What a lovely flag.Easy to recognize and remember. What I see in the flag is not what the designers intended but it works very well as a memory aid. The greenery reminds you about the rainfall so you plan your trip when you are not in moonsoon season. The ship reminds you that the east coast is on the ocean, giving spectacular sea views.
Half dressed people to remind you that Belize has hot tropical weather. However, you are better covered up against mosquitos. Black skin, lets call it dark and light chocolate colour, is protection against the sun. Consider what protection you need against the heat, sunlight, weather and insects.
Belize has a bit of everything. Natural wonders such as the Blue Hole out in the ocean, more Blue Hole inland. The coral reefs are great for photography as well as for scuba diving.
Expect seafood and locally grown food and plants and locally produced products. Belize has durians but farmers don't bother to farm them. A missed opportunity! Singaporean friends from my Singapore online Toastmasters club told Edward from Belize that durians are popular in Asia and command high prices in Australia. He was surprised and said he would look into it. "I shall discuss it with local farmers."
The country is focused on developing touristm. You can visit a couple of ultra-modern museums and art and exhibition complexes.
Museums and Mayas
What is in the Museums? Mayan objects from those Mayan pyramids. The pyramids are often built in groups of three, a large one in the middle and two on the outside facing the central one.
Wikipedia tells you far more than you need to know about the Mayans, unless you are writing a thesis. Who were the Mayans and the Aztecs? I've seen ruins in Mexico, on a side trip from a Caribbean cruise ship which stopped at Cancun. I was not thrilled, on a hot day, by a lot of climbing, especially as I encountered a snake barring my way.
How do you call for help in Belize? Fortunately, they speak English, left over from the days of British rule and used in schools and officially. The creole language is also spoken, but many local people are bilingual or trilingual.
I told my husband, "I can't tell the diference between the Aztecs and the Mayans."
He replied, "Me neither."
However, teacher Google had the answer.Now, who were the Aztecs and the Mayas - and the Incas. They all built pyramids. The Incas were in Peru and built roads.
Languages
The big surprise for me is that the descendants of the Mayans are still living today, the same faces, the same racial types you see in the statues. Plus many Mayan languages! I enjoyed reading about the languages, how they used pictures as first, like the ancient Eygyptians and the Chinese writing.
Reading on about the Mayan kingdoms, I was at first horrified to read about human sacrifice. If you were horrified to read about the tortures carried out by Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards, you can balance that against what was going on by the Mayans, a warlike people who featured human sacrifice, following torture, of captured kings, as well as part of the ritual of installing their kings. I was muttering to myself, too much information!
I recall the commentary at the Dracula exhibition in Romania. They pointed out that during the same period most rulers in most other countries were doing the same. As for Henry VIII, his activities do not stop tourists visiting the UK. Coming more up to date, we have WW2, the Holocaust and more. So I shall worrying about what the Mayans did in another country and another era.
Instead I shall be grateful that I live in the age of the internet, and whilst in Home Stay in the UK, Singapore, or anywhere in the world, I am able to travel the world through Wikipedia, Google and youtube. Armed with all this information, we will all be well-prepared for focused trips when restrictions are eased.
Finally, Chocolate.
Chocolate drinks, chocolate foods, chocolate bars to buy. Chocolate cafe indoors or outdoos by the beach on two islands, charmingly called cayes.
Useful Websites
https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions/belize-biz.htm
https://www.educba.com/maya-vs-aztec-vs-inca/
https://belizechocolatecompany.com/pages/visit
About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, fashionista. Please share links to your favourite posts or one or more of the blogs
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