A Tour of Belize

Arrived in Belize by bus from Guatemala in the company of a friend from the Sorrento Peninsula. After crossing the centre of San Ignacio and that of the tiny capital Belmopan (but I was asleep and only saw the "outskirts") we reached the country's main city, Belize City. This centre offers nothing special apart from the pier for the flat reef islands, among which we chose Caye Caulker. The island is narrow and long, one of the many cyclones that hit it destroyed a reinforced concrete bridge, whose remains are still visible, forming the Split channel near which we swam. The narrow beach is light-coloured, bordered by a few palms. The island's few roads are made of sand so light that with the sun's reflection it's hard to walk without sunglasses. We slept inside a characteristic Caribbean dwelling, of white wood with a windowsill overlooking the beachfront sand road.

Dinner too was very "Caribbean", eaten outside a little restaurant whose tables were set on a sandy lane where the host served us good fish skewers. After the overnight stay we took a powerful boat that brought us back to Belize City after a brief stop at the landing of Chapell island, where there is an elegant golf course. From Belize City we continued by bus to the north of the country where we crossed the border into Mexico. Belize is a small state (roughly the size of Sardinia) independent since the 1980s but still strongly tied to Great Britain: Queen Elizabeth is the Head of State, English is spoken and it is a member of the Commonwealth. Life is much more expensive than in the other Central American countries, the country is generally calm except for Belize City, considered a dangerous city.