Unsure of whether or not to push on back into Guatemala, we convinced ourselves that there was probably one more thing not to miss in Belize - and that's the second largest coral reef in the world! And perhaps we shouldn't miss Belize City either. After all, it is not possible to know Belize without seeing it's largest city, according to our book. Besides, to get to the reef you must take a boat from Belize City to one of the cayes, so two birds with one stone, we went to Ambergris Caye.
The boat ride is speedy and didn't feel like the one and a half hours it took. By the time we arrived it was dark and we set about finding a place to stay, missing the ease of Stuart's car with every step! Unfortunately, like most of Belize, Ambergris Caye offers little in the way of budget stays. For some reason a dive will still cost you at least £20 ($32 US). In Mexico that would buy you a luxurious honeymoon sweet with free foot massages! So we took the best 'dive' we could, but at least it came with a fan. Plus it was better than the one down the road that was host to a load of British squaddies! Regardless of where you are, you can do without that.
Perhaps I'm not being fair to Ambergris Caye. Its got plenty going for it if you want to dive or snorkel. There are many restaurants and bars and it has a bank too, which you'll need. As our budget just won't stretch to diving lessons, we opted for snorkeling. We'll learn to dive and come back when we're rich. The coral reef was amazing though. We went to Shark Ray Alley and got in amongst the sting rays and sharks, just hoping they weren't too hungry. The sting rays are huge here, and the sharks are big enough to do you some serious damage if they felt like it. Well worth the trip, but it was over far too quickly.
The snorkeling was the highlight. Belize City was the low-light. On our return to the mainland, we intended to stay in the city for a night and relax before heading back to Guatemala. Belize City has a population of about 70,000 and is the largest in Belize which gives an idea of how small the country is. It was almost completely destroyed by a hurricane in the 60's and has been struck continuously since, and also by fires as recent as 2004. So, its not the prettiest of places (Aside from the harbour - top picture) and maybe it's had some rotten luck.
But, even in this horrible sweaty dump of a place (I'm not going to bother to try to be nice here) we couldn't find cheap accommodation. The supposedly cheapest place in town was run by some aging hippy types (yeah, clean sheets) and they wanted $50 USD for a room. FIFTY?! Clearly the years of smoking too much has taken its toll! This is Belize City, and this is a shabby run down guesthouse. I don't care how many 'good vibes man' there were, we were out of there. I just wish I had been brave enough to get my camera out and get some shots of this town. Maybe I can say I 'really know' Belize now. Whatever, I prefer my first impressions of the country.
We retreated to San Ignacio for a night, and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. Seriously, I'm not precious and I really don't mind slumming it for a bit, bit not at stupidly high prices. That's not how it works. Still, eight days in Belize and I reckon we crammed in a fair old lot!
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