For the ultimate test of your driving skills , there is no place on earth like Belize. Although picturesque and filled with antiquities and monuments of the Mayan culture, the roads test one's driving abilities and patience to the max.


The roads are narrow at best, with many still unpaved, full of potholes, and very rough and treacherous. Belize has a tremendous amount of rainfall every year, up to 180 inches in the southern part of the country. Combine that with the fact that many of the roads, even the major thoroughfares are clay dirt roads that are crowned in the middle so the water runs off easily, makes for interesting traveling.


While meeting another vehicle on such roads, it normally becomes a game of chicken as to which driver gets over farthest to their side of the road. Especially after a heavy rain, the road gets extremely slick and as a result getting over too far means sliding off into a ditch as deep as three feet.
 

This means an extremely long delay, in spite of the fact this happens quite often, no one in the country has a chain to be pulled out with. It boils down to waiting until enough people come along to make it possible to be pushed out onto the road so the journey can be resumed.

It was never a dull moment as we traveled the roads of Belize, the driver had to be constantly aware of the changing road conditions, and even then  we slid off the road a total of six times in two weeks, one time barely missing a school bus who wouldn't get out of the middle of the road.

Even the South Hummingbird Highway, which connects the southern part of the country with the rest of the world is only a one lane dirt road, demanding extreme caution.

Enjoy your trip, but drive carefully.


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