Belize is poorer than I expected. It has the air of being reasonably prosperous under the British, but as they withdrew in the 60s and 70s it has all gone downhill from there.
A couple of random facts to give you the idea. This year they raised the minimum wage from AU$2.50 to AU$3.50 an hour.
Whilst the average annual salary of most jobs here in Belize rate middle of the table – around 150 out of 250 countries- the average wage of a teacher comes in at 220 out of 250 countries paying only AU$10,000. They are never going to crawl out of their hole when a teacher is paid less than a supermarket check out chick.
And yet things aren’t cheap. Generally it has the reputation of being the dearest of the Central American countries, and the disparity between food items is marked. For example, it cost us 10c to buy a banana, but $5 to buy a muesli bar.
Went wandering around the city this morning, visiting the only decent coffee shop that we could find on the map, then came home past one of the very few supermarkets where you didn’t have to peer through the grills and ask the person for the particular product that you were after. Lots of the businesses are behind bars, and even the laundromats lock themselves in as they are doing their washing. Came back past the bakery we visited yesterday to get some rolls for lunch.
There’s definitely a disparity between the rich and poor here which is very noticeable. In the areas around the international hotels, there are lots of eating places and much larger houses than in the downtown area. Of course, both the coffee shop and the supermarket were close to the hotels.
Bella Sombra Guesthouse
After lunch, we headed out on our afternoon walk to see the historical parts of the town. We started at the old lighthouse where we had gone yesterday, walked back past the ferry terminals and across the old swing bridge to the commercial, shopping and government section of the town. We’d been wondering where that was.
We walked past the old Supreme Court, the pretty defunct post office, and down along the water to the original British government house across the road from the stone Anglican Cathedral of Belize. Then finally back up through the shopping precinct, the markets and past the other historical churches, across the swing bridge back to the east side, and back to the guesthouse late afternoon.
Tea in the room after a very frustrating walk trying to find a local restaurant that was open on a Thursday night. Another advantage if we were in a tourist area.
Original Government House
Anglican Cathedral
Supreme Court