You’d better Belize it

One of the things that instantly made me warm to Belize was the fact that they seem to enjoy a pun at the expense of the country’s name. I saw many in my time and I don’t think they were purely aimed at tourists - I saw plenty of locals attired in punning t-shirts and hand-written shop signs. It’s an English-speaking country, which I knew, and is in the Commonwealth, which I did not, so I was surprised to see Liz on the banknotes. ‘Go slow’ seems to be the country’s motto and that seems apt as it’s a very relaxed kind of a place.

I left my island paradise behind, hopping on a ferry to the mainland and then boarding a bus for San Ignacio. It’s a small town in the west of the country and a bit of a travellers’ hub. My hostel was a fantastic building, set over five floors, with a ramshackle feel, lots of different nooks and wings, and a tree growing up through the central courtyard. It felt a bit like the Burrow in Harry Potter. The first evening had free rum punch and African drumming, which set the tone for the next couple of days.

Being here on Saturday meant I got to experience the market, one of the town’s big draws. So much brightly-coloured and tasty-looking fresh produce, as well as food stalls, clothing and local crafts. After drinking in the flavour, I went for a double-header of Mayan ruins. Cahal Pech is on the outskirts of town and is a small site I largely had to myself, and then it was on to Xunantunich (pronounced a bit like ‘tuna sandwich’), which was a short bus ride away. There was a hand-cranked ferry across the river before a trek up to the site. You could climb up everything here and as the site was open, it gave fantastic views across both the ruins and the surrounding jungle. As I was once again pretty much on the Guatemalan border I had my second look at my next destination without actually heading there.

The next day kicked off at local institution Pop’s for breakfast. Home of the best fry jacks (delicious deep-fried dough) in town, I departed well-nourished. I went to check out the iguana conservation project, which looks after hurt lizards before releasing them back into the wild. I had seen a couple at Xunantunich but not the two dozen I found here. Apparently they can grow to over two metres in length, including their ridiculously long tails, and can live for 25 years in the wild or 35 in captivity. Unfortunately they are hunted for food, especially females as they are believed to increase fertility, which is the main reason that so many are brought to the project. I got to stroke some of them - they were completely non-pleased by it - and equipped with an array of facts, some of which I have dazzled you with here, I headed out.

The remainder of my time there was chilled out, relaxing by the river, partaking of a local brew or two, checking out an excellent local cake shop, and strolling around town. Level two complete, I think I had a healthy slice of going slow and was raring to go for bit three.

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