Amberris Caye, Belize

Belize's Playground


amazing
View from Cayo Espanto, one of the many near-shallow islanders where wealthy foreign investors install sophisticated resorts.
Red Chameleon
Speedboat sets sail from a San Pedro jetty full of passengers.
High tide
Sunbathers and kayakers revel in the idyllic Caribbean Sea off San Pedro.
amazing Cayo
A jetty on Cayo Espanto, an island resort off San Pedro.
Portofino
One of the many sophisticated resorts that fill the coastline of Ambergris Caye, mainly around San Pedro.
Patty?
Political banner questions a Belizean policy on the whereabouts of money earmarked for reparations for damage caused by Hurricane Keith.
Comfortable Sanpedense
San Pedro resident rests on the padded benches of one of the many golf carts that roam the city.
21, 2002
Mural sets a deadline for the recovery of a proud and strong Belize: 21, 2002.
absolute vacation
Two visitors to Ambergris Caye bathe in the warm water of the Caribbean Sea, this way from the barrier reef that surrounds the island and much of Belize.
A Network without a Password
A guest at the Portofino resort rests in a hammock between the main building and the beach next door.
PUP
Street demonstration in support of the PUP, the People's United Party, normal opponent of the red UDP party, the United Democratic Party.
Things Dread
Political painting in the home of residents of San Pedro encourages the Red Party to vote.
Shallow waters
Golden retriever chases fish along a pontoon terrace at the Cayo Espanto resort.
over the reef
Snorkeler admires the underwater life between the sand and the barrier reef off Ambergris Caye, the 2nd largest in the world.
San Pedro lights
Night falls over the main town of Ambergris Caye, a bathing retreat off the Belize mainland.

Madonna sang it as La Isla Bonita and reinforced the motto. Today, neither hurricanes nor political strife discourage VIP and wealthy vacationers from enjoying this tropical getaway.

Belize City quickly proves to be both unpleasant and threatening, even more so for those traveling with photographic equipment. Transformed into an outpost for drug trafficking in the Americas, Belize's largest city has become used to the frequent destruction caused by the various hurricanes that have already hit the country, and has surrendered to a culture of gangs and violence that drive most common visitors away. . Its semi-ruined and chaotic streets are crossed by sewers and smelly canals and patrolled by bands of Afro residents and superb Garifunas with impressive bearings, deep voices and almost always suspicious intentions. The most welcoming corner of the country was waiting for us and we didn't stay to find out more.

On the way to Ambergris Caye, depending on the depth of the sea, the water changes from green to blue again and again, and we pass through islets full of mangroves and pelicans. After half an hour, there is a white foam mark caused by the surf on the coralline and, a little later, the silhouette of Ambergris. As we get closer, the first front of wooden houses becomes clearer, right next to the beach, from where dozens of aging docks and jetties project.

Ambergris, (sometimes Am-ber-griss and other Amberjis) is the largest of Belize's cayes. It extends for about 40 km in length, in a kind of extension of the Mexican peninsula of Yucatan. The island is protected from the occasional fury of the sea by the second largest barrier reef in the world, which is also its main attraction.

But the reef alone does not work miracles and, when the rainy season arrives, – from June to November – its 4500 inhabitants know that they are at the mercy of nature's whims. The first truly destructive hurricane devastated Belize in 1931, at a time when they were not even baptized. The second was Hattie, in 1961, and the third arrived in 2001, with the nice name of Iris. The last one to do major damage was Richard, in October 2010.

Of course, as the main national tourist domain, the island has priority in reconstruction. Authorities cannot afford the luxury of the Americans and Europeans who invest here having losses and, for that, La Isla Bonita – as Madonna sang it – has to continue to seduce.

Most Ambergris residents live in San Pedro, on the southern tip of the island, where the barrier reef is just 800 meters offshore. It is an undeveloped city with a small airport where visitors and the richest natives land. Transportation is provided by golf carts. There are dozens of them circulating here and there, miniatures representing the size of the city and its humble spirit, the same unpretentious spirit that makes, during the day, many of the inhabitants walk barefoot and bare-chested. 

San Pedro is arranged around three main streets that were previously simply called Front street, Middle street and Back street and the authorities decided, in vain, to name them with real names: Barrier Reef Drive, Pescador dr. and Angel Coral dr. It is between these streets and the beginning of the airport runway that almost all services are concentrated, just a few meters from each other. In the two-story wooden houses of this central area, there are also the main shops, bars and restaurants, as well as the Baptist church.

It's impossible to get lost here. In addition to being small, the city extends on a narrow strip of land sandwiched between the Caribbean Sea, to the east, and the San Pedro lagoon, to the west – this is indeed a labyrinth of small people. keys, shoals and islets where only the most experienced can navigate.

Any movement in the central area can be done on foot, but to reach the resorts on the outskirts of the city, you need either land or water vehicles. To the north, the route is interrupted at the end of Pescador drive, where there is a canal that is crossed by a hand-drawn ferry and, shortly thereafter, the roads disappear altogether.

With the end of the coconut and lobster industry, the resorts, bars and diving and excursion agencies have ensured the income of many Belizeans. Serving foreigners who enrich themselves visibly at the expense of the beauty of their homeland is not the life many of them dreamed of, but as long as things don't change, it's much better than nothing. In order for the country's economic situation to improve, the government is committed to education and patriotic training for its children. Belize is a country almost as young as some of them and therefore national awareness is something that has to be taught and instilled.

A typical day of classes begins with a lecture by the institution's director. The raising of the flag ensues as a huge choir of children in blue and white uniforms sings the anthem. After this ritual, students head to the dark and cramped classrooms.

The San Pedro school is a perfect observatory of the ethnic diversity that culturally enriches this Caribbean corner which, despite being poor, has attracted and continues to seduce people from all over the world. Along with descendants of distant Baymen, African slaves and children of both, they study mestizo children of Mexican origin, others, Mayans and Chinese, and young descendants of Americans, Canadians and Europeans who brought their lives there.

While discovering San Pedro, we also witness the last moments of a pre-season electoral campaign. The city is still adorned with posters and banners with questions to the ruling PUP – Peoples United Party: “Why was the cemetery land sold? or “Where did the money provided by the international community to recover from the damage of the hurricanes go?”.

On another day, a small crowd of PUP militants and sympathizers came to a halt waving flags, dancing and chanting slogans and chants in support of the party and its candidate. On foot and in golf carts, the main arteries were covered on a circuit that would end with the official submission of the application. Then, it was the turn of the UDP – United Democratic Party, whose much more modest procession, joined, without any problem, the people of the PUP, near the entrance to the Municipal Assembly.

There seems to be a general fair game that guarantees continued fraternization and political stability. The fact that the island, like the rest of the country, does not have valuable raw materials, or investment power, contributes to the ambition to be restrained and the Machiavellian dictators who ruin so many other nations do not emerge. Around here, only one thing is more respected and valued than democracy: the reef barrier. Any conversation leads to the favorite topic of the inhabitants of Ambergris. As with a young employee we met at a diving agency: – “The barrier reef is all we have, friends. We have to protect her like a child!” When they meet, Sanpedrenses tirelessly exchange their latest diving experiences in the different areas of the barrier. Every night, around the national beer – Belikin – or during the endless barbecues in the bars of Front Street, they discuss, in detail, the state of a certain coral stock or where they detected the biggest shoals of barracudas or basking sharks that day. . At one point, we heard two of them proudly report that an American yacht had been fined for running aground and destroying a few meters of reef.

Foreigners can even take more and more portions of the island from them, but at the barrier…not that. Nobody touches the barrier. 

south of Belize

The Strange Life in the Black Caribbean Sun

On the way to Guatemala, we see how the proscribed existence of the Garifuna people, descendants of African slaves and Arawak Indians, contrasts with that of several much more airy bathing areas.

Cahuita, Costa Rica

Dreadlocked Costa Rica

Traveling through Central America, we explore a Costa Rican coastline as much as the Caribbean. In Cahuita, Pura Vida is inspired by an eccentric faith in Jah and a maddening devotion to cannabis.
Corn Islands - Islas del Maíz , Nicaragua

pure caribbean

Perfect tropical settings and genuine local life are the only luxuries available in the so-called Corn Islands or Corn Islands, an archipelago lost in the Central American confines of the Caribbean Sea.
Antigua (Antilles), Guatemala

Hispanic Guatemala, the Antigua Fashion

In 1743, several earthquakes razed one of the most charming pioneer colonial cities in the Americas. Antigua has regenerated but preserves the religiosity and drama of its epic-tragic past.
Lion, Elephants, PN Hwange, Zimbabwe
Safari
PN Hwange, Zimbabwe

The Legacy of the Late Cecil Lion

On July 1, 2015, Walter Palmer, a dentist and trophy hunter from Minnesota killed Cecil, Zimbabwe's most famous lion. The slaughter generated a viral wave of outrage. As we saw in PN Hwange, nearly two years later, Cecil's descendants thrive.
Hikers on the Ice Lake Trail, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 7th - Braga - Ice Lake, Nepal

Annapurna Circuit – The Painful Acclimatization of the Ice Lake

On the way up to the Ghyaru village, we had a first and unexpected show of how ecstatic the Annapurna Circuit can be tasted. Nine kilometers later, in Braga, due to the need to acclimatize, we climbed from 3.470m from Braga to 4.600m from Lake Kicho Tal. We only felt some expected tiredness and the increase in the wonder of the Annapurna Mountains.
Architecture & Design
Castles and Fortresses

A Defending World: Castles and Fortresses that Resist

Under threat from enemies from the end of time, the leaders of villages and nations built castles and fortresses. All over the place, military monuments like these continue to resist.
Full Dog Mushing
Adventure
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.
Correspondence verification
Ceremonies and Festivities
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
Frederikstad-Saint-Croix-American-Virgin-Islands-Freedom
Cities
Frederiksted, Saint Cross, US Virgin Islands

The Emancipation City of the Danish West Indies

If Christiansted established itself as the capital and main commercial center of the island of Saint Croix, the “sister” of the leeward side, Frederiksted had its civilizational apogee when there was the revolt and subsequent liberation of the slaves that ensured the colony's prosperity.
Beverage Machines, Japan
Meal
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Garranos gallop across the plateau above Castro Laboreiro, PN Peneda-Gerês, Portugal
Culture
Castro Laboreiro, Portugal  

From Castro de Laboreiro to the Rim of the Peneda – Gerês Range

We arrived at (i) the eminence of Galicia, at an altitude of 1000m and even more. Castro Laboreiro and the surrounding villages stand out against the granite monumentality of the mountains and the Planalto da Peneda and Laboreiro. As do its resilient people who, sometimes handed over to Brandas and sometimes to Inverneiras, still call these stunning places home.
Sport
Competitions

Man: an Ever Tested Species

It's in our genes. For the pleasure of participating, for titles, honor or money, competitions give meaning to the world. Some are more eccentric than others.
Devils Marbles, Alice Springs to Darwin, Stuart hwy, Top End Path
Traveling
Alice Springs to Darwin, Australia

Stuart Road, on its way to Australia's Top End

Do Red Center to the tropical Top End, the Stuart Highway road travels more than 1.500km lonely through Australia. Along this route, the Northern Territory radically changes its look but remains faithful to its rugged soul.
Ethnic
Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Naghol: Bungee Jumping without Modern Touches

At Pentecost, in their late teens, young people launch themselves from a tower with only lianas tied to their ankles. Bungee cords and harnesses are inappropriate fussiness from initiation to adulthood.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

Torshavn, Faroe Islands, rowing
History
Tórshavn, Faroe Islands

Thor's Faroese Port

It has been the main settlement in the Faroe Islands since at least 850 AD, the year in which Viking settlers established a parliament there. Tórshavn remains one of the smallest capitals in Europe and the divine shelter of about a third of the Faroese population.
Islands
Hailuoto Island, Finland

Fishing for Truly Fresh Fish

Sheltered from unwanted social pressures, the islanders of Hailuoto they know how to sustain themselves. Under the icy sea of ​​Bothnia they capture precious ingredients for the restaurants of Oulu, in mainland Finland.
Passengers on the frozen surface of the Gulf of Bothnia, at the base of the "Sampo" icebreaker, Finland
Winter White
Kemi, Finland

It's No "Love Boat". Breaks the Ice since 1961

Built to maintain waterways through the most extreme arctic winter, the icebreaker Sampo” fulfilled its mission between Finland and Sweden for 30 years. In 1988, he reformed and dedicated himself to shorter trips that allow passengers to float in a newly opened channel in the Gulf of Bothnia, in clothes that, more than special, seem spacey.
Almada Negreiros, Roça Saudade, Sao Tome
Literature
Saudade, São Tomé, São Tomé and Principe

Almada Negreiros: From Saudade to Eternity

Almada Negreiros was born in April 1893, on a farm in the interior of São Tomé. Upon discovering his origins, we believe that the luxuriant exuberance in which he began to grow oxygenated his fruitful creativity.
deep valley, terraced rice, batad, philippines
Nature
Batad, Philippines

The Terraces that Sustain the Philippines

Over 2000 years ago, inspired by their rice god, the Ifugao people tore apart the slopes of Luzon. The cereal that the indigenous people grow there still nourishes a significant part of the country.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
The Sounds, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Natural Parks
Fiordland, New Zealand

The Fjords of the Antipodes

A geological quirk made the Fiordland region the rawest and most imposing in New Zealand. Year after year, many thousands of visitors worship the sub-domain slashed between Te Anau and Milford Sound.
UNESCO World Heritage
Nikko, Japan

Nikko, Toshogu: the Shrine and Mausoleum of the Tokugawa Shogun

A unavoidable historical and architectural treasure of Japan, Nikko's Toshogu Shrine honors the most important Japanese shogun, mentor of the Japanese nation: Tokugawa Ieyasu.
aggie gray, Samoa, South Pacific, Marlon Brando Fale
Characters
Apia, Western Samoa

The Host of the South Pacific

She sold burguês to GI's in World War II and opened a hotel that hosted Marlon Brando and Gary Cooper. Aggie Gray passed away in 2. Her legacy lives on in the South Pacific.
Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, South Pacific, coral reef
Beaches
Viti levu, Fiji

Islands on the edge of Islands

A substantial part of Fiji preserves the agricultural expansions of the British colonial era. In the north and off the large island of Viti Levu, we also came across plantations that have only been named for a long time.
Religion
Helsinki, Finland

The Pagan Passover of Seurasaari

In Helsinki, Holy Saturday is also celebrated in a Gentile way. Hundreds of families gather on an offshore island, around lit fires to chase away evil spirits, witches and trolls
Back in the sun. San Francisco Cable Cars, Life Ups and Downs
On Rails
San Francisco, USA

San Francisco Cable Cars: A Life of Highs and Lows

A macabre wagon accident inspired the San Francisco cable car saga. Today, these relics work as a charm operation in the city of fog, but they also have their risks.
Police intervention, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel
Society
Jaffa, Israel

Unorthodox protests

A building in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, threatened to desecrate what ultra-Orthodox Jews thought were remnants of their ancestors. And even the revelation that they were pagan tombs did not deter them from the contestation.
Daily life
Arduous Professions

the bread the devil kneaded

Work is essential to most lives. But, certain jobs impose a degree of effort, monotony or danger that only a few chosen ones can measure up to.
hippopotami, chobe national park, botswana
Wildlife
Chobe NP, Botswana

Chobe: A River on the Border of Life with Death

Chobe marks the divide between Botswana and three of its neighboring countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. But its capricious bed has a far more crucial function than this political delimitation.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.
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