Day 1 in Corozal, Belize [crossing the Mexican-Belize land border] (4/5/22-4/10/22

-I made my way by taxi through the Mexican-Belize land border this morning without issue. Showed them my passport, my vaccination card, and filled out two immigration forms. I am currently in Corozal waiting for my water taxi to the islands.
-First impressions: the food and drinks here are out of this world.
-I can’t understand anything anyone is saying. In Creole English and Spanish there is so little enunciation that I can’t make out any of the syllables. Is this how I sound mumbling to other people?
-The weather here is hot but not humid with a perfect amount of wind. I’m laying down in a park just watching the day go buy and listening to the waves.
-Belize is supposed to be known for bird watching and I can see why already. Birds here are such a unique variety of colors. Will try to take photos of some when I can, but pro birdwatchers are on a different level.
-Everyone here is almost uncomfortably friendly. Police have greeted me, random locals I’ve walked by, and people at the grocery store. I’m hesitant to lower my guard with strangers in a new country. Safe than sorry.

Day 1 in San Pedro, Belize (4/11/22):
-Sundays the majority of everything is closed.
-Belize does not care about masks. I’ve seen maybe 1/10 people wearing one and properly.
-Belize accepts and actually prefers USD simply because it’s a stronger currency.
-Belize has just started welcoming tourism back after two years.
-There is a very anything goes mentality here as far as partying goes, but my priorities are rescuing animals, returning to teaching abroad in Asia, experiencing the world, and being strong in all aspects of life.
-Everyone drives a golf cart here.
-There is a big Christian impact here. Apparently everything closes down on Good Friday this week and no alcohol is allowed to be sold.
-Belize is supposed to be the #2 place in the world for diving. (Australia is #1.)
-Prices in San Pedro are pretty comparable to the US.

Day 2 in San Pedro, Belize (4/12/22):
-Chocolate bananas here are everything.
-There are a lot of outside dogs here which isn’t my cup of tea but they all look fat and happy.
-I failed my mission today to go see the sunset from a rooftop bar.
-But I had the best curry with snapper that I’ve ever had easily, hands down.
-I bought SPF55 suntan lotion last night so today I decided to layout and get a tan. For whatever reason, I kept getting more and more red so I figured I wasn’t applying enough, so I would reapply again and again. Turns out I was sold a bottle of lotion that was four years expired … and now I look like a lobster.

Day 3 in San Pedro, Belize (4/13/22):
-Hoi Chan Marine Reserve lives up to the hype in every way imaginable. Sea turtles, nurse shark, eels, rays, etc.
-Pretty much every other bar here you can get into the ocean or a pool.
-I would argue the rum here is the best I’ve ever had.
-I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been offered drugs here.

Day 4 in San Pedro, Belize [crossing the Mexican borer] (4/14/22):
-I have full-blown sun poisoning thanks to, unbeknownst to me, using expired sun tan lotion.
-Good Friday and Easter weekend are nuts here. In Belize, everything is closing down. In Mexico, everywhere is turning into a party.
-A taxi at the Mexican border tried to charge me triple the price from the border to Bacalar. Then tried to make me pay for 20 seconds of gas when I refused his scam. He got nothing.
-Belize and Mexico both have “tax” fees for passing their borders, depending on how long you’re visiting. It’s a legal scam in my opinion. One of my friends refused to pay, claiming he had no money, and he couldn’t go back so they actually let him pass.
-I took a sea plane from San Pedro to Corozal. I wasn’t sketched out until a literal passenger started locking the doors because there are no staff besides the pilot.

Summary: I enjoyed Belize. Wasn’t a fan of the huge amounts of seaweed, chickenshit games where you literally put a chicken in a cage and wait for it to take a shit on your number like bingo, and was a bit surprised how expensive the Caribbean side of Belize was – basically US prices. That being said, I didn’t do everything I could of because of getting sun poisoning and, to be frank, a lot of the things I could do there I could do in my home state of Florida. Do I recommend San Pedro, Belize? Yes. But it’s not particularly unique to other Caribbean islands or even Florida.