Geography

Belize is a small country in Central America. In fact Norway is about 17 times as big as Belize. The country is bordered by Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean Sea. The highest mountain is Southern Maya Mountains with its 1124 meters.

Population

Belize has 320.000 inhabitants and this make the density 15 inhabitants per square km. To compare with Norway the density is 12.5 which tell us that the density is quite small.

Income

When we are talking about income we are thinking about the gross domestic product (GDP) per inhabitant in the country. In Norway we have one of the biggest GDP’s in the whole world with about 58.000 US dollar per inhabitant. Belize on the other hand are a pretty poor country compared to Norway with just 8.500 US dollar per inhabitant.

Largest city

The largest city in Belize is the earlier capital Belize City.

Language

Spanish is the most used language in Belize and the biggest mother tongue language in the country followed by Kriol and Maya Kek’chi and then English. Therefore, it’s kind of interesting that English is the official language in Belize.

Climate

The climate in Belize is tropical with rainforest and few desserts.

Industries/exports

In Belize the main industries and exports are garment production, food processing, tourism, construction and oil.

Wedding and family

Belizean marriages are mostly celebrated with church weddings and colorful receptions featuring food, drink and dance. But then, the most common family in Belize separated.      When the parents divorce, it is often the mother who takes care of the child. Sometimes the grandparents take care og the/them, with or without help from parents. Most Belizean families are living in houses made of concrete or wood, and with a construction so they can survive a fire or a flood. However, when the hurricane season approaching are many evacuating.

Food

Belizeans eat a wide variety of foods. Breakfast consists of bread and tortillas that are often homemade. It is eaten with various cheeses, different kinds of beans, various forms of eggs or cereal, topped by milk for younger ones and coffee or tea for adults. Eating breakfast is called “drinking tea”

Sports

The most common sports are soccer and basketball, and there is enthusiastic support for league teams formed since the early 1990s. Other sports enjoyed in Belize include volleyball, track and field, boxing, cycling, and softball, which all have established associations.

- Fridtjof

Today is our last day here in Belize. The plane leaves at 10.17. So the plans that we had aren’t feasible. Ex.: To go shopping in the City of Belize, or to visit the downtown in Belize City. But we got time enough to spend a few hours at the nearest beach, right beside the hotel. The sun was shining and we had a great time there. We played volleyball and got massage from some small Asian babes. It was awful. Suddenly a man came towards me; he said his name was Kenneth. And he was also a Norwegian. He told us to check out the downtown in Belize City, in his opinion it was really cool there, and there were a lot of cool stuff to buy. But in fact we hadn’t got the time to do that.

When we had packed our things and checked out of the hotel, we picked up a taxi. We knew that we had a lot of time left, so we decided to tell the taxi driver to drive through the downtown. The place was a bit worn. And it gave clear signs of the yearly hurricanes that sweep across the land. But even though the place looked like this, there was a great atmosphere and the streets were cozy.

After the sightseeing in the downtown we head for the airport. Everyone was agreed that we’ve had an excellent time her. That’s our end of a great journey in the English speaking country: Belize.

-Fridtjof

It’s the third day here in Belize and we’re going to scuba dive. No one of us have tried it before so we’re going to start off with a little practice in the pool. I guess it’s quite easy, and that everyone is going to learn how to do it very fast. After that, we’re up to some real diving. We’re supposed to drive out with a little boat and jump out in the water to, to see Ambergris Caye Reef, the second biggest reef in the world. When we’re done diving (which would take approximately an hour), I hope we’ve seen things we’ll never forget. This is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Later this night, we’re going to eat dinner at a fancy restaurant, before we’re going to a bar!

Today we’ve been on the beach for the most of the day, and the day has been superb!

We started off with some sunbathing, chilling and swimming at the beach. The beach itself was absolutely beautiful, probably one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been to! I’ve attached a video, so you could take a look yourself. Even though it was great to be at the beach, it wasn’t a lot of fun, so we decided to do some parasailing and to learn to surf.

The parasailing was awesome, we really got the opportunity to see Belize in another perspective. I realized how magnificent the country really is. If you don’t know what parasailing is, keep on reading! Parasailing is an activity where you are towed behind a boat or any other vehicle, while you’re attached to something which looks like a parachute. When the boat drives off, you get lifted into the air. When you’re up in the air you don’t have a lot of control over the parachute, but the things you see from up there; they’re just incredible!

Surfing was also awesome! Even though our “mentor” had to repeat all the steps a few times, it turned out to be a lot of fun. We even got the chance to ride some big waves (they might not have been so big, but they sure felt huge). The water was warm and comfortable, so it didn’t matter if we fell off the boards.

Short summary; an absolutely incredible day!

☼ Brage

History
Before any European even had dreamt about this country, the Maya civilization spread itself over Belize, from about 1500 years BC, and didn’t stop flourish before about 2300 years later. The first Europeans didn’t arrive Belize before the early 1500’s. The first ones to settle down from Europe were English and Scottish buccaneers, in 1638. This period was characterized by large-scale piracy and conflicts with the natives and Spanish “neighbors”.

During the 1700s and 1800s, Belize became more like a British colony, and in 1862 it became a British Crown Colony (which means it was ruled by a governor appointed by the Crown and, later the Colonial Office) named British Honduras. In 1964, Belize became a self-governing colony, but the country didn’t get full independence before September, 1981. They changed their name from British Honduras to Belize in 1973.

Politics
Belize is a constitutional monarchy, with the British monarch as its head of state. We’ve got the same kind of monarchy back home in Norway, the only difference is that we haven’t got the British monarch as our head of state. Therefore, Belize and Norway isn’t that different (if you look away from the weather)

Belize City, 1914

Belize City, 2008

You’ll find more information about Belize in the category; “information“
☼ Brage

sources used:    wikipedia.com, belize.com

Haha, just kidding !

☼ Maren and Christine

From the airport we took a bus to the hotel, even though it would have been much easier for us to take a cab. After the long journey we were all very tired and had to get some sleep before we could get out for our first dinner in Belize. We had a really nice dinner at 5 stars restaurant.

☼ Maren

Situation: Five persons go on a fortnight’s holiday to the English-speaking world. Each group visits one country. Their plan is to visit tourist sights and learn about the county’s culture and history.

So, basicly this is our groups travelblog, and we’ll update the blog with information about the country Belize, pictures, maps and our experiences from the holiday!

☼ Brage