Article updated on 05.24.23
One week in Belize
After almost 6 months in Mexico, we are now heading to discover a new country, Belize. We have mixed feelings. Are we going to like this country or not? We haven’t heard much good feedback from our traveller friends because of the cost of living. One thing’s for sure: we’re looking forward to being able to communicate in English. (Our Spanish isn’t quite up to scratch yet…)
Crooked Tree Village
Our first destination is Crooked Tree Village. We meet up with our friends the Pascaux who are travelling in their camper van. They’ve found us a nice little free spot by the water. They lend us their kayak to explore the lake. We make sure we stay in the kayak as there could be small crocodiles… not very reassuring.
In the morning we wake up to birdsong and hope to see some manatees. Unfortunately, we only see birds.
Bermudian Landing
On the recommendation of friends, we set off in the direction of Bermudian Landing, where howler monkeys can be spotted very close by. In this village, there’s a church, a bar and a few houses that run one after the other.
We hear the monkeys at the end of the day but don’t see any. We hope we’ll be luckier the next morning. What we realised a bit later was that we had to pay a guide to show us where they were… a bit disappointed but it didn’t matter as we’d already seen a lot.
Hopkins
The little village of Hopkins has a great Caribbean feel. The houses are all colourful and the inhabitants have a Caribbean style. We stayed for two days and then left to celebrate Christmas in an original place.
Christmas in the tropics in Placencia
For Christmas, we’re treating ourselves to an unusual campsite. A hotel right by the sea offers to travellers in vans the chance to pay $20 per night in exchange for a parking space and use of their facilities (swimming pool, kayak and volleyball court). We were unlucky with the weather as it was raining. That didn’t stop us from sharing a delicious fondue with the Pascaux family on Christmas Eve. For lunch on the 25th, we made ourselves a little feast. The Pascaux shared a delicious foie gras with Champagne, then a potato gratin and for dessert we made a lemon tart.
We met Lonneke and Jasper, a Dutch couple who have been travelling for 2 years in their van, which we won’t be leaving for the next few weeks.
Riversdale
We spent two nights by the water in a free spot under the coconut trees. On the programme: yoga, eating, chilling out and preparing for the rest of the trip. Two quiet days that did us good 🙂
Mayflower Bocawina National Park
Our highlight of Belize is the hike in Mayflower Bocawina National Park. A short 2-hour walk through the jungle. The path takes us to a beautiful waterfall of fresh water, which feels good after the climb in the humidity.
San Ignacio
Our last stop in Belize is the town of San Ignacio where we meet up with our friends Lon and Jasp at a campsite. We had planned to visit the surrounding area but were tempted to cross the border with our new travelling partners.
After a week in Belize, we crossed the border into Guatemala. We still have mixed feelings about this country. We didn’t hate it, but we didn’t love it either. Our regret is that we didn’t treat ourselves to an expedition to the islands, which really represents the country. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in our budget. Perhaps another time?