Belize is on the Caribbean coast of northern Central America, just south of Mexico. To the east in the Caribbean Sea, the second-longest barrier reef in the world flanks much of the 386 kilometers of predominantly marshy coastline. It is the only Central American country with no Pacific coastline. Belize‘s rugged geography has made the country’s coastline and jungle attractive to drug smugglers, who use the country as a gateway into Mexico. In 2011, the United States added Belize to the list of nations considered major drug producers or transit countries for narcotics. And Belize is the only Central American country whose official language is English with a Belizean Creole accent.
Well, alrighty then, let’s go there!
Hopkins Windsong Beach Villa
It’s a short 4h30m flight on Alaska Airlines from Los Angeles direct to Belize City. We get our rental car and drive for two hours to get to our destination, Windsong Beach Villa. Note that the entire drive is inland, because Belize does not have a coastal highway.
The view from the beach.
“Hopkins Windsong Beach Villa is a luxurious private home on the shores of the Caribbean with a relaxing saltwater pool and large terraces.” That’s what their website says. However, it’s a freshwater pool.
The view to the west.
From the roof, to the west, is an empty lot, then the Sittee River. According to the internet, “the mangroves located at the mouth of this river are the tallest ever reported for the Caribbean region and among the tallest anywhere in the entire Neotropical realm.” However, we cannot independently verify that.
The view to the east.
This is the reason we came to this place: to have a week of peace and quiet on the Caribbean Sea.
Note the floating islands of sargassum. Yeah, it’s everywhere, and in some places forms a mat hundreds of meters in size and up to 1 meter thick. However, it is not a problem for us here.
Our beach.
It seems that the houses in our neighborhood are all Airbnb rentals, so there is almost no one here; perfect for a short getaway.
Hopkins
Hopkins is a few minute’s drive from our villa. It’s a lively town, full of casinos, strippers, cocaine dens, and…wait, I’m thinking of Las Vegas. No, Hopkins is a quiet Garifuna village on the coast of the Stann Creek District in Belize. “It is a small but very active community with a population of just over 1,000. The people live mainly from agriculture and fishing. Tourism is gaining more and more influence. The village is known for its hospitality and was named “The Friendliest Village in Belize” by Belize First Magazine.”
Wow. There must be a lot to do here!
As we drive to Hopkins, we pass this structure dedicated to signs. We stop mostly because we see the word “Thongs”. But no, almost all the signs are telling people to go somewhere else.
No one will accuse the Stann Creek District of over-population.
There are plenty of wide-open spaces to be seen on our short drive from the villa to Hopkins.
Ha ha. I get it.
There are a number of road signs alerting us to bumps in the road. The bumps are man-made and are to encourage us to drive slowly. My husband says the sign is supposed to represent buttocks. I say the sign is supposed to represent boobs. I think I win, don’t you agree?
And, within minutes of leaving our temporary home, we have arrived!
The very active community of Hopkins.
Belize was granted independence from Britain on 21 September 1981 and has had a strong British influence. Some years ago, the British government made some streets “one way”. Our Airbnb host told us that, as soon as the British left, everyone ignored the one-way streets. And he is correct.
Hopkins is a bit rural.
Note the cloudy skies. Even when it’s cloudy here, it is hot here. We cool off by going in the pool or going in our air-conditioned house.
Home sweet home.
As with many places we travel to, there doesn’t seem to be any enforced building codes in Hopkins. Still, someone calls this “home”.
The famous Hopkins open market.
Hopkins has a handful of grocery stores and, we assume, clothing stores and hardware stores. However, we get our fruits, vegetables, and a few souvenirs here in this outdoor market.
Funny story. One day, we are at this open market shopping, and we notice people behaving strangely towards us. As in, giving us strange looks and acting uncomfortable. Oh, well, we are strangers in a strange land, and don’t think too much of it. We buy a few items, then walk down to the beach. As we are leaving the market, a woman’s voice calls out from a distance, in accented English. It takes us a moment to understand what she’s saying, and that she’s talking to us.
Yup, they were correct.
“You’re exposin’!”
“Did she say, ‘You’re exposing?” I ask my husband. “I think so,” he says. “Hang on, let me get ahead of you.” Yup.
I’ll bet they are still talking about me, even today. ?
If you look closely, you can see an iguana in the driveway.
Outside Hopkins city limits, and within walking distance of our villa, is Mango’s Beachfront Bar. Our Airbnb host advised us to avoid this place; he implied that there was wild debauchery in the evening, nothing that would interest people like us.
Where are the wicked women?
Wrong. This place is a quiet beach bar, with a bunch of tourists and a few locals watching time go by.
I think I’m the wickedest woman here.
Yup, we were totally misled, and in the wrong direction. Sad.
Cheers!
Still, here’s to relaxing in a bar in the Caribbean!
Piers
You may have notices piers in a few of the photographs, typically having a covering on the end.
Modern vs. Traditional
The piers are built at irregular intervals along the shore. There is some variation in their length.
A view to a pier.
As best we can tell, these are open to the public. There are no “no trespassing”, “private property”, or “keep out” signs. Maybe, just maybe, the government is doing something cool, just to be cool.
Photo op!
We rarely see anyone using these piers. Some, like this one, have ladders in case you want to climb into your kayak or something. The water here is pretty shallow. Note that we swam once and were stung by jelly fish almost immediately. So, that’s why there are no swimming photographs here.
Selfie time!
Using a tripod, we are able to photograph ourselves. It looks like a postcard to send home to Mom, doesn’t it?
The day begins.
No, we don’t sit in those chairs, drinking rum, and watch the sunset. We are facing east, remember?
Note the white pylons. They have cleverly used large PVC pipes and filled them with concrete. Thus, there is no wood to rot away after a few years.
Sunrise over the sea.
Speaking of facing east, we have spectacular sunrises every morning.
The beginning of a new day, every day.
Houses
The town of Hopkins has the type of houses you would expect to be found on the Caribbean coast in a rural area. They look like the slightest storm would destroy them.
Built to last.
However, this fellow’s modular housing concept defies the Weather Gods to strike him down. Better yet, his floor plan changes and increases every time a new container becomes available!
The posh side of town.
Where we are staying, almost all the houses are built for tourists. We are told by our host that there is a favorable tax rate for owning an upscale rental unit. A house such as this would cost about one million USD.
You can see the wide assortment of building styles and color schemes to be found just south of Hopkins, Belize.
The famous purple trees of Belize.
Somebody thought this was a good idea. And maybe it is…
Critters
Belize has A LOT of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, etc., etc. However, few live near the beach, apparently.
Dude, nice camouflage.
This is a Jewel Caterpillar moth of the Dalceridae Family. But you probably already knew that.
Great, just great.
There are many great kiskadees here, the largest of the tyrant flycatchers. However, we do not see them catching any flies.
Perching pelicans.
We have never seen pelicans perching in trees before.
It’s a big rat.
We occasionally see agouti near our house, and this time I am lucky enough to have my camera ready.
Postcard from Hopkins.
This fellow poses for us. Does he think he’s blending in to the dead tree? Cuz, he isn’t.
Going for a morning swim.
This resident of Belize took a swim in our pool one morning. With just a little help, I was able to get him out of the pool, and he ran safely into a bushy area.
Pool
We use our not-saltwater pool often, just to cool off on even these hot days.
Just another day in Paradise.
Except for a short while just after sunrise, it’s always breezy here. Still, when it’s 90 degrees, the breeze is not enough, and it’s time to be cool in the pool.
In fact, we spend a lot of our time in the pool.
Everyone wants to get in on the fun!
See the shadow in the pool just in front of the red kayak? It seems that we have a guest.
Iguanas need to cool off, too.
Okay, if it were a foot long or so, I might consider just grabbing it and tossing it out of the pool. But it isn’t, and I don’t.
Coming up for a breath.
Looking like something from a bad Japanese horror movie, the iguana shows its face. Okay, I recognize that it’s just an animal and probably harmless to us, but since I don’t know much about these guys, I decide to call in a professional.
So that’s how it’s done.
We contact our host who contacts a pool guy or maybe an iguana guy, who comes to sort things out. He spends a few minutes slowly chasing the critter before he manages to net him.
Yeah, I’m glad we called an expert.
We ask the iguana catcher what will happen to the iguana. He says that some people eat them, but he is going to take it across the road and put it in the river. But, we don’t know what really happen to it…
Just in case you forget where you are…
We came to Belize to relax and do nothing for a few days, and that’s exactly what we did! (Except for visiting the zoo, which we will discover in our next article.)
Until next time, as they say in Belize, “Goodbye.”