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in nearby Guatemala, and of Copan in Honduras. There is a popular daily bus service running from Chetumal, Mexico, southward through Belize via Belize City and then SW into Guatemala ending at Flores, which is the stepping off point to visit the fabulous ancient Mayan city of Tikal.

A trip to tropical Caye Caulker is a must even if you're not into swimming and diving. Caulker township is a series of guest houses spread along sandy lanes amid the coconut palms. Boaties vie for business to take visitors to the barrier reef. Speed boats leave from the moorings close to the swing bridge in Belize City. You skim across the shallow blue Caribbean Sea dotted with mangrove islets and coral islands studded with coconut palms. Within an hour you are in an exciting new world.

To explore the hinterland the DIY traveler, or backpacker, must come to grips with the bus system. The heaven for old US school buses is Belize (or Central America in general). This recycling of buses is admirable and fine if you are child-size or an Indian. However, most Europeans come in large or tall sizes and will suffer some discomfiture from the confined seating.

The southern coast road is the route to Guatemala and Honduras. The seaside town at road's end is Punta Gorda, or PG to the locals. At PG you can join ecotours of the interior to visit the jungle or stay in Indian villages. Finally, you can brace yourself for the exciting speedboat ride across the estuary to Puerto Barrio in Guatemala, and so on to Honduras and the ancient Mayan city of Copan. The secret to survival on these water taxis is to sit on a cushion well aft under a spray-proof covering and hope for the best. Latecomers get put up front and end up like sodden drowned rats.

The hazards of using local transport can be avoided by joining a package tour; in fact 20% of Belize tourism is from bird watching groups coming from North America and Europe. These small groups are whisked away from the airport to stay at well-appointed jungle lodges, especially in the Mountain Pine Ridge region around San Ignacio. Besides bird and animal watching there is hiking, horse riding, exploring caves and canoeing.

The enigma of Belize is that there is much to attract the tourist and much that doesn't. The tour operators cleverly succeed in their business by hiding the latter. The brave lone traveler and backpackers must tread warily.

Learn more about this author, Allan Taylor.
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