After a strange couple of days on the boat, I woke up in Hopkins, ready to explore the Belize mainland for the next week. I got up to make some tea and was greeted by a few of my friends that I had previously met on Caye Caulker: SP, Colin, and Luiana. Luiana mentioned they were organizing a trip to a nearby nature reserve and said we were welcomed to join and help split the cost of the taxi. We gathered a group of seven for the trip and waited for our ride. And who would you guess showed up? Burrito! Just as the day before, Burrito stopped at the gas station for us to grab some snacks while he also grabbed a Heineken for the road.
Burrito dropped us off at Mayflower Bocawina National Park, in the heart of the jungle. We did two waterfall hikes, the first one being a bit of a workout but worth every step. The path led us up to a waterfall with a refreshing pool at the base for us to dive into. We all changed into bathing suits and dove into the cold water, which felt amazing. On the way down, the trail split off to a viewpoint just below the waterfall, giving amazing views of the jungle. From here we could see all the way to the Caribbean Sea.
Burrito picked us up a few hours later and gave us some recommendations on places to eat. We spent the rest of the day eating some delicious jerk chicken and waiting out the rain that had rolled in off of the sea. The following day, I rented a bicycle and explored the town. Hopkins was a beautiful little beach town but the amount of trash on the beach was a little disheartening. Normally, I will pick trash up off the beach whenever I see it, but this was too overwhelming and my small efforts wouldn’t have made an impact.
The next day SP, Colin, Luiana and I were up early to catch the bus to journey farther inland, to a town called San Ignacio. A private transfer would have cost around $40 per person, but taking the bus would only be $8. To get there we would need to take three buses: Hopkins to Dangriga, Dangriga to Belmopan, and Belmopan to San Ignacio. Fun Fact: Belmopan is the capital of Belize, not Belize City. We couldn’t have timed the buses better and didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes to transfer. The buses, which were just old converted school buses, were a little crowded though, but luckily everyone was wearing masks.
Since writing about my Belize experience, I have forgotten to mention the COVID requirements and atmosphere. You need a negative COVID test to enter Belize and everyone is required to wear a mask unless you are at your accommodation or sitting at a restaurant. If you are walking around without a mask on, you could be fined up to $250, but the police that are patrolling normally just remind you to wear it. Also, if a restaurant is caught with people away from their table without a mask on, the restaurant can be fined $2,500! Belize was quite strict on mask-wearing, but that was about it. Tourists are technically required to stay at a “Gold Standard” certified hotel and use certified tour operators and transportation but we gathered this certification was probably granted as long as there was some hand sanitizer available.
We arrived in San Ignacio by 10 am and made our way to what would become my favorite hostel of the trip: The Old House Hostel. As the name would indicate, the hostel was the upper story of an old house and had spacious front and back decks, making it a perfect place to hang out and socialize. The hostel is owned and run by a young couple in their late 20s, which gave it the feeling that you are just staying at a friend’s house for the weekend and not in a hostel at all.
I ended up staying in San Ignacio for four nights. It was nice to have so much time in one place. The other hostel guests also seemed to be staying for a while and it quickly grew into a family environment. The town had a great farmers market with fresh vegetables and one afternoon we went as a group and made a handful of dishes that night, serving up dinner for 12. Another evening, the owner, Davina, invited us to her family’s farm where we spent the evening cooking up delicious food on a traditional Mayan stove. These were some of my favorite moments of my trip to Belize. It always amazes me how easily strangers can become family when you are brought together by adventure and circumstance. I’ll talk more about my stay in San Ignacio in my next post!
