Trip Notes

Bring a lot of cash. The people of Belize are happy to accept American dollars, but they always give you change in Belize currency. The exchange rate is always 2 Belize dollars to 1 US. Because we didn't want any Belize dollars, we brought a lot of ten, five and one dollars bills and tried to pay the exact amount so we got very little change back.

I expected to pay cash for restaurants and gas stations, but many of the tour operators also requested cash. Sometimes they added a surcharge for a credit card transaction. Fortunately, we had a lot of cash with us so we did not run out.

You need a car when touring on the mainland. An economy car is fine, you only need four wheel drive if you plan to visit some of the more remote sights. We hired tour guides for places like Caracol and Cockscomb and they drove us in their vehicles. I don't recommend trying to drive to either of those places on your own.

You will not be able to take your rental car across the border into Guatemala.

Do not stay in Belize City. There are no attractions there, the traffic is terrible, the roads are in terrible condition, few of the streets have signs, and crime is reputed to be greatest there.

You can avoid Belize City in your rental car if you head north after exiting the airport. Look for a sign to Burrell Boom on the left side, it will be visible shortly. Take the road toward Burrell Boom (it is paved all the way) and then turn south to get back on the main highway.

Don't drive at night. No one in Belize wears reflective clothing, but there are a lot of people (and animals) using the road at night. Also, when you drive into a town, there are large speedbumps that are quite difficult to see in the dark. Most (but not all!) of these speedbumps are accompanied by warning road signs. So slow down in the towns. You are on vacation, there is no hurry!

Most everyone speaks English, it was an English colony until 1981 (up until that year, Belize was called British Honduras) so language is not a problem

Mosquitos aren't too bad in the dry season, though my wife got bit by some biting flies that left some nasty welts.

If you go birding, hire a guide. The birds are almost impossible to spot on your own. Plus, the guides can readily identify each species.

There is an $40 US exit fee to leave the country, but it is included in the United Airlines plane ticket

Never ever use carrentals.com. I had a bad experience trying to use the voucher that I had paid for at the Avis rental desk. It is much smarter to book directly through the rental car agency website. Basically, carrentals.com charged me $640 and then gave me a voucher that was worth $420, and I had to pay the difference at the counter. Eventually, my credit car company refunded the difference and dinged carrentals.com, but I will never deal with them again.

Bring a waterproof camera!

http://www.destinationsbelize.com/tours-and-attractions/

http://ambergriscaye.com/index.php

http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/mayan/mayasites.html

http://www.triposo.com/loc/Caracol

http://www.archaeological.org/interactivedigs/cahalpechbelize/about

http://www.beyondtouring.com/

http://www.caracol.org/include/files/chase/glimmers.pdf

http://www.academia.edu/1475152/The_Carved_Monuments_and_Inscriptions_of_Xunantunich

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