Southern Belize has become an increasingly popular destination for visitors, especially the road-bound tourist who wants to rent a vehicle and explore. The highway which connects southern Belize to the rest of the country has undergone a total transition, with millions of dollars expended to upgrade and rebuild this vital country link. Today, connecting to any of Belize's southern destinations from either the capital Belmopan or the commercial center Belize City is a beautiful scenic ride on the Hummingbird and Southern Highways. Instead of traveling three to four hours from Belize City to Stann Creek on a bumpy, narrow and often dusty road, travelers now do the trip in two hours, and the ride is smooth and enjoyable.

The Stann Creek district, located 90 miles from Belize City by land and 36 miles by sea, can also be accessed through the Manatee Highway which is located at Milepost 30.5 on the Western Highway (less than two miles past the Belize Zoo turnoff). The Manatee Highway, although not paved, is an easy ride in the dry season and it connects up with Hummingbird Highway about seven miles from the entrance to Dangriga, the main town in the Stann Creek District. The Manatee Highway also provides road access to two interesting Creole villages, one of which has become a popular tourist destination - Gales Point Manatee, which is geographically placed as the southernmost village in the Belize District. (For more on Gales Point Manatee, see Belize District segment.) Daily regular bus service is also available and reliable. For faster travel, visitors can take a local airline to reach the Stann Creek District as both the main town Dangriga and the resort peninsula of Placencia both have an airstrip. The plane ride is 20 minutes from Belize City to Dangriga. There is currently no regular water taxi or boat service from Belize City to Stann Creek.

Stann Creek, with a population of just over twenty-five thousand, contains diverse tourist experiences: the beautiful white sandy beaches of Placencia (and inviting offshore cayes), rugged Maya Mountains, the lush jungles of the Cockscomb Basin Jaguar Preserve, and both the Garifuna art, music, cuisine and culture and, in certain areas, Maya Culture.. The Stann Creek district is also a major banana, citrus and other fruit-producing region, and in recent years improvements have been made to the deep water port at Big Creek. In 2000, the Big Creek Port was revitalized as an important transshipment point for bananas, mangoes and citrus and other agricultural products to Britain and the European continent.

Dangriga is often dubbed as "the culture capital of Belize." With a population of 8,814, it is the capital of the Stann Creek District and it is definitely the place to be on the night of November 18th. That is when all-night festivities celebrate the arrival of the Garifuna People to Belize on November 19th 1823. The first recorded arrivals, however, began in 1802 and Garifuna communities in Punta Gorda, Dangriga and Belize City celebrated Nov. 19th 2002 as the Bicentennial of the arrival. Activities for Garifuna Settlement Day include the re-enactment of the arrival by canoe, drumming, John-kunu dancing, and music in celebration of the successful resistance of the Garifuna people to enslavement, colonization and deportation. A visit to Dangriga provides the opportunity to observe performances by such traditional groups as the Turtle Shell Band and the Waribagaba Dancers, as well as modern Punta Rock and reggae.

Ambergris Caye

Ambergris Caye is the largest of the 200-plus cayes (islands) located off the Belize coast. Only half a mile from the barrier reef, Ambergris Caye is a premier Belize destination for scuba divers and snorkelers.

It offers a wide variety of other water-oriented activities - swimming, fishing, sailing, windsurfing, and jet-skiing - as well as nature hiking, bird-watching, bicycling and even a Mayan ruin site. Accommodations and restaurants are available for all budget levels. Ambergris Caye receives cooling tradewinds most of the year, which keeps the temperature down and the mosquitos away.

Ambergris Caye is twenty-five miles long; its width ranges from a few hundred feet to over four miles. Northern Ambergris Caye is separated from the southernmost tip of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula by a small channel. Since 1989, archeologists have been studying Marco Gonzalez, a Mayan ruin site located near the southern tip of Ambergris Caye. The site is located in what is now a mangrove swamp; but the archeologists have determined that when the town was founded around 200 BC, the sea level was much lower and the environment quite different than it is today. It is believed that Marco Gonzalez was once a prosperous town and important Mayan trading center. Building and pottery remains indicate that the town reached its peak from 1150-1300 AD and began to decline thereafter, although a few Mayan families remained when the Spanish arrived in the mid-fifteenth century.

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Casino Action

ABOVE: The Princess is the biggest casino in Belize - it is located on the Belize City waterfront. Picture actually shows the entire hotel building. The casino occupies half of the ground floor.

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For the casino lover Belize has limited facilities - but they can be a welcome break from too much sea and sand, or from the cloistered cruise ship casinos. The biggest is at the Princess Hotel and Casino in Belize City - it's the nearest you will get to a Las Vegas style casino in this part of Central America. The Princess is located on the waterfront just off Barracks Road. The casino is on the right as you enter the lobby. It's glitzy, well decorated and laid out with faux marble floors.

This small casino has three table games - American Roulette, Black Jack and Caribbean Stud Poker and three hundred slot machines. Belizeans are fanatics about craps but you will not find these at the Princess. Gamblers know this is the one game where the player stands an even chance against the house. The casino has recently introduced a two-day Poker Tournament, dubbed Texas Hold-em held every March.

The Princes Casino is well maintained, clean, fully air-conditioned and has free drinks (comps) to help you get warmed up for a night of gambling. Belize has a sizeable Chinese community due to lax immigration policies favoring Asians, and this is often reflected in the casino's main clientele - Asians are notoriously fond of gambling.

The casino opens at noon and the slot machines jingle until 4 in the morning. There is even a small show featuring dancing Russian girls every night (we're not making this up!). Belizeans are not heavy gamblers - but they are picking up fast. Thus you will find a mixed clientele most days - Chinese, Belizeans, and Central Americans - including some attractive women playing the slot machines. For some unknown reason the few times we ventured into the casino there were almost no tourists.

On Wednesday most of the Russian dancers are bused 80 miles away to the small town of San Ignacio where there is a miniature Princess Casino located next to a hotel up the hill from the Fire Station. There they do a couple of shows to entice locals and tourists in that area. More information here on the Princess Hotel and Casino.

As for the rest of the country - casino action is steadily downhill from there. You can find "gaming rooms" in almost any city and town throughout Belize. Most of these are aimed at locals. They tend to be run-down and seedy, and are often attached or actually inside local Chinese greasy spoons. They are not recommended for visitors. Most of the slot machines are very old and some locals claim - rigged. Ambergris Caye has a couple of mini-casinos, mostly a couple dozen slot machines and sometimes games of poker.

A Great Place to Eat

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