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I guess it's really great, if expensive, if you are the kind of person who likes swanky resorts and canned day trips to do things like tubing and zip-lining. If you are more into cultural tourism and the odd day at the beach I think there are better, cheaper, alternatives. Yucatan, for instance, would offer as much in the way of beaches and Mayan ruins but be much cheaper and just as easy to get to. That might be even more true of southern Guatemala though that might involve roughing it a bit more.

If I did Belize again I'd probably stick in one centre; either San Ignacio or Belmopan, and do day trips. I'd probably use the local buses more to keep down costs. The buses are a bittricky as, unsurprisingly, they are set up to serve the locals rather than tourists but Belmopan seems like a reasonable "hub" for most of the country. It is, after all, the capital.

The only other more or less adventurous destinations I've been to are Peru and Thailand. I think I'd go back to either before I went to Belize again. Both have more to offer in the way of attractions and are much cheaper, despite it being a more expensive flight.

We spent our first full day in Hopkins futzing around trying to figure the place out. Basically, beach aside there isn't anything much so we decided to splash out on a day snorkelling and fishing.

So next day we went out with a boat and crew to do just that. We snorkelled on the reef at Bread and Butter Caye; about 25 minutes by boat from Hopkins. It's pretty spectacular. now that the Ozzies have trashed their reef this may be just about the best one around. Then we went fishing. We tried bottom fishing (leger rig) in a couple of spots and caught a fair few snapper, porgy grunt etc. Then we did some trolling and I caught a barracuda; definitely the best catch of the day. We had lunch at the caye; snapper and barracuda fried up with tomatoes and spices and served with coconut rice. Very nice!



When we got back Mel invited to join a cultural/educational event the next day. After learning some Garifuna history we got to cook the Garifuna signature dish, hudut, from scratch. First step was husking, cracking and grating coconut to make coconut milk. The milk was cooked with herbs from the property and salted fish head/bones to make a broth. Then we made a plantain paste. Unripe and ripe plantains are boiled then the unrip ones are pounded in a pestle and mortar. This has to be done until they take on the consistency of a sticky dough. Then the ripe plantains are incorporated in the mix. The fillets of the fish were highly seasoned and deep fried. One gets a bowl of broth and a second bowl of plantain paste. One takes some fish and plantain between ones fingers, dips it in the broth and eats. It's good but one of those dishes that isn't really worth the prep time/effort. It would be a bit like making one's own haggis from scratch. As far as I can see most Garifuna food is like that. The process for making cassava bread (a bit like dessicated cardboard) is similarly involved. No wonder it keeps for ten years. Nobody will eat it!

Later we headed into Hopkins to check in for our flight out and to eat some very good pizza and fish and chips at the Driftwood Bar. This turned out to be pointless as Belize airport won't accept electronic boarding passes and we had to check in manually anyway.

After ATM we decided it made sense to head for the beach. On balance I'm not sure that this was a smart move as I definitely prefer San Ignacio to the coast but the lure of swimming in the Caribbean was too strong. We had trouble finding available, affordable accommodation and ended up at the Palmento Cultural Centre. This was certainly interesting but not the most comfortable of choices. It's located at the north end of Hopkins just across the river. It's off grid. Electricity (generator) is only available a few hours a day and the well water is sulphur laden. Also the variable water pressure makes getting a shower pretty hit and miss. Still the cabin was comfortable and Mel, who owns the place, is lovely. It's a longish walk into the village but that's the least of it. getting across the river involves kayaking. We got the hang of this soon enough but not before the lemur had managed to capsize the boat in the dark dumping me in the river. Fortunately we didn't see any crocodiles.

Hopkins is a Garifuna village though it's now increasingly taken over by resorts and businesses catering to tourists. It has a lovely beach but facilities are basic. There are plenty of restaurants and bars including Tina's which is pretty good for local specialties. The Chinese run supermarkets are pretty basic. There's one ATM which has lovely air conditioning and fine mahogany panelling but doesn't actually seem to dispense cash. It's here that you realise there are no cheap options on the coast (which is where most tourists go). Accommodation and food is much more expensive than in San Ignacio and doing anything costs wads of cash. Still, ocean.






Breakfast at Tina's; fry jack with stew beans, salsa and fried fish.  Totally delicious but, oddly, fish is the most expensive choice.  It always is for some reason in Belize (ok specialties like lobster, conch and game meats are more expensive but fish costs more than chicken, pork or beef... even on the coast)

Needing a break after the exertions of Tikal we took a "lazy day" in San Ignacio. We spent the morning at the Iguana sanctuary and rum tasting. Iguanas are cute and Belizean rum is pretty good. I'd go with the Travellers Five Barrel for optimum value though the higher end stuff is interesting. Lunch was at a local restaurant noted for local specialties. I had fried fish with a tamale like object made from grated green bananas and a creole sauce. This was where we discovered that "fried fish" in Belize usually means a whole fish semi-deep fried. Very tasty but lots of bones! The lemur had a lobster curry.

 I think our plane arrived just after about five others.  The line up for immigration was out of the terminal building onto the tarmac and it was hot.  It took maybe an hour to clear immigration.  Our prearranged driver was there and took us to the zoo on the way to San Ignacio.  It;s a great little zoo with many kinds of wild cat; puma, jaguar and smaller ones, plus coatis, crocodiles, monkeys and more.  We had our first meal of rice and beans with chicken; the Kriol staple dish.



Our hotel was pleasant.  It was about 15 minutes walk from the town centre (San Ignacio is the district capital and the second largest town in Belize).  It was clean, had AC, the plumbing worked and there was wi-fi.  And dogs.  And a cat.  We checked out the town centre and bought tacos from a street stall.  Street food is cheap in Belize.  It's about the only cheap way to eat.  The town itself is neat and tidy for the most part with a bunch of Chinese owned stores and plenty of restaurants and bars.  There's a sort of mini "Khao San Road" with hostels and tour oprators and bars and stuff but it's pretty low key.  Bought some of the local (Belikin) beers.  The stout is much better than the the "beer" and the lager is best not mentioned.

The next day was Saturday, market day, so we headed in to town for breakfast.  The market has a bit of everything; clothing, electrical goods, produce, prepared food etc.  We had a pleasant breakfast of tamales and pupusas.  I learned a few things at this point.  Everything tortilla based is made straight from dough spread on the comale.  No tortilla presses here and anyway the dough is much too sticky.  One is expected to pimp up the food with pickled cabbage and hot sauce.  Things like tacos and burritos are kind of skinny by TexMex standards so this really is necessary.  The food stands are all run by women from the countryside (probably Mayan) who don't speak any English.  Their kids do though and each stand has a bright eyed kid who deals with the gringos and tots up the bill.

We spent most of the morning at the local Mayan site of Cahal Pech.  This isn't one of the great city sites.  Likely it was the centre of power for a minor local ruler/landowner so sort of the equivalent of a castle in medieval England.  It's not a fortified site though.  There are a couple of step pyramid temples, living quarters and a ball court.  It's a good way to get a sense of the componentry of Mayan architecture.  Obligatory Cancon; part of the excavation was done by Trent University.

Lunch was back at the market.  The lemur had a quesadilla while I tried the caldo; a veggie filled broth with some beef in it.  I chickened out of the calf's foot version.  Pimped up with hot sauce and orange juice it was pretty good.  We pretty much slothed the rest of the day!