The Biltmore Plaza is one of the few first class hotels to be found in Belize City, with the others being: the Radisson Ft. George and the Ramada Royal Reef. You can't go wrong booking into any of these hotels, should you wish to stay in Belize City. Of course, all the guide books will tell you that Belize City isn't worth more than a half day's look, and I certainly agree with them! It may be the commercial centre of the country, but it is dirty, smelly, and crime-ridden. We had a taxi driver give us a 2 hour tour of the city during the morning of the day we were leaving Belize for home, and I would say that is more than enough. The only district that is safe for tourists is the Fort George area, where the Radisson and Ramada, as well as the foreign embassies are located. However, there is not much to see or do for tourists. The Guest House and Restaurant located in the Embassy District represents the typical colonial architecture to be found in the city. Belize City is built along the ocean shoreline mostly over Haulover Creek, and reputedly was the home of some infamous Caribbean pirates in the last century.  Belize was also a former colony of Britain - formerly called British Honduras.

The first night we arrived in Belize., we had a very nice Italian buffet at the Radisson Ft. George Hotel in their beautiful first class dining room. Excellent buffet, first class service, and the coffee that we had was superb, fresh-made Americano. I had my 1st Belikan beer of the trip (draft) - a very good, light lager. Recommended: both the beer and the Radisson.

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Here are three small illustrations of Belizian quirkiness, which any traveller to Belize must learn to adapt to.

1. At the Radisson Ft. George, buffet (described above), we spotted among the sumptuous pastas and seafood what looked to be toasted cheese sandwiches. We just had to ask if they really were toasted cheese sandwiches. The chef proudly stated, that they were indeed, however they were made with jack cheese, and they had anchovies in them...I passed!

2. As I mentioned above, on our last morning in Belize, we hired a taxi driver to take us on a short tour of Belize City. What I didn't mention was our trip back from the tour to our hotel. After picking us up at our last stop of the morning, our taxi driver weaved through the back streets of Belize City and stopped to pick up a friend and his son. Apparently they were going to a soccer game, and had to catch the bus, so he decided to give them a ride to the bus stop. The fact that he had a fare in the car didn't faze him a bit. Of course, the soccer fans had to stop along the way a couple of times to stock up on food to take to the game.

We had enjoyed the tour in the morning and found the driver so friendly, so we agreed to hire him for the trip to the airport just after noon. So instead of going after more fares in the hour or two he had until we were checking out, he simply snoozed on a couch in our hotel lobby and waited for us. Once we were (we thought) on our way to the airport, he decided to fill up with gas. Of course, the fact that he had a couple of free hours available previously to do this chore didn't occur to him. We certainly were not late for the flight, but quirky is a good description for these types of situations that you will undoubtedly find yourself in from time to time while travelling Belize.  He had just returned from buying a 1986 Maxima in Texas. It took him 4 days of driving to get the car back to Belize (he drove through Mexico). The car was for his wife.

3. Here is an excerpt from the guide book "The New Key to Belize" by Stacy Ritz: "Most taxi drivers are good public relations for Belize: They're friendly, knowledgeable and in a hurry when you need them to be.  Otherwise, they'll admonish you to slow way down, reminding that you are, after all, in Belize.

"Indeed, some of the most memorable Belize experiences are in taxis.  One American woman recalls how, in the middle of a trip, a driver asked for part of his fare in advance to buy his wife a chicken for dinner.  After a brief stop at the market, the woman spent the rest of the trip in the back seat with a clucking, flapping chicken."

So, relax, smile, sit back and enjoy it, for it will be soon enough when you are back home, where some jerk will cut you off on your drive to work!

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