Market in Belize City by junge1
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Description
This market is on Cemetery Road near the Collet Canal in Belize City. I didn't buy anything there, but I went to a small American-style supermarket near the hotel to buy some items and the prices were exorbitant. Cheap California wine, that sells for $1.99 or $2.99 at Wal-Mart, was $15.50 US per 750ml bottle. The lowest priced local wine was $7.50 US and it was on a par with Ripple or Thunderbird, the stuff we got drunk on as airmen in the '60s.
Since Belize is a tropical country I figured there would be all sorts of tropical fruit available. Nada! I saw a pint of strawberries in this supermarket with no price on it, and they looked really good. So I asked for a price - $9.50 US - for a quart of strawberries imported from Mexico. I found out later that this market caters to the middle class - no excuse for those prices though.
Gasoline was just under $5.00 US for a US gallon -$2 more than in the United States.
Going south to Punta Gorda there are miles and miles of orange groves, the land hacked out of the rain forest. The oranges are large and greenish looking, but they are not being exported. Two plants process them into concentrate that is exported. There are also large banana plantations, also hacked out of the rain forest, which are irrigated by sprinkler systems. Bananas are being exported.
Oil, found near the Guatemalan border, is trucked to the port city of Dangriga and from there shipped via tankers to foreign countries.
The hotel where I stayed was the Best Western Biltmore. I think they added the 'Biltmore' to the name to justify the prices they charged. It was an older hotel, clean and good service, but the food was nothing out of the ordinary and over-priced, and the whole atmosphere was pretentious.
Beer at the hotel was $4 US in the restaurant, $4.50 US in the bar. Across the street, the same local beer, Belikin, which is pretty good, cost $1.50 US.
Breakfast buffet was $15 US. In the United States when we stayed at the Best Western or Holiday Inn Express these things are thrown in for free. That's why I ate across the street in the Turkish restaurant, or Chinese, or local food when on a trip.
Belize has the highest energy costs in the region and prices are higher there than in most of the other countries in the region.
To sum it up. I enjoyed this trip, especially the Maya ruins and the rain forest. Belize is the least densely populated country in Central America and has the highest rate of remaining rain forest, about 40% of the total land area.
But the coastal area is swampy and flat, and looks much like the Florida Everglades, and the rain forest is not easily accessible. The mountainous areas are mainly in the southern part along the Guatemalan border and bare top 1,000m.
If one is into snorkeling or scuba diving Belize has some of the premier spots on Earth. It has the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere. Unfortunately I don't snorkle nor scuba dive.
This picture was taken on 24 November 2010.
Thank you for viewing and commenting,
Sig...
Comments (23)
blinkings
This must be such an interesting place to explore, especially the diving part!
jocko500
real good photo of this place. happy you had fun down there.
Faemike55
the snorkling sounds like fun Great looking market - wonderful shot, Sig!
lior
Richardphotos
always nice to see so many different colors and texures
ragouc
Cool shot.
SSoffia
that wonder of color and wonderful scene!
drifterlee
Makes me hungry.
auntietk
What a wonderful capture of this local market! It looks like they had a lot of tasty produce for sale. Fresh veggies are always so tempting! Checking the currency converter, I see that 1.00 USD is equal to 1.95 BZD ... so it seems to me like the hotel kitchen is the one cashing in on the exchange rate! By all rights, your US dollar should have gone further in Belize, and indeed, the price of beer in the local joint bears that out. The tourist places are the ones making sure you're paying full price for everything! Yikes! Very interesting information. It was nice to see it written down here, in addition to having heard you talk about it. I have a clearer picture now. Thanks!
bmac62
Great write-up...and an excellent market image. But no fruit to speak of...strange isn't it. I suspect we'll not be rushing to Belize anytime soon:)
bazza
Nice shot of this market but the prices there leave me thinking ours here aren't so bad after all..
flavia49
beautiful and colorful!!
sandra46
wonderful! superb image!
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Minda
love to go to the market ,it remind me of my country ,beautiful capture nice write up sig..
kgb224
Stunning capture my friend.
VEDES
VERY BEAUTIFUL!!!I OPENED THE GOOGLE AND SHOW HOW IS BELIZE TOWN.ITS GRAPHIC PLACE AND TOO LONG FROM ATHENS IN GREEK.I WISH YOU HAPPY NEW YEAR MY FRIEND.
lyron
Cool capture!!
farmerC
Shining.
flaviok
Um texto magnifico, com uma excelente captura meu amigo, aplausos (5)
Pierrot_Lunaire
Very nice capture!!
carlx
Excellent and colorful market scape, Sig!!! Tasty, too!!!
npauling
A very interesting country to visit and this market looks to have a great selection of food. Prices sound a bit like ours, expensive. An excellent capture.
danapommet
This is a wonderful capture Sig but the narrative was shocking - to say the least. As long as you had a good time then the rest doesn't matter. Dana