Before I left Chetumal to cross the border and head to Belize City, I had heard a few things. Belize was supposed to be expensive, English-speaking and, above all, Belize City was supposed to be dangerous.
The first two things are completely true. For such a small country surrounded by poor to very poor countries (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras), Belize is damn expensive. Even for Europeans. That was one of the reasons I knew I wouldn’t be staying long 😀 And it really is the only country in entire Latin America whose official language is English. When you’ve been travelling exclusively in Spanish-speaking countries for over a year and also speak Spanish fluently, it’s extremely strange. Personally, I basically had a linguistic culture shock. Because Belize works similarly to the other countries, but speaks completely differently and is also much more expensive than the surrounding countries. So, it was a bit like the world would be upside down and it really took me some time to get used to it 😀
Regarding the danger… I am generally somewhat sceptical about this stereotype, because Europeans say it about Mexico, Mexicans say it about Guatemala and the rest of Central America, and so it goes on and on. In fact, on my entire trip through Central America, Cuba and Mexico, there were only three places where I felt somewhat to very uncomfortable walking around with my camera. And Belize City is not one of those places. Of course I felt a slight sense of unease at the beginning, but I had been told beforehand that it was dangerous. So… you know 😀

This is how I perceived Belize City: relatively busy in the centre, quiet between the houses, mostly either friendly and welcoming or completely indifferent towards tourists (me) and quite small with a few beautiful corners. And lots of houses on stilts. That’s what I remember most clearly about Belize and different to the other Central American countries.

Go or not? I didn’t find Belize City particularly worth seeing, but I found my tour very ‘helpful’. Because it showed me that Belize City is completely okay 😊