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EXPLORE BELIZE |
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Update: Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL) has a new Numbering
Plan for Belize, effective from May 1, 2002. With this numbering plan, a
new 7-digit number will be applied countrywide, replacing the existing 4
or 5-digit telephone number, plus area code. The new system has no area
codes (similar to the system introduced in Guatemala several years ago).
You'll now need dial the entire 7 digits for all calls whether within
the same area or district or to another area or district. I wish I could
tell you about a simple way to convert the old numbers into the new, but
in many cases the conversion code depends on whether the number is a
landline and on the current area code, or a fixed or mobile cellular
phone. However, here are two ways to find out: You can visit one of two
websites set up for the conversion: and , then click on the New
Numbering Plan icon and type in the old number in the box. If you're
already in Belize you can pick up a booklet listing conversion codes
from any BTL office (locations of the main ones are covered in the Guide
). BTL introduced this change with very little warning. Certainly they
made no mention of it when I interviewed a member of their customer
service team last year, while researching the current (2nd) edition of
The Rough Guide to Belize . Many businesses had no idea of the
forthcoming change until I told them, sometimes only weeks before May
1st. I've tried using the conversion box on the website and I've found
it (generally) works for landline phones (most numbers in Belize) but
didn't do too well on cell phones. I hope this helps. If you continue to
have problems, contact me at and I'll try to find out the correct number
for you. Please note that most of the numbers listed on the website have
been updated.
-Peter Eltringham
The narrow, crowded streets of BELIZE CITY can initially be daunting to
anyone who has been prepared by the usual tales of crime-ridden urban
decay. Admittedly, at first glance the city is unprepossessing. Its
buildings - many of them dilapidated wooden structures - stand right at
the edge of the road, and few sidewalks offer refuge to pedestrians from
the ever-increasing numbers of vehicles. The hazards of Belize City,
however, are often reported by those who have never been here. If you
approach the city with an open mind and take some precautions with your
belongings, you may well be pleasantly surprised.
The city has a distinguished history, a handful of sights worth visiting
and, particularly during the September celebrations , an astonishing
energy. The seventy thousand people of Belize City represent every
ethnic group in the country, with the Creole descendants of former
slaves and Baymen forming the dominant element, generating an easy-going
Caribbean atmosphere.
Belize City is divided neatly into north and south halves by the
Haulover Creek , a delta branch of the Belize River. The pivotal point
of the city centre is the Swing Bridge , always busy with traffic and
opened twice a day to allow larger vessels up and down the river. North
of the Swing Bridge is the slightly more upmarket part of town, home to
the most expensive hotels. South of the Swing Bridge is the market and
commercial zone, the location of all the city's banks and a couple of
supermarkets. The city is small enough to make walking the easiest way
to get around.
The City
Richard Davies, a British traveller in the mid-nineteenth century, wrote
of the city: "There is much to be said for Belize, for in its way it was
one of the prettiest ports at which we touched, and its cleanliness and
order & were in great contrast...
Richard Davies, a British traveller in the mid-nineteenth century, wrote
of the city: "There is much to be said for Belize, for in its way it was
one of the prettiest ports at which we touched, and its cleanliness and
order & were in great contrast to the ports we visited later as to make
them most remarkable."
Most of the features that elicited this praise have now gone, but
several of the city's wooden colonial buildings have been saved as
heritage showpieces, sometimes as museums or galleries, more often by
conversion into a hotel or restaurant. Yet even in cases where the decay
is too advanced for the balconies and carved railings to be restored,
the old wooden structures remain more pleasing than the concrete blocks
that have replaced so many of them.
Before the construction of the first wooden bridge in the early 1800s,
cattle were winched over the waterway that divides the city - hence the
name Haulover Creek . The Swing Bridge , focal point of the city centre,
was made in Liverpool and opened in 1923 - today it's the only manually
operated swing bridge left in the Americas. Every day at 5.30am and
5.30pm the endless parade of vehicles and people is halted and the
process of turning begins: using long poles inserted into a capstan,
four men gradually lever the bridge around until it's pointing in the
direction of the harbour mouth. |
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