Belize City, Belize.

Ah, here at last.  There are many points at which I could say my traveling started, either when I first thought seriously about it, when I left Vancouver bound to the prairies to spend time with my parents, when I left their farm, when I got into the USA or other points along the journey.  For me, I think the real point where it starts is here, in Belize City, away from my comfort zone and throwing myself into the pool, waiting to see if I splash in water or bounce off the ice.  This being the tropics, a bounce off ice is very unlikely.
The trip from Palm Coast to Miami was full of second thoughts about what I am doing.  Not the traveling bit, but the lack of structure to the travel.  Emotionally, it felt very much like jumping off a diving board and not knowing what the water will be like.
Turns out the water is quite warm.
The view from the balcony that wraps around the hotel is truly different from any other place I have stayed at.

The coconut palm is a rather strong hint that I am far from Canada.

The house across the way from the hotel is another hint.  Construction of most buildings here is either cement or cinder block.  The few wooden structures look like the next storm to come through will level them.  I did not take any pictures of those, and will let your mind fill in the details around peeling paint, sagging siding and two and three story buildings with way more list than is healthy.
The common theme on all easily reached windows is security bars and mosquito screens.  The common theme on all roads and sidewalks is drainage.
I was walking through the major shopping area when it started to rain, and found myself under an awning with a number of other folks.  What had been a busy street with cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians
 quickly changed as the last two sought shelter.  The rain came down quite hard for about ten minutes, then eased off slowly.  About half an hour after it started, it had stopped and the streets went from having water running down the sides to being dry enough to walk on quite fast.  As I was walking, I was continually asked if I wanted a taxi, directions, what was I looking for etc.  I noticed this kind of activity rose quite a bit as I headed one way in particular and found I was heading toward the dock for cruise ships.  There was quite a swarm of locals there, with many of them selling small souvenirs and hand crafted items.
Lunch was at a small diner, Marlin's.  The place opens up in the back onto Haulover Creek which given its size is way too big to be a creek.  There were a number of twenty foot open boats tied up along the creek.

All for now.  Time to watch the local news, and book a stay out on Caye Caulker.