Although our trip to Belize is not from 2012, I am hoping the story of our visit there will help others in their impending trips to Belize.  I actually have a lot of other trips to report on, but they are further back in time and I thought it would be beneficial to keep as current as possible.

Our first evening in Belize was very nice; especially after the concerns we experienced getting to Corozal.  We had a very nice and affordable light dinner, at the motel restaurant, which was outdoors and in a very comfortable and mild seventy degree weather.  While eating, we overheard a gentleman, at the bar, talking on his cell phone.  He was arranging for a tour of Mayan ruins for the following day.  We heard him mention Orchid Bay, which was a development we had read about before visiting Belize.  After he got off the phone, I took the initiative to confront him.  A short talk with him revealed he was preparing for the monthly visitors to Orchid Bay, which includes a guided tour of the ruins, a sales presentation, and an evening party at the motel we happened to be in.  We quickly found out we could accompany him on the Mayan ruins tour, for a nominal cost of $50 per person, which included a lunch.  We were to meet with him and his group around noon, the next day.

A typical "Supermarket" in Belize

We were off to a good start.  We had a very nice night's sleep and a simple but adequate breakfast and decided to drive into Corozal for the morning.  It turned out to be not much of a drive.  The motel was virtually on the city limits.  Nor did it take long to take the scenic drive through the small city.  The streets were in poor condition, the buildings were in poor condition, and the people were in poor condition.  At first, that sounds like it was not a pleasant place.  Quite the opposite was true.  The people were very friendly and the level of poverty they were living in, it turns out, is simply because they choose to live that way.  The restaurants we saw were generally small and not too attractive.  The motels (and there were a few) were run down and somewhat intimidating.  The grocery stores were graced with signs that claimed "Supermarket" status, but they were primarily oriental ownership, very small, cluttered, and dark.  Nevertheless, they seemed to meet the requirements of both, the natives and the expats who lived there.  We ran into a few expats who were very warm and inviting.  They said it took a while to get used to the living standards in Belize, but they were very content to have developed the laid-back life style that was necessary to be at home, there.

Orchid Bay rep, climbing in the boat

We didn't bother getting a meal, while on the go, because we knew we would be having lunch with the tour.  Arriving back at the motel in time to meet up with the guy we had spoken with the night before, we found out some of the tour group, who were flying in that day, were going to be late.  Since we knew it would be about a two hour drive for the new arrivals, the idea that the plane had not even landed yet, was not encouraging.  We ended up leaving in two minivans at 1:30, because the plane had still not landed and it was clear we couldn't wait, anymore.  The drive took us back the way we had come, except this time the vans drove us right through Orange Walk.  In broad daylight, it was far less threatening; particularly after seeing that Corozal was not much different (although perhaps smaller).  We drove several miles past Orange Walk and ended up at a dock on the "New River."  They had several pick nick tables set up with palm frond roofs and had lunch in a rough buffet fashion set up on one of the tables.  This was our first real experience with truly Belizean food.  It consisted of papayas (which tasted over ripe), rice and beans (a fairly dry version), chicken in a sauce, fried plantains, some salad, beer, soft drinks, and some kind of dessert that would take some getting used to.  All-in-all, it was good and satisfying. 

After eating our fill, we were invited to the dock to board a twin engine, canopy covered boat with bench seating all along the sides.  There were about twenty-five of us and that didn't quite fill up all the seating. 

One of the boats built by Mennonites

The driver of the boat was also the tour guide.  He was a native Belizean and a woman (also a native) who was an assistant stood near him.   The guide explained we would be traveling, for the most part, south on the New River at about twenty-five miles per hour and that the trip would, depending on the wildlife we would see along the way, take about an hour.  He was very good at being able to see and point out the wildlife, along the river, which included small crocodiles, a variety of tropical birds, bats, and termite nests.  We also stopped, briefly, at a Mennonite settlement called Shipyard.  The local Mennonite population had resettled in Belize after they became overburdened and persecuted, to some degree, in Mexico, where they had originally settled.  The had requested and received land grants from the Belizean government in return for a promise to cultivate and produce crops and meat for the Belizean population.  Many Mennonites still did and do not use cars, electricity, or any modern conveniences.  Shipyard was one of those communities.  There were no utilities and the people still traveled by horse drawn carriages.  The dichotomy was that they built ships (thus the name of the community) out of steel, which required electrical welding.  I guess making a living can provide justification for not adhering exactly to their customs or beliefs.

The trip lasted right around an hour and fifteen minutes.  We pulled into the New River Lagoon and soon pulled up to a dock that marked the beginning of the trail we would be hiking around a loop of Mayan temples.  We spend about two and a half hours walking through a jungle area that was filled with Palms, Teak, Mahogany, All Spice, and several exotic plants like Bird of Paradise, Hibiscus,  and other flowering plants.  This particular preserve was called Lamanai, which is simply a gringo distortion of "submerged Crocodile."  The temples were within easy walking distance and were all impressive.  The steps leading to the tops of these pyramids were uncomfortably high (about 16 to 18 inches tall), which our guide explained was to keep the people climbing them in a submissive posture while approaching the top.  We got to see an army of large ants moving in an indirect line through the foliage, emerging from some underbrush and disappearing into some more underbrush a hundred yards away.  They were so large and so numerous, we could hear them marching.  We saw and heard howler monkeys moving through the tree tops while making loud almost barking like noises.  They were reminiscence of the Gibbons of Southeast Asia, except their "howling" was more guttural and like barking growls. 

Our trip back to the dock was partially in near dark.  The guide made a point of letting us know he would have to go back as quickly as possible because of the difficulty of navigating in the dark.  We made it back in a little less than an hour.  Our drive back to the motel was uneventful and it took about forty minutes.  By the time we got back, had some dinner in the motel restaurant, and got back to our room, we were more than ready for a good night's sleep.  For our first full day in Belize, we felt we had done very well.  Our spontaneous and un-choreographed visit was proving to be as adventurous and exciting as we had originally expected.