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Monday, March 24th, 2008

Air Belize

Brendan

The Global Nomad

I pride myself on finding things to love about places others love to hate. As far as I’m concerned, every place has SOMEthing to offer, the secret is to find that thing and focus on it.

That having been said, I still haven’t found that thing for Belize City. My advice: get out. Preferably as soon as possible.

Buses in Belize are affordable, but if you can shell out just a little more, flying can be a very economical way to see parts of the country that might take too long to get to otherwise. Plus, most domestic flights can stop at Belize City’s international airport (BZE) as well, so you can easily get on your way as soon as you arrive.

(Important note: if you are pinching pennies but still want to fly, or are arriving by land, it is cheaper to fly from the tiny domestic terminal downtown. Not to mention if you are already in the city, you’ll save quite a bit on the taxi—about 20 bucks.)

As much you may be accustomed to planning and booking ahead, especially when it comes to air travel, you should get rid of this habit when it comes to flying in Belize (or Honduras for that matter). Flights are frequent, cheap and flexible; locals rarely book more than a day ahead and I have several times shown up at the airport and just hopped on the next flight without a problem.

Belize is also a great place to experience the fun of small airplane travel. Many times I have been able to hug the pilot from behind, and on my last flight a final passenger was able to squeeze on my flight by sitting in the co-pilot’s seat! There’s nothing quite like seeing a country from a small low-flying airplane.

Belize has two main domestic airlines: Tropic Air and Maya Island Air.

Also Note: there are both domestic and international departure taxes when flying out of BZE airport. At writing the domestic one was very cheap (no more than a dollar or two) but if you are flying internationally it is quite steep—about USD$35.

Whether you have to pay this or not depends on whether it has been buried in the price you paid for your ticket, and this depends on your airline. TACA for example had already included it in our tickets, but American Airlines had not. In this case you will have to pay this tax in US dollars on the spot. They do accept credit cards but will not accept Belize dollars.

If you can’t see it in the fine print breakdown of your ticket price, ask your airline. The other important message is that when you are leaving the country use up your Belize dollars before you go through security, as the duty free also only accepts US dollars, and you will only have beer and souvenirs to spend your remaining cash on!

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Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Skip the Potholes - Monteverde/Montezuma, Costa Rica

Brendan

The Global Nomad

A few years ago, when a Costa Rican presidential candidate made reference to his past success at halving the number of potholes in the country (in itself an indication of how much of an issue the road conditions are), the opposition retorted: “of course there are half as many potholes—every two small ones grew into one big one.”Alternative transport in Costa Rica makes even more sense once you’ve had some experience of the roads. If you can take a shortcut, do it.

Here are two great shortcuts between popular spots:

Arenal to Monteverde
The roads to the area around the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve are notorious for being some of the worst in the country. Many travellers combine it with a visit to the area around La Fortuna, at the base of Arenal Volcano. With a pesky active volcano and massive forest reserve in the way, the options for getting between the two are all pretty dire and involve lost teeth and sore bums. An excellent way to avoid the bumpy 3 ½ hour drive is to go by horseback. The views are excellent, it’s more adventurous than a bus and the only pollution comes from the back end of your horse. Plus, it’s eminently Costa Rican—this is cowboy country, don’t ya know. [See caveat re. route below.]
Montezuma to Jacó and beyond
At the tip of the Nicoya peninsula on the northwest coast is the ex-hippie hangout of Montezuma (nickname Montefuma; fumar = to smoke), a groovy little beach hangout that still has a love-in feel to it. Problem is, if you want to go anywhere south along the coast, you need to take a road northeast…to a ferry…then get to the bus station…to a bus that finally heads south along the Interamerican highway.

Look and a map and it’s obvious: the most sensible route is a straight line—by boat. Speedboats from Montezuma turn what could be a 4-5 hour slog to Jacó into a 1-hour tanning session. Bonus: you may get dolphins joining you for the ride.

There are a few outfits that do the Arenal to Monteverde ride but beware: there have been stories of dangerous routes along steep mountain paths, inferior equipment and horses that are less than…umm, fit.

Particularly if you are a novice rider, consider the lakeside route used by Desafio Adventure Co. which starts with a boat trip across Lake Arenal, and then takes an easy and scenic route that won’t have you fearing for your life. [Note that the ride doesn’t go all the way to Monteverde—at the end there is a pickup and you drive the rest of the way. Trust me, it’s worth it.] www.desafiocostarica.com

Both Zuma Tours and Cocozuma both run a couple of boats a day between Montezuma and Jacó (technically Herradura beach, just north of Jacó) for about $30/person one-way. Both have offices on Montezuma’s main street, on either side of El Sano Banana hotel and restaurant.

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