2nd February
Despite the bad weather forecasts, the day didn’t look too bad, so we packed up and headed south for the border, while Dave headed north to Tumul.
There were a few other bikes on the road, as there was a rally in Belize over the weekend, and when we arrived at the border there was a group of about 12-15 bikes waiting to cross. It was a fairly well organised crossing, after we cleared Mexico, the first step was a quarantine wash, where they sprayed some chemical over the bike wheels, then charged you $5 per bike to do it. Next to immigration and customs, where we paid another $15 each for the bikes to enter Belize, and then we had to get insurance for the bikes, another $28 for 7 days! Altogether 1.5 - 2 hours for everything, including Mexico clearance. We stopped at Corozal at an ATM and got out some Belize dollars so we had some cash, didn’t want a repeat of the Mexico toll both saga! From there we headed down to Orange Walk Town for some lunch, where we decided to make for Crooked Tree for the night, but after riding for a while we realised we had passed the turn off, and were nearly at Belize City, so found a hotel there with some help from Lindon, a biker we stopped to ask directions from. Our GPS was no good anymore, the maps finished when we left Mexico, so will have to sort that out as well. The roads in Belize weren’t as good as Mexico, and the whole place had a more run down feel, and appearance. The small towns we rode through had very few signs, and even less paint on the buildings. The language is english, and that is the only language taught in schools, but it is spoken with a very Jamacan lilt about it. Makes it a little hard to understand until you get used to it. We had heard a lot about the bike rally on in town, so went along for a look, and ended up having a few beers and talking to some of the riders at the Harley dealer, then afterwards at a rooftop bar. They are very different to the rallies held in Oz, everyone stays in hotels, most of them at the Raddison, no swags and tents here!
Despite the bad weather forecasts, the day didn’t look too bad, so we packed up and headed south for the border, while Dave headed north to Tumul.
There were a few other bikes on the road, as there was a rally in Belize over the weekend, and when we arrived at the border there was a group of about 12-15 bikes waiting to cross. It was a fairly well organised crossing, after we cleared Mexico, the first step was a quarantine wash, where they sprayed some chemical over the bike wheels, then charged you $5 per bike to do it. Next to immigration and customs, where we paid another $15 each for the bikes to enter Belize, and then we had to get insurance for the bikes, another $28 for 7 days! Altogether 1.5 - 2 hours for everything, including Mexico clearance. We stopped at Corozal at an ATM and got out some Belize dollars so we had some cash, didn’t want a repeat of the Mexico toll both saga! From there we headed down to Orange Walk Town for some lunch, where we decided to make for Crooked Tree for the night, but after riding for a while we realised we had passed the turn off, and were nearly at Belize City, so found a hotel there with some help from Lindon, a biker we stopped to ask directions from. Our GPS was no good anymore, the maps finished when we left Mexico, so will have to sort that out as well. The roads in Belize weren’t as good as Mexico, and the whole place had a more run down feel, and appearance. The small towns we rode through had very few signs, and even less paint on the buildings. The language is english, and that is the only language taught in schools, but it is spoken with a very Jamacan lilt about it. Makes it a little hard to understand until you get used to it. We had heard a lot about the bike rally on in town, so went along for a look, and ended up having a few beers and talking to some of the riders at the Harley dealer, then afterwards at a rooftop bar. They are very different to the rallies held in Oz, everyone stays in hotels, most of them at the Raddison, no swags and tents here!
Our first meal in Belize, at the King's Restaurant no less!
One of the rally goers, I liked the patch!
Lyn with a couple of the guys we were talking to that night
3rd-4th
We organised to leave our bikes at the hotel we stayed at for a couple of nights, while we caught a boat up to Caye Caulker, a small island north east of Belize City. We wanted to do some snorkelling or diving, and see the famous “Blue Hole”, and this seemed like the best way to do it. When we arrived at the port to catch the boat, the ticket seller told us the tickets would be 100 Belize dollars, we said "no, too dear,” and walked away. The touts out the front had seen us arrive, and when we left said “what’s wrong, why you going?” We told them we were going to the other boat company, as they were cheaper, and they miraculously produced some discount vouchers that brought the price down to 54 Belize dollars, just under the other company’s price. You have to have a win every now and then. The Belize dollar is tied to the US dollar at 2 Belieze to 1US, so as the exchange rates fluctuate, both go up and down together.
Getting off the boat on the island, we were met by touts wanting to know if we needed accommodation, and as we had nothing booked, said yes. One of the guys, who’s name was Gilbert, took us around to 3 or 4 places before we settled on a hotel in our price range. Belize is much more expensive than Mexico, so Gilbert earned his commission from the hotels with us. The island is not that big, and has hardly any powered vehicles, everyone gets around on bicycles and golf carts, and there is a large diesel powered generator that supplies the 110v power. After finding a bed for the night, the next priority was to organise some snorkelling, we soon worked out that scuba diving would be too expensive here. We settled on a day trip with a guy Gilbert recommended, leaving at 10.00am tomorrow morning. A small meal at one of the restaurants on the beach rounded out the day. In the morning the wind was blowing about 20 knots, with grey skies everywhere, so we weren’t sure if the trip would be canceled, but it seemed to quieten down a bit, and it all went ahead as planned. A daily good day, back a little earlier than I thought we would be, but saw and swam with lots of fish, turtles, rays, sharks, and just behind the island seahorses, and tarpon, which took fish out of your hand. These things were big, and the big ones can grow to around 300 lbs! There were five of us on the boat, Colin, a guy from Manchester, and a couple from Ontario, who are heading home to the cold again in a couple of days. The sun did come out and warm us up from time to time, so it wasn’t too bad. We got back around 2.30, and a fairly lazy afternoon after that. We did go for a walk and a drink later on, but the town was pretty dead, and the bities were active, so we were back in the room quite early.
5th
Up and cooked a breakfast downstairs in the hotel kitchen, then on the 10.30 am boat back to Belize City to pick up the bikes. The plan was to ride down to Hopkins, a small town on the coast just south of Dangriga, but the threatening rain arrived, and the dirt road was turning to glue, so we followed the bitumen to Belmopan, had a late lunch, and it was still pouring at 3.30, so found a room for the night to try to dry out. The room was a bit like a chinese laundry, with wet clothes hanging everywhere, hate getting into cold wet clothes in the mornings before we start to ride. The weather forecast is for another 5 days of the same, so we will probably skip over the border to Guatemala tomorrow.
We organised to leave our bikes at the hotel we stayed at for a couple of nights, while we caught a boat up to Caye Caulker, a small island north east of Belize City. We wanted to do some snorkelling or diving, and see the famous “Blue Hole”, and this seemed like the best way to do it. When we arrived at the port to catch the boat, the ticket seller told us the tickets would be 100 Belize dollars, we said "no, too dear,” and walked away. The touts out the front had seen us arrive, and when we left said “what’s wrong, why you going?” We told them we were going to the other boat company, as they were cheaper, and they miraculously produced some discount vouchers that brought the price down to 54 Belize dollars, just under the other company’s price. You have to have a win every now and then. The Belize dollar is tied to the US dollar at 2 Belieze to 1US, so as the exchange rates fluctuate, both go up and down together.
Getting off the boat on the island, we were met by touts wanting to know if we needed accommodation, and as we had nothing booked, said yes. One of the guys, who’s name was Gilbert, took us around to 3 or 4 places before we settled on a hotel in our price range. Belize is much more expensive than Mexico, so Gilbert earned his commission from the hotels with us. The island is not that big, and has hardly any powered vehicles, everyone gets around on bicycles and golf carts, and there is a large diesel powered generator that supplies the 110v power. After finding a bed for the night, the next priority was to organise some snorkelling, we soon worked out that scuba diving would be too expensive here. We settled on a day trip with a guy Gilbert recommended, leaving at 10.00am tomorrow morning. A small meal at one of the restaurants on the beach rounded out the day. In the morning the wind was blowing about 20 knots, with grey skies everywhere, so we weren’t sure if the trip would be canceled, but it seemed to quieten down a bit, and it all went ahead as planned. A daily good day, back a little earlier than I thought we would be, but saw and swam with lots of fish, turtles, rays, sharks, and just behind the island seahorses, and tarpon, which took fish out of your hand. These things were big, and the big ones can grow to around 300 lbs! There were five of us on the boat, Colin, a guy from Manchester, and a couple from Ontario, who are heading home to the cold again in a couple of days. The sun did come out and warm us up from time to time, so it wasn’t too bad. We got back around 2.30, and a fairly lazy afternoon after that. We did go for a walk and a drink later on, but the town was pretty dead, and the bities were active, so we were back in the room quite early.
5th
Up and cooked a breakfast downstairs in the hotel kitchen, then on the 10.30 am boat back to Belize City to pick up the bikes. The plan was to ride down to Hopkins, a small town on the coast just south of Dangriga, but the threatening rain arrived, and the dirt road was turning to glue, so we followed the bitumen to Belmopan, had a late lunch, and it was still pouring at 3.30, so found a room for the night to try to dry out. The room was a bit like a chinese laundry, with wet clothes hanging everywhere, hate getting into cold wet clothes in the mornings before we start to ride. The weather forecast is for another 5 days of the same, so we will probably skip over the border to Guatemala tomorrow.
Caye Caulker waterfront, after the boat trip across
Island kids playing in a trailer
At the beach in front of the town
Cruising yachts anchored behind the island, Sigh, maybe one day...........
