snorkeling trips and one day trip to Monkey River. One snorkeling was a half day to nearby cayes and the other was to Silk Caye, both of which I enjoyed very much. The latter is an island that is even smaller than Laughing Bird Caye, at which I had snorkeled three years before.

Monkey River has a lot of wildlife to see. We saw several crocodiles and many large iguanas and numerous birds. Along a jungle path, there was a small colony of Montezuma Oropendolas with their curiously hanging nests. The guide pointed out a water vine and a number of types of trees. There are far fewer monkeys since the hurricane, but we did see one family. In fact, we saw nearly as many people there to study the monkeys as there were of those primates to be studied.

The cheapest company taking people snorkeling or on other tours seems to be Ocean Motion. The lady in the office is friendly and they will set up trips to suit you, particularly if you can connect with others on where you want to go. Both of the times I have stayed at Lydia's I have met others who wanted to go snorkeling on the same day I did and we set something up.


It does seem that every time I return to Belize, the use of Spanish becomes more and more useful due to increasing numbers of people with limited knowledge of English. Sometimes it even looks like Guatemala took it over and that is why they no longer feel the need to claim it.

I also discovered how to avoid paying $20 US to get to the BZE airport. I took a Ladyville Transport bus from the regular station for $1.50 BZ to the crossroad and when I arrived, I was ready to hike the two miles into the airport. However, I found two taxi drivers there awaiting fares. The woman driver came up and asked me if I wanted a ride in and out of curiosity, I asked, but was expecting a huge figure. The price was $6 BZ, so I took it. A male driver came up and informed me that he was ahead of her in line.

I explained that it was she who convinced me to ride rather than walk. Then I got into her cab. On the way in, she explained that the other cabbies do not accept her as a woman driver and that by the other cabbie's definition, he would be always ahead of her in line. Although one can expect some slant in her opinion, it is likely that there is some truth to it. As for the locations of their cabs, she got to me quicker and his was further away from where I got off the bus.

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Placencia Information and Useful Links

Services list

Car rentals in Placencia

List of some Placencia Businesses

Newsletter

Fly or other fishing with Permit Pow

Florentino Bol offers tours here.

Note that Ocean Motion is friendly and has 

the least expensive prices, but is not online

Toadal Adventures does some interesting sea kayaking trips

Playa de Piratas Properties.

Some properties are listed for sale here. Note that nothing is cheap.

Belize Raised Taxes on Tourists

International Airport Departure Tax & Fees: US$35, up from US$20, effective April 1, 2004

Hotel Room Tax: 9%, up from 7%, effective mid-2005

Sales Tax on Most Items: 9%, up from 8%

Archaeological Fees: US$5 at most sites, including Xunantunich, Altun Ha, and Cahal Pech, up from US$2.50; at Caracol, fee is US$7.50. Effective April 1, 2004

Marine Park Fees: US$10 to $15 per person per day, depending on the park, effective November 1, 2004.

Land Border Exit Fee: US$18.75, up from US$13.75.