Yeah, that is the pun that too much of the product literature uses here. I think I heard my tour guide for the ATM say “UnBELIZEable” twice. Despite that, I love Belize!

My initial impression of Corozol was not too great. The hotels I found cost more than I was planning to spend and they were not exceptionally nice. The hotel that I ended up staying called Hotel Maya was not too bad. It had internet access and a great view of the water. No AC, but that is something that I’m getting used to. The main problem I had with that city is that when I tried to find dinner I was unable to find any place that was open. I ended up having Pollo Asado (BBQ chicken) again. That is pretty much the dish that I had daily in Mexico. The good thing about it is that it is usually tastey and cheap. The other problem is that there were stray dogs ALL over the place. Corozol just needs to be cleaned up. It has alot of park space and some nice hotels.

I left Corozol after being there for less than 24 hours. My plan then was to just drive through Belize and get to Guatemala.

Bags of water!!!!!!!!! Coolest thing ever. It is a 12floz bag with ice cold purified water. Perfect for motorcycle travel. Just make a pitstop, buy the water, bite the corner, chug it down in all its coolness, and get back on the road.

If you look closely in this picture you can see two guys sleeping on top of produce. I kept driving closer and closer trying to get a picture and they didn’t even budge. Unfortunately my one handed photog skills are lacking. This is the best I have. A crop of the original high res pic is in order but I keep forgetting to install the GIMP.

East Belize is very coastal– flat, hot, and humid. Reminds me of home. Unlike home, after heading about 50 miles west, you start to enter hilly jungle.

I was making pretty good time so I thought it was a good time to get rid of the spare rear tire I was trucking around and replace my aging tire. I still had another few hundred miles left, but I really wanted to lighten my load for Guatemala. While I *COULD* do the tire change myself on the side of the road, I figured I’d help the local economy and pay $10USD. These guys were pretty good. The guy holding the kid really knew his stuff and was good about not trying to hurry the job.

The problem then turned out to be that it took longer than I expected and the sun started going down. My goal on the trip is to start looking for a hotel at 4 or 5pm. It was already 6:00pm and I just arrived at San Ignacio, the town that I planned to stay the night before going to the border.

My first stop was the “Trek Stop”, a place that is highly reviewed as a cheap but good place to stay for those without alot of money. The problem is that it is quite a few miles outside of town and worse yet, was full. For biker’s reference, it didn’t look like it had good parking for motorcycles. I didn’t ask if you could pull the bikes up the hill to the rooms. The sun is starting to set at this time. I then proceed to drive to another place outside of town that has nice signs but doesn’t look too expensive. I drive off-road for about 20 minutes on a pretty rough road and get to the hotel. Closed. Great. The sun is just peeking over the hills and I have no place to stay. I’m about 20 minutes to the “Western Highway” then another 20 minutes to town. Not where I want to be.

Let me take a moment and tell you why I don’t drive at night. No, it isn’t banditos (well, in Belize they speak english, so I guess it isn’t the bandits). In the US, while annoying, we have all these rules about getting cars and trucks inspected. You have a tail light out, you get pulled over. You’re missing a headlight, you get pulled over. You have no lights at all, you’re going to jail. In Belize, you just drive EXTRA careful. Or so I’m told. You crest a hill and all of a sudden there is a family of four walking in the street. There are no blinking LED tail lights for bike. You’ll be lucky if you see a SINGLE reflector on a bicycle. It isn’t like in the states, lots of people use bicycles as transportation. Who knows what they’ll be carrying. Driving at night is a wild experience in Belize or anywhere south of the US that I’ve visited on my trip so far.

All that being said. I wanted a hotel. Now.

After being upset by already having the feeling of oozing cash, I decide that I will stay at the next hotel that is on the Western Highway heading towards town, regardless of cost. I just needed something as I planned to go to Guatemala the next day.

The first place that I try is right next to the road. Looks nice. Is closed.

The second place I find is Windy Hills. This place is swank. Not Francis Ford Copola swank (apparently he has a resort in town), but by far the nicest place that I’ve looked at during my trip.

I pull up, go to reception, and happily pay $70USD a night for a Cabana (No AC!) but private bath and they have a restaurant on site.

At dinner I meet a guy from Belgium. He had stayed a few nights previously in San Ignacio and told me about a tour he took that day of the “ATM” cave. ATM stands for something, but I can’t get online and look it up. UPDATE: Actun Tunichil Muknal… Just google ATM cave belize. There is only one. Apparently it is unBELIZEable and a once of a lifetime experience. The Belguim guy who told me this during a fantastic conversation over dinner reiterated that if I’m in the area, I have to tour this cave. I love caves, but I didn’t want another US cave “exploring” experience where you go from room to room over a concrete paved floor and the uninformed guide tells you things that you already know. I guess I’ll stay another day in Belize.

Good bike parking too!! It was strange as almost all of the guests I met were from the US. There was a group of teachers from NY state and I also met a family from Houston. Small world, right? The nice things about meeting people from the US at places like this is that they are usually pretty cool. This isn’t your typical tourist destination, so they aren’t your usual Americans. Though we do stick out.

The next day, I gave a ride to the Belguim guy (Can’t remember his name, despite him telling it to me multiple times. I need to write stuff down!!!) from the hotel down to San Ignacio. He gives me the tour from the back of the bike as I stuggle to keep a fully loaded 2 up bike on two wheels. He shows me this great looking hotel in Bullet Tree that I plan on staying that night (pending other prices around) then shows me the tour guide office to find the best ATM tour.

We go separate ways and I visit the aforementioned tour shop (Pacz Tours). I arrange the tour for $75 US and the guys offers to call the Trek stop so I don’t have to drive down there again. Full. So now I ask the tour guy if he knows of other places outside of San Ignacio where I can stay for cheap. Somehow I start talking to Andy, who moved to Belize four months ago and started an offroad motorcycle tour company. He says that he has a guest house (Cabana) and can give me a good price for a night or two stay. He seems like a good guy and I decided to go with it. It’ll be more fun staying at a private guest house any day over another hotel. Especially one who runs a motorcycle tour company!

The guest house looked great, Andy was a reputable person, and I’d be parking next to a couple of other motorcycles. Great find! After chatting a bit and returning to the bikes, I got a reality of what it is like to stay in a town that was carved out of the jungle:

EEP!

Andy told me many things about living in Belize that he learned from locals and the time that he’s lived there: Always watch where you step, never go outside barefoot, shake out EVERYTHING you put close to your body (shoes, shirts, pants, bed sheets, etc), don’t drive at night, respect the locals and they’ll respect you, and all sorts of other Belizian information.

I got to Andy’s at about 2 in the afternoon and didn’t really have many plans so I decided to repack my bike. Not only did I find a _very_ important envelope that I thought I forgot, but it gave me a chance to see what I actually brought and what I’m using. I joined Andy for dinner in Bullet Tree then drinks downtown San Ignacio at Faya Wata. Both were great places and I was introduced to all sorts of characters.

The next day, I got up early and was eventually picked up by Pacz Tours. Western Belize is quite pretty. Above are some orange groves. The oranges here are actually green (even when ripe) and are sold as hand-eaten fruit only to locals but exported internationally as orange juice concentrate.

I’m ready for the cave! You have to swim/forge through an underground river to get to the main cavern. My mind was blown. Just swimming through the cave was easily the best caving experiences. I kept stopping to look at formations and the guide (Ben) kept telling me that this was just MUCH more to come. I just couldn’t believe (belize@!) it. The water level was very high because of the massive amounts of rain Belize gets this time of year. It only added to the adventure.

The formations inside the cave were amazing.

Not only that, but it was a archaeological site. Mind blown even further. This was truly an adventure. There were no ramps for the elders, no dramatically lit up rooms, no crowds of screaming kids, only a few people taking pictures, AND there were artifacts that were over a 1000 years old. There were pieces of pottery of various sizes and functions. At one point, this cave was believe to be used as a sacred site of worship. I’ll leave it to wikipedia but the short summary is that the artifacts indicate that they were used as part of a tribute to the underworld.

There were no fences, no guards, just small pieces of neon tape pointing to artifacts so that you did not accidentally step on one. It is amazing how much this country trusts its people. I really appreciate not being treated as a child who will just poke and steal everything he sees. Ben, the guide, did an excellent job explaining the significance of the artifacts and how they are spread out all over the cave that I was acutely away of every step. In fact, we had to wear socks (no shoes) so that we could be even more careful.

Its a howler monkey!

I’m a happy cavedave. This makes the shortlist of best experiences in my entire life.

I never saw any of the ads, but this is apparently the picture on all the brochure covers. Evidence indicates that human sacrifices were performed in this cave. There are several well preserved human skeletal remains in the caves.

The ATM tour is reason alone in itself to come to Belize. Did I mention this yet? COME TO BELIZE. They speak english here! It is easy!

Dinner at Hannas with Andy and drinks at Faya Wata. Hana’s was excellent. Highly recommended for San Ignacio.

After the caves, Andy graciously offers to let me ride his dirt bikes on some of the local trails. I’m pretty excited. I had never ridden a proper dirt bike, just my sorry excuse for a dual sport. I can’t remember the name of the brand, but it is a Chinese dirt bike. They are allll over town. Apparently they just got imported for the first time to Belize and the poeple are going crazy for them. They’re pretty good and very inexpensive.

I’m used to my pig of a motorcycle and this thing feels like a BMX bicycle. You can actually pick up the rear end of the bike and move it yourself! I’d like to see anyone try that with my loaded F650.

Andy takes me to a dirt (and I mean dirt, not gravel) “road” that is heading out of town. Oh yeah, it rained all morning. That being the case I almost died trying to get through the mud. I kept getting stuck and was exhausted and was only about 10% of the way in. I threw up all over the place and just had to stop. I did manage to get my helmet off first. That would make the next 6 months less pleasant.

So we turned around and rid slowly back to the house. I went to the cabana then drank water and slept. I think the caving and drinking the day before was too much for me. I was completely dehydrated. At one point, I even thought I was sick from the different food. I ended up lounging the rest of the day. It did give me the opportunity to take this picture from the hammock of Andy’s guest cabana:

The next day starts with me playing with a machete. This is my next piece of kit for my bike.

Then we drive the dirt bikes to Mountian Pine Ride. This is part of Andy’s Belize Offroad Adventure Tour.

^^ me and a local rider. Not the ATGATT Belizian style. Atleast I have a helmet and gloves.

We take a break to look at the falls (Rio On Pools) and a big ol’ Texas style F350 ford pulls up. Upon greeting us, Bird offers us beers and BBQ. He and his family were extremely generous to include us in their weekend party. I got the chance to try some fantastic BBQ (pork chops, beef, and tastey Italian sausage) and chit chat about all sorts of things. It was yet another great time. The people of Belize are great. Like Texas, they assume friend.

Bird at his finest:

We then left the first falls and headed to Big Rock. This is also part of the Offroad Tour.


This is Andy. Thanks Andy for your generosity and for showing me around Belize!!!

I really had a great time in Belize. After my first so/so day, I had planned on booking it through the country as just a gateway to Guatemala. San Ignacio is a destination on its own. You could easily spend a week here and have some unBELIZEable adventures. (sorry, had to)