Life in Mainland Belize

Life over on the mainland  was very slow  and a little crazy and I kinda like it.  Nothing moved fast except for the buses.  People walked everywhere there and there were hitchhikers everywhere.  Every speed bump is a hitchhiker stop.  Locals get very upset when you dont stop and pick them up(hand gestures, yelling, evil eye looks).  If we had a truck we might, but we have a 2 door Izuzu Jimny...basically the 4wd version of the chevy aveo of Belize.  NO Space whatsoever even though it has a back seat which has to be folded down just to put our 2 carry on bags in the storage area.

Driving at night is freaky...no street lights and most people here are very dark skinned.  As a result you don’t see them till you almost hit them. They seem to blend into the surroundings. Horses and cattle are tied on long ropes on the side of the road to function as lawn mowers.  Well most of them are tied, some are wandering. Then there’s the iguanas, gibnuts(think giant guinea pig with spots), and other assorted wildlife just waiting to jump in front of you car.

“Bars” are everywhere. Belekin the national beer(only beer) must give anyone who wants one of their signs a free Belekin beer sign with the “bar’s” name on it.  I’ve seen the “Vietnam” bar, “Happy” bar, “Dis is d place” bar, the “Stop hea” bar, “dis de col one”  bar.  Getting the idea, everyone has a bar with very strange names.

The thing is these are not bars as we know it.  They make most bars in Mexico look glamourous!  Personally I am afraid to go into these bars.  They are nothing more that a shack about a 10x10 room with a single light bulb on and some chairs.  They look more like vendor stalls in Mexico. There are no women in these places, just a few scary characters that I think I will pass on meeting.

There are real bars in the larger towns that were much safer and well, bar like.  Not at all like the “bars” that are around us in the jungle.  I think I will just buy beer at the convenience store and bring it back to the house and drink.  

Mennonites are very common and they come in 2 varieties, the horse and buggy type (also full beards and apparent lack of hygiene...you DO NOT want to be down wind of them) and the driving a truck and ok with some technology varieties. Picture the Amish, now picture a jungle, now picture the Amish in a jungle!  They make AMAZING ice cream!  

All cattle are crossed with Brama cattle, they are the only cattle that will thrive in the heat and nutrient poor grasses of Belize.

All the towns have speedbumps from hell!