Belize

Saturday 09 May 2009
Arrived in Belize, decided to make an extra stop in Corozal before I go to Orange Walk Town. It’s on the way plus just happens to have a football match on tomorrow. Corozal has a population of about 8,000. There is also a large Taiwanese community here. Not sure why. At least it meant there were lots of Chinese restaurants to eat in. There is not a lot else to do in this town.

Sunday 10 May 2009
Walked to the field and all there was were some blokes training. I started speaking to one and he informed me that all league matches were cancelled because of the swine flu. I couldn’t Belize it!
They only had one reported case in the whole country and probably only get about 20 fans at the games. It turned out the bloke I was talking to was actually the owner of the team. We had a good chat for an hour about football.

What a waste of two days!

Monday 11 May 2009
I took the bus to Orange Walk Town. The journey was just over an hour, it was too bad I had left my jacket and mp3 player in Corozal. So back and forth I went. And to think I was sure I would never ever go back to Corozal.

Tuesday 12 May 2009
I took a tour to the Lamanai ("submerged crocodile" in Yucatec Maya) ruins. It’s about an hour and a half along the river. Used “Jungle River Tours” and recommend them. Along the way I got to feed some Spider Monkeys. It was really cool, they hang down from the trees and you pass them a banana from the boat. Then we saw some proboscis bats.

At the ruins our guide, Wilfredo, gave a good explanation as to why the Mayans deserted their cities.
In summary:
They eventually deforested their surroundings so when the resources ran out it made more sense to simply abandon the city and build another one. This has been backed up by evidence suggesting that around some cities the forest had receded by over 20 miles until it eventually re-grew and hid the cities.

Back to the ruins which had one tall building you can climb up and see over the forest, there was also the largest Mesoamerican ruin depicting a face. In the distance you can hear the howler monkeys which make a growl like King Kong.

Thursday 14 May 2009
I stayed in Belize city for a couple of days, it is well rough there – what a dump (that’s being nice!).
But at least I got to see my friend from Peru Michelle. She works on a cruise ship and they stop there for a few hours. Later in the evening I eventually got a game of football in as Belize Defence Force lost at home to San Pedro Bull Sharks, I was right about the 20 fans!

Monday 18 May 2009
I had been staying in San Ignacio and the previous day walked to the ruins at Cahal Pech but they aint much to see. I took a tour to Corocal. These are some of the largest ruins of the Mayan empire. The tallest building reached up to 135 ft. It was very impressive. During the tour you get an armed escort as it’s close to the Guatemalan border and there had been robberies happening. The tour also took in some pools in the river which we swam in and also on to the Rio Frio cave.

Wednesday 20 May 2009
I Just wanted to complain as I had to pay £12 to leave the country, this is outrageous. Some countries you pay a departure tax if you leave by air but never by land. Belize you are now on my hit list.