'So you think Belize means 'muddy waters'? Man, you have been seriously misinformed! How the beautiful waters of this beautiful country can be called 'muddy waters'? Allow me, historician Prince Charleston, to explain the origins of the name Belize.... Then you decide how much 'cheese' you give me to buy a bottle of Belikin... Usually, this story takes one-and-a-half hour to explain, but I'll keep it short. Belikin is a Maya goddess from whom the name Belize is derived. Isn't that unbelizable? Ya, man, god bless and welcome to Belize!' ('Prince Charleston', met on the streets in Belize City, 28 november 2009)

Arriving in Punta Gorda by boat from Livingston (Guatemala) we entered another world. Belize bumps and grinds to a different (Garifuna drum-) beat than the rest of Central America. First striking difference- and even hard to get used to after 4 months having problems to express ourselves- is that Belize is an english speaking country (but driving on the one and only right side...). The interesting mix of its inhabitants is a another striking feature; black Garifuna people, Kek'chi Mayas, Mestizos (mix of indigenous with European/ Northern American roots), Chinese and Indian people completed with some North American retired white boys

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After getting our passports stamped in the 'harbour immigration office' we moved deeper into the country to the village of Placencia located on the southern tip of a peninsula. To get to Placencia we needed to cross Mango Creek, the lagoon that separates the peninsula from the mainland. Arriving at the banks of Mango Creek there was the Hokey Pokey watertaxi station

. The ticket 'office' was located under a thatched roof in the open air with hammocks and classic songs playing. We thought Modern Talking was really 'not done' anymore these days, but the ladies there seemed to know all the lyrics and didn't feel any shame to sing along loudly .... After a short Hokey Pokey ride we arrived in Placencia. The village is surrounded by the Caribbean (with a very long sandy beach) on the one side and the lagoon on the other side. The village was very laidback although quite a lot US- retirees have found this little paradise to spend their money (and last days of their lives...). Considering the enormous houses, casinos, international airport and new marina that are currently being build, we are convinced that this village will be the next Cancun in the near future. Unfortunately . We spent our days in our cabana on the beach doing pretty much nothing. Hammocking to the extreme. Swimming. Reading. Drinking Belikins and Campari Orange. 'Chillaxing' is a Belizean expression which revealed its right to exist quickly....

After a couple of days in Placencia we moved to Hopkins village which only exists since 1942 after the village of Newtown, which was just up the coast, was wiped away by a hurricane. Taking Ritchie's lightblue with pink-coloured bus from Placencia, driving all along the peninsula over red- coloured dirtroads, the bus filled with niggaz, reggae music, conductors with gangsta-style outfits, it felt like a trip in Africa.... Ya man... The bus dropped us at the crossing of the Southern highway and the 'road' to Hopkins which was still about 10 km walking. No cars here.... that means walking.... fortunately we got a lift in the back of the only passing pick-up truck... Hopkins is a typical one-street-and-nothing-else-to-do-then-walk-or-bike-up-and-down-this-street-and-smoke-a-bit-village. Hopkins is the bomb! We can't count the times we got offered 'the green stuff'... Walking on the beach in Hopkins locals checking out our dance- aspirations. The Garifuna drumming scene is alive and kicking here.... 'Change your shoes and come over tonight. Are you ready to rumble?' Ya man! Go Hopkins!

In our self-catered cabana in a jungle garden on the beach we had the opportunity to cook up our own food for the first time in 4 months. Man, what a luxury! Three healthy meals a day, with lots and lots and lots of veggies.... The local bakery situated on the beach, with a huge wood oven outside, produced freshly baked cocosbread although in very very limited amounts.... The woman working there has definitely the right work ethic to be jealous of....no sweat... 'I'm just baking bread three days a week'

. J&J Vegetables and fruits was our supplier of fresh healthy stuff. The old lady here was also a proud contender of the Hopkins work ethic.... she was even too lazy to move her (big) ass one meter to weigh our goodies....(or was it a very distinguished form of self-service shopping?). Our other necessary goodies we bought in one of the many Chinese supermarkets in town (yes, the Chinese strangely enough seem to dominate the Belizean supermarket-market...).

Leaving Hopkins with the evening bus (at 14.00h in the afternoon...

) we headed further north to Dangriga, the largest town of Southern Belize. Although 'least small' is probably a better description.... Arriving here on a sunday was not one of our best moves so far. Sundays somehow seem to attract a lot of weirdos hanging around on the streets, accompanying us unasked, in our search for a place to stay. Something we cannot really appreciate. In the end they always want something from you.... typical conversations are pretty much like this...

'Hey man, what're you up to? Nothing. I am hungry. I would love to kill that chicken. Why? What do you want? Some BeeZees (Belizean dollars) to eat. How much you need? As much as your heart tells you. My heart says I shouldn't give you anything. You don't need to be so rude. I am not rude. Here is 3 BeeZees. I repay you if I can' (showing the universal hash-smoking sign...)

From Dangriga we took a bumpy boatride to the remote island Tobacco Caye, arriving there complety soaked. This minuscule island is not bigger than one soccer field. The Belizean Great Barrier Reef (the second largest in the world) is a stone-throw away. Palmtrees. White sand. Turquoise waters. Tropical fishes swimming under our porch. Amazing sunsets. Locally brewed stuff sold in small Campari bottles

. A cabana over the water with views of the barrier reef. The soothing sound of the water under our bed. Great Swiss people (C'est incroyable! Vraiment!). Ya man, this is even better then paradise! 4 days 'chillaxing' to the max! Leaving this picture-perfect-and-only-existent-in-tv-commercials-bounty-island with pain in our heart, it was a place we will never ever forget.

From the lush tropical forests of southern Belize with its palmtrees and millions of citrusfruit trees, the countryside changed into a mountainous landscape with gentle hills, less black people and more Spanish speaking communities. These are the Mayan Mountains of Western Belize. This is San Ignacio. Less welcoming then our previous stops, but still an ok town from where to explore the Mayan sites in the surroundings. Although very small Cahal Pech ('place of the ticks') was beautiful, its size faded in comparison with the grandeur of Xunantunich ('stone lady'). Xunantunich has the 'wow- factor' which lacks in Cahal Pech. The impressive 40 meter high piramide. The huge palmtrees. The extreme green grass. The silence. The early morning sun delicately lighting the buildings. Sitting on top of the great pyramid fantasizing about how life in this city was in the old days...

Then back to Guatemala. For the third time. Last chance. Last chapter

. Flores is a very small town that is situated beautifully on the banks of Lago de Peten Itza in the jungle-province of El Peten. Except the great sunsets from our balcony and our frustrating quest to get some f*&king money (which seems almost impossible in Guatemala) there is nothing to do. Although, for the first time we are bluntly reminded that Christmas is coming closer. The first Christmas songs, the (seemingly permanent) decorations on the streetlights and especially the huge plastic national beer numero uno 'Gallo'-sponsored christmas tree on the main square, made us smile... christmas in shorts and skirts...

After having spend a day in El Remate, even more beautifully situated on Lago de Peten Itza, just chilling, swimming and getting some serious sunburns... we moved deeper in the jungle to the ancient Maya city of Tikal. Tikal was (and still is) a huge city from around 700 BC. As the locals say it... 'Copan (Honduras) is Venice, Tikal is New York'. Tikal's most impressive characteristics are definitely the huge 60 meter high perfectly shaped pyramids which make clear the parallel with the skyscrapers of the Big Apple. The footpaths through the dense jungle from one temple to the other, the huge number of temples that are still not discovered and restored, the spider and howler monkeys, the koatymundis, pacas and songs of tropical birds, they all make Tikal the ultimate Indiana Jones- experience. As we stayed in Tikal itself we were able to visit the site twice - once with sunset and the next morning with sunrise.... especially the views of the temples exceeding the jungle canopy with sunset are magical! Although the 'wow'- factor was less then we expected (are we getting spoiled after having seen Copan and Xunantunich and being influenced by the public opinion???), the true beauty of Tikal (for us at least) lies mainly in its size and location in the jungle which makes it very impressive anyhow!

Having closed the chapter Guatemala (somehow Guatemala just doesn't do it for us...

) back to Belize. A true homecoming. Ya man! After having had a great time in southern Belize, Belize City actually was quite a shock. Is this the same Belize? Belize City... it's small, dirty, crappy, stinky and full of persistent and irritating beggars, drunks and homeless.... as a taxidriver described 'Ya man, in Belize City you need to work. Otherwise you need to rob someone or you are going down man...'. Is this the spirit of Belize City? With daylight things looked less worse but still we didn't escape the occasional hassle by some drunks and homeless.... Although there is nothing to see or do in Belize City, and the very few things that are there only wake up 3 times a week when the cruiseships arrive (what the hell are they doing in a city like Belize City?), we had a nice couple of days there before heading further north in this fascinating little caribbean country.

Leaving the 'interesting' ex-capital behind us to go further north to Orange Walk. Orange Walk is a quiet but fairly unremarkable town. The plan was to make a river trip here to the Maya site of Lamanai deep in the jungle, but unfortunately it was only possible to get there with an organized tour... something we were not really enthusiastic about... an emphasis on lunch and other food-moments, the big groups, the fact that all passengers would be given a banana to feed the monkeys... what a circus! So, what to do then? Go to the real circus! In the most unexpected corner of the world was the Moscow circus

. Armed with popcorn and coca-cola we had a memorable night out, with giraffes, Siberian tigers, acrobats and clowns. It was like we were little kids again...

Our last stop in Belize was the border town of Corozal. Surprisingly this was one of the prettiest and most relaxed towns in Belize. An apparently rich town with big houses, wide streets and a kilometers long seaside promenade. Except reading our books on the walls of the seaside promenade, chilling on the roofterrace of our guesthouse, watching the sun sink in the Caribbean on the one side and the watching moon come up on the other side this was probably the best place to end our visit to Belize.

Unbelizable Belize! ?