Belize City and Harbor

Belize City is an interesting place to visit in Central America. It is also the largest city of the country,  but not the capital. (the capital is Belmopan).

** I uploaded some of this pictures to my Print on Demand galleries. If interested, please click on the links to see all the versions and options

The city is also the gateway to Ambergris Caye and other tropical islands in the Caribbean Sea. This is the reason why the harbor is so popular.

All sorts of tourists from all over the world of every budget and interest are blending in to the already very interesting mix of population, cultures and lifestyles.

The Harbor and Marinas

The harbor is a busy picturesque place with a lot of things to see. However, for many, this is just a transit point. Sailboats and marina in Belize City harbor, ready to bring tourists to the Caribbean sea and surrounding islands. I got inspired and added a painterly look to my travel photograph.

Hundreds of boats, of all kinds and sizes are carrying merchandise and people through the three canals.They connect the core of the city to the sea and further on to the islands.

The canals cross the city as waterways for small embarkations transporting people and merchandise.

The City

This yellow one is quite a large metal bridge. It’s a swing bridge – “the only functioning, manually operated swing bridge in the world.” according to Wikipedia.

After taking a jungle tour to visit the Lamanai Mayan ruins, we couldn’t miss the main city – and explore it for about three days. I took quite a few photos in this place and you can find more in my main gallery. The harbor definitely deserves special attention, but there is more to see…

The old British colonial architecture blends with the Caribbean style and tropical vegetation.

While wandering on the streets, I saw this scene of a man sitting in front of his apartment window, looking out. I asked him permission to take a photo and he agreed. I was motivated by a photography contest I was participating and I’m proud to say that I got the 3-rd price 🙂 Here it is – you can see it in my art gallery collection at Fine Art America:

Downtown

The city’s downtown and it’s harbor reside on the South side of the River. Here is where you can find governmental buildings, hotels and other establishments built in the time of the English colonists.

Facts and lifestyles

In case you didn’t know, the official language in Belize is English. In the spoken language though, they mix it with Spanish and native dialects. The neighborhoods also blend into each other…

While exploring many neighborhoods, I stumbled upon this house and observed things. It really captures the way people are living in this city. I called it “Everything is beautiful in its own way“, and made a post by its own with it 🙂

Travel

I took this picture below from the hotel’s terrace you were staying in. BTW: don’t expect to go there directly to find your night host. I highly recommend that you go with a reputable online booking website. Also, make sure and read some reviews before you make a reservation..

The city is not a safe place, especially after the sun goes down. I called this image below “Murder in Paradise” … Fortunately the car was not ours 🙂 As a matter of fact, we did have our rental car broken into. That happened however in Guatemala. – They liked the old cheap radio 🙂 Make sure you always pay a little extra to have full insurance – it can save you big money!

However, Belize is a travel destination you should not ignore on your way down through Central America.
This is a picture of the harbor at sunset, coming back from a Caribbean Island boat trip we took. I got inspired again and gave it a painterly look

Belize City Harbor at sunset

I also made a digital paint of this harbor scene, available in my art print galleries – click on it to see a larger format:

Stay safe and enjoy your Belize travel! 🙂