Return to Belize

Getting to Belize

It has been just over 5 years since the last time I was in Belize exploring Cay Caulker with my sister and parents. I remember the excitement of arriving in a new country and heading out to an island. Belize is known for its coastlines, beaches, and beautiful islands. While visiting last time we did take a trip back to the mainland to do some excursions such as Cave Tubing, Ziplining, and visiting a Mayan Ruin Site. While I always enjoy spending time on a beach in the sun or snorkeling in the national preserved waters, there is something enticing about the jungles of Belize. This time around is all about the inland experiences that Belize has to offer.

ATL to BZE

The trip started with an early wake-up call to head to the airport around 4 am. After arriving and dropping off a bag, it was time for some coffee and breakfast. Lilli and I headed to the Club at ATL, which hadn’t quite opened yet, but we ended up being the first people in. We grabbed some coffee, a mimosa, and some breakfast with the 20ish minutes we had before heading to our gate. One of my favorite parts of traveling is access to Priority Pass lounges through my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. If you plan to do a lot of air travel, I highly recommend this card. With some caffeine and champagne, it was time to hit the tarmac.

Our first leg was from ATL to HOU, with a brief 2-hour layover before boarding our final flight into Belize City. It is amazing how quickly a layover can feel when you have a good travel partner. After landing in Houston, Lilli and I headed over to the international section and found our gate. We realized we had been up for almost 7 hours at that point and were feeling famished. Chick-fil-A to the rescue with some much-needed caffeine and protein. We planned out content goals for the week and started filming some BTS content to upload to our stories. Want to see where in the world we are right now? Check out my Instagram Story or Lilli’s Story to see what adventures we might be on while you are reading this.

Time for our second leg of this trip to Belize. We got boarded and settled in. This flight only had 10 extra seats and we lucked out without anyone in our row. So we got to stretch out and relax. Once arrived we passed through immigration and were onto our first night Airbnb near Belize City. If you are traveling to Belize, they now offer online immigration paperwork to save time once you land. It was simple to do and made the process all that much easier.

Belize – Night 1

After making it through customs and immigration at the Belize City airport, it was time to head to our Airbnb for the first night. This stop is only for one night before heading west to Cristo Rey Village on our second day, so we wanted to at least see a little of the area. We stayed in Ladyville, which is only about 10 minutes from the airport which made it really convenient. Our host for the night mentioned that anyone from the village would know how to get to the house. Coincidentally, the taxi driver we got at the airport was from the neighborhood and knew exactly where to drop us off. He also recommended a local “fast food” option just down the street. Fast food in Belize is not what you think of as fast food in other parts of the world. Usually it is a locally owned operation adjacent to someone’s home, which is really convenient while traveling.

After getting settled into the Airbnb for the afternoon, it was time to decide how to spend our evening. After doing some googling and we decided against catching a cab into Belize City because we weren’t sure there would be much to do. Our host had recommended a place called Di Bruwry, which turns out to be the home of Belikin Beer, and it was less than 1.5 miles away. So, after spending most of the day sitting on the plane, we decided to walk to the Belikin brewery to try it out.

Testing Out Di Bruwry

The last time I visited Belize, I really enjoyed the Belikin beer, so when I heard that their factory and brewery was only a couple of miles down the road, I knew that I had to go check it out! It was a nice day out, so walking down seemed like a great idea, and then we would look to get a ride back to our Airbnb at the end of the night. Although there weren’t many sidewalks to use, we didn’t have any issues walking to the brewery.

While enjoying some of the beer, one of the brewers was working on a new batch that had some fruit add-ins. We started visiting with him and once he was off of work, we invited him to join us and learn more about his journey brewing beer in Belize. Overall, we had a great time at Di Bruwry and would recommend it to beer lovers visiting Belize. After we finished our beers, it was time to head back to our rental so that we could call it a night after a long day.

Walking Belize at Night

Unfortunately, the person who we thought we had pre-arranged a pickup with ghosted us at the brewery, so we decided to walk back. There were street lights the entire way, and at no point did we feel unsafe. Although it was a bit annoying that our driver flaked on us, we made it back to the rental without any issues. And even better, the local food vendor was still open while we walked by so we ordered some dinner to have it delivered to our place. Like I mentioned before, the locals know the owners of the rental and they knew we were guests. The fresh fried chicken was AMAZING!

Next Stop: Cristo Rey!

Our adventure in Belize continues as we work our way into western Belize through the capital city of Belmopan, past San Ignacio, and into the village of Cristo Rey to Lucky Dreamer Lodge! Be sure to check back for updates on our excursions, cultural experiences, great food, and more! If you want to know where I am right now, head over to my Instagram to see if I have any stories updated with my current adventures! We will see you in the next post!