DoYou Belize in...?

These are some photos from our time in Belize after the house building adventure when we toured some of the Mayan sites. Belize vacation photos  

Much has been written on this subject and I could post a very long excerpt from Wikipedia but I found this slightly more succinct version on a website called:  https://www.livescience.com/41781-the-maya.html   This describes some of the history and amazing culture of this civilization about which we sadly do not know much as large parts of the history of the Mayans was destroyed by the European colonialists. "The Maya refer to both a modern-day people who can be found all over the world as well as their ancestors who built an ancient civilization that stretched throughout much of Central America, one that reached its peak during the first millennium A.D. The Maya civilization was never unified; rather, it consisted of numerous small states, ruled by kings, each apparently centered on a city. Sometimes, a stronger Maya state would dominate a weaker state and be able to exact tribute and labor from it. Mayan calendar A system of writing using glyptic symbols was develop

These are some impressions of the country we have just left. I will add to this as I reflect, over time on our stay in Belize. Belize is a small country with a population of about 400,000 people which is growing slowly. There is an influx of refugees but not a great number. Probably the greatest issue facing the country at this time is the ongoing border dispute with Guatemala. The history of the settlement of Belize is a long and complex one but Guatemala has claimed sovereignty over the whole of Belize. The heart of this claim which dates back to 1821, seems to revolve around an undertaking which Britain made to Guatemala that Britain would build and pay for a road from Guatemala to the Caribbean so that Guatemala had access to the sea on both sides of the Central American isthmus. In return for this, Guatemala would give up their claim to Belizean land. Regrettably, as so often in the colonial past of Great Britain, they did not fulfill their promise and thus Guatemala says tha

We were up a bit later and dressed and went to Spoonaz for breakfast, sitting outside by the harbor. MAC checked out the hot sauces but they were too strong for our taste. MAC wanted some stamps but we failed to find the Post Office  and returned to the hotel where we had some fruit at the festival 501 HUB restaurant. The hotel had arranged for a taxi at 12 o’clock but before we left for the airport we heard that the flight was half an hour delayed. We sat outside and were soon joined by Mario our guide of yesterday who had found MAC’s missing sunglasses in the car and kindly returned them. Loading up the cab a wheel fell off one of our suitcases making carrying it a problem. The trip to the airport was smooth and we were soon checked in and in the waiting area which was busy and noisy. We had a sandwich and the delay to the plane reduced and eventually we took off only about 15 minutes late. The flight to Houston was uneventful and we landed more or less on time, passed

Today we were to make a day trip to Xunantunich which is situated close to the Guatemala border in the very west of Belize. We met our guide, Mario, in the lobby of the Radisson Hotel across the street from our hotel at 7.30 a.m. We boarded a large minivan as the only occupants and set off on the road west. We passed Hattieville, a village which had sprung up as a refuge from a previous hurricane (named appropriately ‘Hattie’), and the villagers who had fled from Belize City decided to stay even after the waters subsided. Then we passed the entrance to the Belize Zoo which we will visit on the return journey. We also passed the turning to Belmopan which is the ‘new’ Belizean capital city, (note: the name Belmopan is Bel, from Belize and Mopan from the river of that name, that runs through it). We passed the twin cities of Santa Elena and San Ignacio and soon after passing through the latter we came to the crossing of the river Macal River. The crossing is made via a hand-cranked

Today the last day of February and Leap Day was partly cloudy and breezy but comfortably cool. We rose a bit late and did not rush to get ready. When we were ready we decided to walk into town to see the Street Art Festival which is a big deal in these parts and it did not disappoint. On the way into the city we passed Spoonaz restaurant which was open so we decided to go in and have a small brunch. MAC had an affogato and I had a coffee and a chili-dog. We would come back later and buy some of their hot sauce. We walked across the swing-bridge and into town where the festival was still setting u but already underway with many people on the streets. There were lots of stall with all kinds of local wares much of it from local craftsmen and women, for sale and the shops were all open wide. There were unusual artworks such as sawdust paintings and many children’s activities. The festival which is one of the most important n the city has a fashion show, music from many bands,