The ONE City which Breaks my Rule on Cities

Readers of this blog know I am a big advocate for not skipping the capital or major cities of a countries. Some people fly into a country’s major city, only to catch an immediate flight to the nearest resort town. I always like to check out the city. I’m a city person, and I think its where you find the best food, and culture of a place. However, a recent trip to this particular major city leads to the only time I would suggest skipping the major city of a country. That city is Belize City. There is very little of interest there other than actually seeing it. I arrived in Belize city from Guatemala city (there is a direct flight on Tag Airlines which is a Guatemalan airline). The flight itself was great, no issues at all, and it was great to fly on an airline I had never flown on before:

Upon arrival, we were greeted by our driver/tour guide who I had prearranged. Be aware that a lot of tour guides and drivers are actually private taxis using their personal cars as transport, and the cars range in age and condition. I had told him I was looking for salbutes, one of the best dishes I had while in Belize, and were super hard to find. He too was having a difficult time think of a place which had them so he tried a local Mexican spot near the airport. Although they did not have slabutes, the tacos they had were delicious. I ordered a second round. The restaurant is called El Chapito and its in Ladyville.

The next stop was one of the Mayan ruins that were closer to the city called Altun Ha. While they were better than Cahal Pech near San Ignacio (which I will post about in the future), they weren’t as good as Tikal in Guatemala. If your only stop is in Belize, and you want to see ruins, this would be a good choice. However, if you are going to Tikal, you can skip this one:

Our next stop was a “tour” of Belize City. Although I loved seeing it just to see how locals lived, there is not much else to do there. If you Google it, a lot of people will warn you that its not safe. Although I did not feel unsafe, even walking around at night, you do need to be aware of your surroundings and which areas you definitely do not want to wander into. We stayed at what I believe is the only nice option, and its called the Fort George Hotel. It has a really nice gym and the hotel is either new or newly renovated. The rooms are modern and very clean. There is not much to do in the area though, or the city for that matter. Here’s a view of the hotel’s plunge pool:

Back to the tour. I collect football (soccer) jerseys of every country I go to so our driver’s first task was taking us downtown to look for the jersey. Here’s a look at one of the streets.

Although we could not find an official jersey, we found a good substitute and the tour continued by showing us some buildings downtown and then the waterfront. At the waterfront near the hotel, the driver stopped and showed us one of the only photo ops in the city:

For dinner, I wanted authentic Belizean food, and I found a place that was recommended by locals called Nerie’s. As a tip, if you go, make sure you sit upstairs because there is a bar and patio which looks out onto the street. We ordered the chicken stew and beef stew. The food was not that great, not like what we had found on San Pedro. I would skip dessert. Service though, was amazing, very friendly people.

After dinner, we walked around a bit trying to find something to do. We finally gave up and went back to the hotel. The next day, we had breakfast in the hotel. Note that if you have a late flight, you can buy a later check out for a very reasonable fee. I would call down and ask first as they might give it to you if not busy, but if they say no, go to the front desk and then ask again, but this time, ask if you can “buy a late check out”. Anyway, the hotel’s restaurant was also new and was a very nice space for breakfast. I would recommend you try the fry jacks which are local bread.

I also had lunch in the hotel prior to going to the airport which was pretty good. Although I usually avoid eating in the hotel, its not easy to find a good place to eat in the city which serves local food.

Anyway, after breakfast we went walking trying to find something to do. We settled on the museum. Its a very small museum and although I enjoyed learning about some of the history of the country and seeing some interesting exhibits, I was really just glad to be killing some time and being in a place with strong AC. Here is an exhibit about local herbal remedies.

After walking some more, I saw this school which was open aired which made me think about how different the school environments are versus North America. It was sweltering hot! The lesson to kids back home is not to complain so much about minor things!

Anyway, as we headed back to the hotel, we gathered our stuff and then got the hotel arranged taxi to take us to the airport. Note that there is no Uber in Belize. I really enjoyed Belize, but would suggest spending your time in San Pedro or Caye Caulker. Its not worth even spending a night in Belize City. Try to time your flight so that you do not have to do that. Maybe a couple hours to see it for yourself would suffice. Its the only time I can remember, at least to this day after seeing 84 countries, that I would recommend skipping a major city or capital.