Tour des Ameriques: Belize

I was in Cancun in the morning and was planning to enter Belize the following day, but since I was so close to the border and the sun was still high, I decided to just cross the borber and be done with it that day. It's easy, you just drive towards the border and someone come to you and tell you you need to buy insurance. Got one week of insurance for $15US. Then you pay like $5 for fumigation. Basically they spray you bike and it create 2 jobs and collect more money. Then immigration where you pay again, then they give you a free motorcycle permit. It took the lady at least 30 minutes to fill up a paper the size of a post card and she made a mistake, she missed up my motorcycle model with my licence plate. When I tried to cross the border for the second time, another guy was at the border, talking on his cell phone, barely looked at me and waved me to go.

The border itself:

Just past the border, maybe 15-20 minutes I decided to stop for the night at a hotel in the city of Corozal, near the water.

Got a room with a nice view, unfortunately nothing is cheap as Mexico is here in Belize.

Surprinzinly, I've met many Canadians there. Older couples that own properties in Belize. They told me I should go to San Pedro, an island, and the ferry leave the next morning at 7:00am, and then I could go to Caye Caulker, and then the Blue Hole if I wanted to. I deceided to stay another night as it was past 7:00am and would leave the bike in the hotel's conference room until I come back. Had some time to kill so went exploring a little bit, found some Maya ruins.

The next morning time to take the ferry, maybe 100m from the hotel.

It was quite powerful ferry, very fast, 2hours to get to San Pedro

My hotel, with the red roof, from the dock.

San Pedro

Since it's a small island there were many golf cart to drive around. Many hotels, bars and restaurents. If you dont dive, not much to do, other than drinking.

Nice beach but it was a little too cold to go swim. Many boat and dive tour to the Blue Hole. I wish I could go but I had to stay 4 more days to get there and have my diving cards.

I've decided I would not stay there fopr the night, I am a little bored, bought some 190 proof rum and drink some Mjito's at the bar, watching some fishermans preparing fish at the dock.

Got back at the hotel and left the next day.

Not much in Belize city, seriously. 70 000 people living there.

Highway between Belize City and San Ignacio

And on my way to the Barton Creek Outpost, near San Ignacio, got another flat. My 21" tube gave up on my rear tire. It lasted from Merida, Mexico to Belize, so not that far... I've stopped a car and got someone to help my lift my bike on the centerstand and then I put another not so long lasting 21" tube in my 17" rear tire. 30 minutes later it's fixed and I decide to stop in Belmopan to get another tube. The 17" tube they had was chinese and not any bigger than a bicycle tube so I took another 21" as emergency, lucky as I am with bad tubes and flat tires it should not be long before I need it again.

Then I take a dirt road to the Outpost.

and I have to cross a river, not so deep fortunately.

The outpost is a nice cabin in the middle of the jungle, and the nicest things about it, camping is free, they have Internet and it's walking diatance to the Barton Creek Cave.

The next morning, Dec 18th, I head to Mike's place, where I take an guided tour of the cave.

Mike got a pet monkey.

The Barton Creek Cave is one of the largest in the world, it's over 7km deep.

Carlos, my guide, and I went in, for only 1,2 km. Carlos told me about another cave in Belize that goes to Guatemala.

Sometimes the ceilling would be 100 feet high, sometime 2 feet high.

A 1000 years old pottery. It is beleived that the Maya used this cave for ritual ceremonies including human sacrifice.

A skull right there.

Carlos explained to me the water level used to be higher and the Maya were making many ritual sacrifice near that "bridge", like "God" designed it for them.

My guide Carlos.

Then I headed back at the outpost, it was before noon so I still had lots of time, I've decided to go to Caracol, another old Maya archaelogical site. I wanted to go because it's a 55miles long dirt road, very remote, and you go tru some small villages and I like this kind of stuff. It used to be very dangerous, it's very close to Guatemala and some people from there were coming tru the jungle to rob tourists. They've put the army there for tourist protection. They escort the tourists in the tour vans at 10am and come back at 2pm. I was about 30 minutes away from the ruins and it was 1:30pm, so I was too late. The army asked me to sign in a book and told me if I go it will be at my own risk. They were saying it's dangerous but I went anyway. If I had a dollar each time someone telling me I'm going to a dangerous place...

As soon as I arrived, everybody were leaving, including the army.

The good thing, absolutely nobody else were there, the whole place just for me.

I had to hurry a little as I wanted to make it back to the outpost before dark, it's almost 2 hours the get there and the same to come back. The funny thing is that the Belize government had money to build a road from the highway to there, and they just did the last part, near the ruins, then ran out of money due to corruption. It's weird driving down a dirt road for over an hour then hit the pavement in the middle of nowhere, and of course almost nobody else on the road.