Belize

Lonely Planet says they speak English in Belize.  I’m not sure I believe it.  I haven’t had this much difficulty understanding the locals since, well, since I first got to Argentina.  The local dialect is a combination of English, Spanish, and a Caribbean slang I am unfamiliar with, all masked by thick island accents.  When we get off the bus in Belize City it’s still early and the walk to the hostel is short.  A couple of men tell Joee that he has a nice lady, we say Thank You.   

As I pull open my guide book to check our directions an older gentleman joins us.  He tells us his name is Frank, it’s his 60^th birthday, and he’ll take us to the best hostel in town, Seaside Hostel.  It's listed in Lonely Planet so I’m not opposed to staying there, but I don’t want to tip Frank for taking us somewhere we can find our own.  I try to politely shake him off, but no luck.  He says he’s walking there anyways.  We get to the hostel and sure enough he asks us for $5 BZD ($1 USD = $2 BZD).  The owner, Mitch, is on the phone but looks over his shoulder to tell us “Give Frank $5.”  Part of me wants to tell him “No, you give Frank $5,” and walk away, but I know I won’t.  Instead we hand him the $3 we have and check-in.  

We probably should have taken our initial interaction with Mitch as an omen, but we didn’t.  Over the next 24 hours we learned that Mitch is not a very nice person, Belize City isn’t what I expected, and I catch my first stomach bug of the trip.  The highlight of the city was helping as Mitch’s dog gave birth to a batch of puppies under the porch, followed by tarot cards with a pair of European travelers.  Instead of spending much more time in Belize City we opt to move to the islands and head to Caye Caulker.

Unfortunately by this part of the trip we had spent the better part of our funds scuba diving.  Well worth the $300, but it meant the remainder of the trip included a lot of beach time.  On Caye Caulker we decided not to go diving or snorkeling with manatees and instead saved our funds for cenote snorkeling in Mexico.  The majority of our time was spent on the beach, exploring the island, and finding the cheapest seafood possible.  After four days we continued north to Mexico.  Our last stop before heading home.