To Latitude 0°0’0” - Stories from BELIZE
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Belize Bound (a continuation from my last Mexico entry)
May 14, 2010
Crossing the border in Belize couldn't have been easier! The Belizians are SO nice AND helpful! They helped direct us to where we needed to go to get our passports stamped, how we did the paperwork for the car, etc. They were great! SUCH a change from Mexico! We were excited from the get go! Belize doesn't charge an entry fee for your vechicle, but it has to leave with you or you have to pay importation taxes, but we were required to purchase insurance for Belize, which cost about $29 Belize dollars. This completely makes sense and we were very happy with the process.
As we headed out from the border crossing we were concerned we weren't on the right road until we realized that there is only one road. It was a long windy road (part of which was dirt because we took the old part of the road and not the new one) with very few deviations and very few road signs (none we needed to point us in the right direction) through fileds of sugar cane and elephant grass. Everyone once in a while we'd grab a glimpse of the ocean or go through a small town, but you really got the small country feel of Belize while driving from the border to Belize City.
The road from the Chetumal border crossing to Belize City, Belize. This is where we deviated and took the old road, the rest was paved.
A truck full of sugar cane on the road from the Chetumal border to Belize City, Belize
We finally reached Belize City in the early afternoon and attempted to navigate the city. It has small windy streets, many of which are one way streets, and neither of my maps seemed to actually match the streets we were driving on. After a good 20 or so minutes of driving around we finally found a secure place to park the car (for those looking for a place to park the car in Belize City so you can take a boat to an island, the Radisson charges $20 Belize dollars per day (USD$10), and headed off to find lunch and buy our boat tickets to San Pedro Island.
We found lunch at this great little roadside stand. They served rice and beans and chicken for $7 Belize dollars per plate (USD$3.50) and we were able to share two of them between the three of us. Our tickets got us on the 4:30 boat, so we had some time to kill. We hung out at the Radisson for a bit and waited to head off to the docks to load up.
The boat ride took a little more than an hour and was a beautiful ride! There were islands of mangroves all over and the water was a crystal blue color. We arrived to San Pedro Island around sunset (5:30ish) and met up with Arturo's cousin.
The view from our water taxi as we departed Belize City, Belize and headed to San Pedro Island, Belize
Arturo on the water taxi from Belize City to San Pedro Island, Belize
Our exploration of the island starts tomorrow! Can't wait!
For more pictures from our first day in Belize here (si quieres ver mas fotos de Belize da un click aqui)
Total mileage driven so far 4,146
Total miles traveled so far 4,397
165 miles from Xpuhil, MX to Belize City, Belize
Average gas price in Belize - $10.22 Belize dollars per gallon
(approx USD$5.11 per gallon using an exchange rate of 2 Belize dollars/dollar)
Note: Belize's gas is not nationalized so prices will vary from gas station to gas station as they do in the U.S. However, they do not vary enough to shop around. Also, if you have a newer car (we have a 2004 Jeep Liberty) you will want to get the premium gas because the regular's octane levels will not be high enough for you to get good performance from your car. We found that we got better gas mileage when we used premium so it was worth the extra cost for us.
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La Isla Bontia (San Pedro Island)
May 15 and 16, 2010
San Pedro Island is well known through Madona's song La Isla Bonita and lives up to this name! What an amazing island! Everyone drives golf carts (there are very few cars, beside the taxis, and most people cycle, walk, or ride in golf carts. Life is very slow and people take their time with just about everything. The water is beautiful, there is tons of white sand, friggate birds cruising on the breezes, and warm and sunny!
Our first day on the island consisted of kayaking, walking on the beach, a bit of swimming, and exploring the island. It was wonderful just to relax, enoy the sunshine and the beautiful water, and soak up the sunshine!
Arturo's cousin also moved us in to an amazing time share apartment at no charge! He really hooked us up! So we got to spend 2 nights in a really great, 1 bedroom apartment!
Here are some pictures from our first day on the island...
Looking out from Arturo's cousin's porch on San Pedro Island, Belize
Arturo in a beach hammock at the Jolly Rodger pub on the beach by his cousin's house
Becky under a plam tree on the north side of San Pedro Island, Belize
Our second day had us relaxing in the morning, cooking breakfast in our amazing apartment, and swimming in the time share place's pool. Arturo's cousin booked us in to a snorkeling tour for the afternoon. A boat picked us up at a dock across the street from the time share (yes, VERY convenient!) and took us off to rent our gear and then off to the reef. The islands of Belize are surrounded by a barrier reef the runs all the way from Mexico down to Honduras. It is 185 miles long and is really amazing! When we first saw it on our boat ride to the island I swore there was a tsunami coming and was trying to figure out where there might have been an earthquake. After my momentary panic someone explained to me that no I wasn't going to be taken out to sea by a tsunami, but that there was a reef there. Anyway, long story short, this is where we went snorkling.
The first stop was amazing. It was near a place they call The Channel which is an opening in the reef which allows boats to go out to sea (yes, it's natural and not man made). Here we got to see a variety of fish including black grouper, a huge parrot fish, some sort of jack fish which followed us everywhere, a manta ray, a sea turtle, and many many more! It was SO beautiful! I could have stayed for hours looking around.
Then our snorkeling leader, Matt, moved us on to another area called Shark and Ray alley. Okay, for those of you who know me, I'm sure you knew what my first reaction was... that's right, "there is NO way I'm getting in that water. NO WAY!" Well, guess what, I GOT IN! Not only did I get in but I touched a nurse shark AND a manta ray! It was AMAZING! Absolutely AMAZING! We were surrounded by these fish that swim in schools (not sure what they were), nurse sharks and manta rays! It was a whole new world and I loved it!
I highly recommend that anyone who comes to San Pedro Island goes snorkeling! We ended up paying about USD$30 per person for the boat ride, the national park ticket, and the gear. Our boat ride included water and soda if we wanted it as well.
All of us before our snorkeling adventure on San Pedro Island, Belize
Arturo snorkeling with sharks in Shark and Ray Alley on San Pedro Island, Belize
Arturo and me after snorkeling with sharks on San Pedro Island in Belize
Tomorrow we head off of San Pedro, back to the mainland and to Guatemala. We have LOVED our time in Belize! Everyone should come here! (especially to San Pedro)
For more pictures from Belize click here (si quieres ver mas fotos de Belize da un click aqui)
Total mileage driven so far 4,146
Total miles traveled so far 4,429
165 miles from Belize City, Belize to San Pedro Island, Belize
Average gas price in Belize - $10.22 Belize dollars per gallon
(approx USD$5.11 per gallon using an exchange rate of 2 Belize dollars/dollar)
Note: Belize's gas is not nationalized so prices will vary from gas station to gas station as they do in the U.S. However, they do not vary enough to shop around. Also, if you have a newer car (we have a 2004 Jeep Liberty) you will want to get the premium gas because the regular's octane levels will not be high enough for you to get good performance from your car. We found that we got better gas mileage when we used premium so it was worth the extra cost for us.
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The end of two days in paradise, and heading out of Belize and in to Guatemala
May 17, 2010
We knew today we would be departing San Pedro Island and the country of Belize so we got up early to finish packing, cook ourselves a good breakfast, and check our email (who knows what we all did before personal lap tops, the Internet, and Skype!). Then Arturo's cousin picked us up in a golf cart and took us back to the dock to catch the 9:30 boat back to Belize City.
I was in a pretty funky mood this morning (it comes with the pregnancy territory) and couldn’t seem to shake it. But I was also starving! While we were waiting for the boat Becky and Arturo went to look for US dollars and to buy some food for the grumpy and hungry pregnant lady they’re traveling with and they came back with chocolate croissants and totally made my morning! YUM!
The boat ride back to Belize City took about an hour and 15 minutes and when we arrived we headed back to the Radisson to pick up our car. We paid our $60 Belize dollars (USD$30) for having kept it in a secure parking lot and then headed in to the hotel to try and get some US dollars. Everyone we asked about the land border crossing from Belize to Guatemala had told us that we had to pay our departure tax in US dollars. I wasn’t convinced, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, so the Radisson kindly changed $400 Belize dollars back to US dollars for us (even though we weren’t staying with them). Then we grabbed a coffee from the café at the Radisson then hit the road.
It was a very stormy day today and part of the ride to the border was in complete torrential downpour, making driving more difficult for Arturo. The border wasn’t far from Belize City at all, maybe about an hour or so, and was a very easy departure for us. For those of you driving through Central America (or just traveling, really) you DO NOT have to pay your departure tax in US dollars. You can pay in Belize dollars OR US dollars, but you do not HAVE to pay in US dollars! It cost us $37.50 Belize dollars per person to depart Belize. It was a very easy process (just as the entry had been) and we were done in a matter of minutes and on to the Guatemala entry…
What our drive looked like for much of the time as we drove west from Belize City to the border with Guatemala
For more pictures from Belize click here (si quieres ver mas fotos de Belize da un click aqui)
Average gas price in Belize - $10.22 Belize dollars per gallon
(approx USD$5.11 per gallon using an exchange rate of 2 Belize dollars/dollar)
Note: Belize's gas is not nationalized so prices will vary from gas station to gas station as they do in the U.S. However, they do not vary enough to shop around. Also, if you have a newer car (we have a 2004 Jeep Liberty) you will want to get the premium gas because the regular's octane levels will not be high enough for you to get good performance from your car. We found that we got better gas mileage when we used premium so it was worth the extra cost for us.
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Recapping Belize... highlights from our time in a small country with lots to offer!
May 17, 2010
- "Welcome to San Pedro Island"
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Belize - Tips for Travelers
May 17, 2010
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If you have any questions about how much we spent, time travels, etc. please let me know. You can email me at rebecca@elnomad.com.
