Although the sunset was obscured completely by clouds creating a dark-evolving blue sky streaked with bursts of the remains of the days white light, at least eight people sat at out on the dock on the back of the island watching until it was too dark to see most anything.  Then we shuffled off barefoot through the white sands of the streets to finish off another perfect day.  Even a bad sunset in Belize was an event worthy of attendance.

Most of Central America is an acquired taste; its rugged beauty more palatable to true travelers and adventurers than vacationers.  Vacationers looking for relaxation and pampering should go further north to Cancun or Cozumel leaving Central America to those who appreciate it for its simplicity.  And simplicity is part of its charm. 

Belize, Guatemala and Honduras is a relatively easy and inexpensive trip for those willing to set aside the American definition of comfort in favor of postcard landscapes and center-of-attention stories for years to come.  Just a little research, an open mind and itinerary and a love of adventure could send you out on just such a trip.

Accommodations

I may not be the typical traveler, I value experience over the American notion of quality and I prefer to spend money accordingly.  For instance, for three weeks of travel (20 nights), I spent less than $200 total across the three different countries.  While some of you may be drooling at the thought of a beachside cabana for that price, I should note that none of the places I stayed had air-conditioning, some had no hot water and most had shared bathrooms of varying degrees of cleanliness and none were on the water.  But it was a room with a bed and that was all I needed.   I could have spent less and given up more, but I found that the rates were appropriate for my needs and tastes. 

Most of the towns and villages where I stayed had one luxury hotel option (again relative) and many on the lower end.  If you stayed at the luxury hotel, you would receive the same treatment you would in most state side hotels, yes maam or yes sir or have a nice day but you wouldnt get to interact with the owners and proprietors like normal people.  Many of the proprietors may have built the boarding house by hand or live downstairs or next door.  My favorite was the Hacienda Tijax in Rio Dulce, Guatemala.  To get there, Tijax would send a boat across the cove to meet you at the dock near the bus station.  The room itself had thatched walls and was above a restaurant.  It was the first time I slept under a mosquito net and woke to the smell of batter on the griddle and dark roasted coffee.  There were cabanas available but as a single traveler, they were more room than I needed.

Food

Dont go to Central America for the food.  I would encourage you to try it but I believe that since so many of these people are eating just for survival and are happy to have the food, flavor is a secondary concern if at all.  Out of a sheer sense of adventure, in Guatemala I often tried the plato tipicas and was usually disappointed.  The breakfast basically consisted of scrambled eggs, beans, tortillas, plantains, cream and coffee.  While it may sound good, the eggs were often runny, the beans pasty and the coffee dull.  I did manage to luck out in Flores, Guatemala and had the best spaghetti carbonara finished off with fried bananas with vanilla ice cream and honey.  Oddly, I had ordered it only because it was the cheapest item on the menu. 

The food in Belize was far better due in part to the proliferation of Chinese restaurants throughout the country.  I had really good Chinese food on more than one occasion.  On the beach in Caye Caulker, Belize, there was an abundance of good seafood straight from the grill (as well as chicken) usually basted with a jerk or barbecue sauce.  Since I spent nearly a week on the small island, I tried a number of the restaurants.  My favorites were Marins barbecue chicken (which I had for lunch on my dive boat), Rasta Pasta which served coconut shrimp with a pineapple barbecue sauce and the spicy jerk chicken at the Gridiron.  Each dish was accompanied by rice or beans or slaw. 

Honduras was a return to the basic flavorless foods typical to Central America.  I will comment on the two pieces of fried chicken for less than a dollar at one of the restaurants I visited in my short time there.  Definitely try the fried chicken but not the kind you get off the streets.  Although the street vendors chicken looks incredibly fresh and good, the thought off getting fried chicken from a Mayan woman pushing a hotdog cart fryer is enough to make you loose confidence.

Activities

Having been to Central America before (Costa Rica) I had already experienced some of the lush jungles and volcanic peaks that make Guatemala a popular destination for adventure travelers.  There was horseback riding up to the peaks of several volcanoes in the southwest corner of the country but I was not as interested as I was in just lounging in the Parque Centrale in Antigua, Guatemala soaking up the culture and the broad mix of people populating the old colonial city with cobblestone streets.  Language classes were going for $12 a day and although I didnt sign up for one, I got a portion of one from a teacher I met while lounging in the park one afternoon.  We spent most of the afternoon together and during that time I learned a bit of Spanish (which is good considering I only knew the very basics of communication) and learned a great deal about his home town. 

I would be remiss not to mention the Mayan ruins of Tikal as the major draw of Central America.  The ruins present a unique mix of unspoiled jungle, massive, well-maintained temples and wildlife beyond that of many of the worlds best preserves.   The nearby town of Flores was a nice place to relax after spending much of the day at Tikal.  While I neglected to take a formal tour, I did heed the advice of my fellow travelers and I got to Tikal just before dawn when the jungle was alive with sights and sounds, something that is not as evident in the later hours of the day.

The mainland towns of Belize offer great hikes and spectacular caving options and I took advantage of those in the western town of San Ignacio.  The Achtun Caves were restricted access and thus were better preserved than their counterparts.  The entrance to the caves, which were located in the jungle, was a pool of very cold water that required a short swim.  Once inside, the hike often plunged us into chest-high water until we reached the upper chamber where remains of Mayan rituals still littered the floors.  From there, we hiked the rest of the way barefoot so we would be more cautious of our steps and avoid the skeletons and pottery that remained calcified into the stone under us.

On the coast, Belize offers two main activities, scuba diving and snorkeling.  Despite its lack of diversity, visitors can remain enthralled with just these two outlets for their entire stay.  I am a certified diver and can say with ease that even after seven dives around the Cayes, I could have gone again and again.   The Belizean reef is the second largest barrier reef in the world and provides a wealth of sea-life from giant sea fans and bright coral to colorful parrotfish and agile nurse sharks.  If you could think of something you would like to see underwater, I am sure I saw it, including swimming with Southern Stingrays and alongside giant loggerhead turtles. 

My stay in Honduras was brief, but the lush green countryside was worth the visit just to sit and stare a while.  I also visited the well-groomed Copan ruins archeological site and enjoyed getting the lesson in Mayan history as told by its guides interpreting the glyphs that decorated stones all over the park.

Environment

Visit Guatemala now.  The razing and burning of vegetation across the country is alarming and will leave a vast wasteland within the next ten to twenty years unless it is slowed or stopped.  Its hills are already barren and awaiting the planting of new crops, which may be necessary for their survival but selfishly is detrimental to its tourism industry.  The burning smell is omni-present and I woke many mornings with a sore throat that I attribute to the slash and burn environment.

Belize is a mixture.  On the western interior, the hillsides were not as lush as expected but the rainy season was still a week or two away at the time of my visit.  The rains bring with them the expected coloration but also the dangers of flash floods in its nearly dry mountain river beds.  Along the coast, palm trees lean with the ever-changing winds and hang out over the azure waters.  The whole of the beach is a study in blue, a palette of all imaginable shades of the color from the waters to the skies, all accented and brought out by the white sand beaches.  And just a short drive from the beach, along the Southern Highway, various groves stretch out across miles of green mountain.

Despite my lack of time and travel within the borders of Honduras, I found it to be the most beautiful of all three.  The mountains of the northern sections of the country were rugged but colorful.  Roads wound through the hills providing unobstructed vistas of the valleys below.  Mists settled in the mornings and provided a mysterious shroud similar to that of the Scottish moors. 

People

On the whole, all of the people were quite friendly and helpful.  Since I speak only choppy basic Spanish consisting mostly of donde esta el bano? and no hablo mucho castellano, I suppose the people were more than patient with me.  Most continued to speak to me in Spanish hoping that I would catch on and when I didnt they tried other ways.  If there is anywhere in the world you want to go without knowing the language, Central America may be one of the best. 

At one point, I was even refunded money from a hotel after the proprietor realized I was alone.  He had evidently believed that a guide was traveling with me and was honest enough to refund two of the seven dollars I had paid.  When the power went out, as happened several times over all three countries, one of the guest-house owners was quick to bring me a candle. 

It would be hard to view most of these people as the menacing thieves that some travel books may make them out to be in order to warn travelers of the potential for danger (which exists everywhere in the world.)

Getting Around

Transportation for me was a large part of the adventure.  As I had no itinerary, there were no tickets or formal schedules for me to follow.  Early on I learned that buses were the primary form of transportation and that there were only a few main roads throughout the country.  This was evident when I would meet up with the same travelers time and again over the course of the entire three weeks.  Buses travel early, often starting at five oclock in the morning or perhaps even earlier.  The benefit was that you would reach your destination with enough daylight left to find a room, have a meal, hike around and find your bearings or make plans for the following day. 

There were three different levels of bus and each was supposed to represent a different level of comfort.  The chicken bus is the low end and so called because you may be seated next to a live chicken if you get a seat at all.  It is only a few dollars if even that much to most destinations.  The direct or express buses are more likely old touring buses and offer slightly more comfort and padded seats.  The misconception here is that direct and express are defined exactly as they are in the United States.  They will still make stops, they will still pick up random and apparently stray passengers and hardly concern themselves with getting to a destination more quickly than the chicken buses.  And despite hearing about the third level, the ejecutivo, I never saw one.  I chalked each bus trip up to part of the adventure.

A more expensive, often more comfortable and always faster option was the shuttle.  Many tour operators ran mini-vans and buses to near and even some far flung locations.  I used these when I didnt think I could handle a crowded bus for the time period.  These shuttles were more intimate and it was easier to make friends, often you would find a dinner companion on the tour bus and a travel partner for a few days. 

Coming Home

While I didnt exactly get a lot of rest, I did manage to read nine books over the course of three weeks.  Bus time and slow days allowed me to lounge in the sun with nothing but a story in front of me.  I didnt go to Central America for a vacation, I went for the experience.  Since I have traveled before and have also gone without itinerary before, I found the trip to just what I wanted.  It was an organic experience, changing upon the recommendations of my fellow travelers and my own moods as they changed from day to day.  In a simple universe like that of Central America, changes are easy and help provide more adventure. 

My advice to travelers looking to arrange a Central America trip is to look into all of your options before you go, but dont decide on any until you get there.  Fellow travelers often relied on my knowledge of the countries and travel options to get them from place to place, not because I had been there but because I had done my research.  Figure out what you enjoy, and pursue it. 

If you are looking to sit on a beach and have a bartender continue to ply you with sweet margaritas, you should have fun on the resort coast of Mexico, but leave Central America to the thrill-seeker who wants to indulge themselves with the charming simplicities of adventure.  Its rugged beauty may leave you with a lingering and acquired taste.