belize city - gangsta paradise

sebs eating tamales with the queen -------guesthouse seaside (for sale)




main street belize city ------------------------main belizean radio station channel 7



belize harbour ------------------------------chug boat


gangsta city by night, safe-haven by day. that is the impression i got from belize city. thank the pope we arrived on halloween night as there were loads of dressed -up kids perusing the streets, asking for sweets. this, believe it or not, made us (or rather me) feel much safer, especially after all the stories we had heard about this city.
we stayed in a ¨typical¨looking belizean backpacker/ hostel with pink-coloured wooden walls and a purple staircase with a view of the caribbean sea (unfortunately not as clear as we were treated to in tulum) which was quaint.
in the morning we visited a few of the ¨monuments¨. the house of culture, otherwise known as the government house, which is the oldest building in the city. built in 1814, it was the residence of the governer-general until belize became independant in 1981. it is a mansion built of wood, painted white and deep green. exactly how one would imagine, it is on the water´s edge and has a large terrace wrapped around the house. really beautiful.
opposite is st. john´s cathedral, the oldest anglican church in central america, which was built in 1812 with bricks brought from europe. it was closed when we walked past so we were not able to see the ancient pipe organ that is so boasted about.
belize city is not very big and we were over with our little walking tour before we knew it. to end it off, we stopped off at a well-known little restaurant and had a piece of coconut pie and coffee which gave us the sugar high that was needed to last us to caye caulker island.

Apres un dernier tamales salsa roja (farine de mais+poulet+piment+tomate enveloppe dans une feuille de bananier) pour le ptit dej, on embarque pour le Belize. Le changement de paysage est très net puisque les champs de mais se transforment en champs de canne a sucre, que les habitations sont maintenant sur pilotis et que la route est inondée sur plusieurs kms, séquelles visibles du dernier ouragan.

Les gens aussi sont très différent et l´influence américaine est omniprésente. Jeunes et moins jeunes portent basket montantes, tee shirt extra larges et casquette de rapeur. Plus flagrant, on y parle anglais, certes un anglais tinté d´un doux accent carribéen mais ca fait bizarre d´etre en amerique centrale et de parler anglais.

Belize city a deux facettes, paradis de gangsters la nuit et havre de paix le jour. On arrive de nuit et on sent de suite le danger lorsque l´on se promene dans les rues le soir, les jeunes conduisent les 4*4 tout neuf avec la musique a fond, chaque gang a son quartier et la population a l´air de vivre plutot bien au milieu de ce chaos urbain. Mick de l´auberge nous explique que la ville est une étape importante du traffic de drogue venant de Colombie vers les US et que par conséquent la drogue est omniprésente.

Au matin, c´est une nouvelle ville que l´on visite ou les habitants sont charmants, prennent le temps de nous saluer et de discuter avec nous. On ressent alors enfin l´ambiance carraibe que l´on recherchait: petit rythme de vie tranquille, tout le monde a le sourire.