Belize is quite special. A very different culture than any other country in Central America. It's like we drove to a Caribbean Island. It is culturally diverse with about 50% mestizo, 25% creole, 6% Mayan, 4% Garífuna, and others from Taiwan, Middle East, South Asian, and a bunch of ex-pats. The Garifuna are a people that are mixed African and Amerindian ancestry that originally came from the island of Saint Vincent. Their origin is uncertain, but probably were escaped slaves perhaps from a nearby shipwreck. They remained free but fought wars with the British, who subdued them in 1796 and deported them to the island of Roatan. The island could not support them, so they dispersed to other nearby shores including to Belize, as well as Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. It was quite refreshing to see the mixed diversity in Belize, and the laid-back attitude.
We did not see a lot of Belize and would love to return. We drove straight to the tourist area of Placencia on the coast and stayed in a nice AirBnB (with its own small pool). Unfortunately it was raining constantly and we were getting tired of the rain, so we decided that we might as well be driving to our next destination, Tikal in Guatemala. We would have also liked exploring some of the places in the mountains inland, but the rain meant that a lot of activities were not to be. Belize is a place that we hope to return to.
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