Belize only produces one domestic beer–the ubiquitous and tasty Belikin. But that one beer has a fantastic label featuring the terraced rocky hulk of an ancient Mayan temple on most bottles.  You can even visit the “Belikin Temple” which is actually the 54′ high Temple of  the Masonry Altars in Plaza B of the Altun Ha archaeological site.

Altun Ha is a modern Mayan name (the city’s original name is unknown) for a very old place. Habitation dates back to 200 BC and experts in this kind of thing believe that up to 10,000 people lived here during the city’s peak. The excavated area is relatively small, just two plazas, but you can climb to the top of the Temple of  the Masonry Altars and other structures.

This ancient Mayan temple at the Altun Ha archaeological site doubles as the logo on most bottles of Belikin--the only beer made in Belize.

We don’t know about you, but wandering around in the sun gawking at really old, really mysterious remains of brilliant civilizations makes us thirsty. Luckily there’s a bar right across the parking lot from Altun Ha. We popped into the Green and Gold Bar–a rough wooden shack with a TV, a surprisingly elaborate sound system and a disco ball–and were delighted to find plenty of ice cold, you guessed it, Belikin.

Belize is full of unlikely-sounding town names.

Altun Ha is only about 30 miles from Belize City and during our drive into the city we passed some pretty fanciful town names including our favorite, Ladyville. Belize City, however, is no Ladyville.

Beating around the bush would be pointless. The truth is that Belize City is more than rough around the edges. She’s tattered. Between British colonization, hurricanes and a flacid economy, a less than effective police force and a well-entrenched drug problem the city has an anything-goes vibe which reminds us (in smaller measure) of Phnom Penh.

Even the committed and passionate local tourism authorities who love their country and are well-equipped to extol its many virtues will also tell you not to be on the streets of Belize City–any streets–at night.

The Great House is a boutique hotel in what once was a Colonial house and it preserves a bit of the grand British history of Belize City.

We’re from New York, but the shifty, slightly desperate, volatile vibe of the city got under our skin. Though we saw no direct evidence of violence, we explored the city only in the daytime and even then we left the everything except a small amount of money locked in the safe in our room at The Great House–a lovely restored Colonial home on the waterfront with 24 hour staffing and a very secure approach to hospitality. Big pluses: The Great House is right next door to Le Petit Cafe which opens early and dishes out good coffee and great pastries at awesome prices (don’t miss the rich, cinnamon-y powder buns). The Great House is also directly above Belize City’s only wine bar.

Needless to say, this defensive approach to Belize City–almost assuming something was going to go wrong–is not our style and it left us feeling like we weren’t getting even a glimpse of the place or the people.

Yes, the city is struggling with a big old ugly drug problem and the violence that comes with that. But, we repeat, we saw absolutely no evidence of violence and Belize City even has some charms. There’s lovely architecture, a welcoming waterfront area (though the seawall seems nowhere near high enough given the area’s hurricane history), the world’s only working hand-operated swing bridge, a city radio station called LOVE FM and a population of rastas, Guatemalan immigrants, British-accented leftovers from the country’s days as a colony, indigenous Garifunas and hard-charging students and professionals who seem hell-bent on bettering their city and their country.

This drug store in Belize City is in a typical clapboard building. What we loved about it is the cartoon-y sign and the small plaque below it which reads "Licensed to sell drugs and poisons."

Haulover Creek as seen from Belize City's swing bridge--the only functioning manually operated swing bridge in the world.

Belize City is grungy but gratifying with a perpetual party atmosphere but nothing obvious to celebrate–as we found out first-hand one night. Yes, night. As in after dark.

It all started at Carmita’s, a BBQ and (Belikin) beer joint on the edge of  Haulover Creek just down from the swing bridge. The fragrant smoke from a cobbled-together cooker full of pork and chicken is what drew us in around 6:00. That’s early for dinner but we’d planned to eat and, quite literally, run in order to be back in our hotel room before dark. You know the drill.

However, we were weary of hiding and anxious to see something of the real Belize and Carmita’s was filled with Belizeans drinking (Belikin) beer, eating BBQ, playing music, dancing, talking and enjoying the breeze off Stann Creek.

Check out the Garifuna band in our video below. Yes, that woman is using a turtle shell as a drum.

We soon started talking to a group of locals and before we knew it the sun was down (gasp!) and we were off to another bar with Alex, a Fulbright Scholar who took us to two absolutely dire karaoke bars. To a relentless soundtrack of Guns ‘n Roses and more Guns ‘n Roses we continued to drink  beer and talk about what ails Belize and the rest of the world. It was unspeakably better than hiding in our hotel room, which we returned to around 2 am courtesy of the perma-taxi driver who seems to shadow Alex around town when he’s on these jags.

Meet Junior Buddy, one of the rescued jaguars living at the Belize Zoo.

The Belize Zoo, about 30 miles outside of town, is not what you expect. Opened to provide loving homes for abandoned, illegally poached or injured animals which are indigenous to Belize, the zoo is your only sure-bet chance to  see some of the country’s wildlife super stars including jaguars and harpy eagles. Toss in handmade signs that playfully impart warnings, information and a gentle eco message and the $10US entrance fee is a bargain. We were inspired to double that as a donation.

It was great to see toucans, endangered harpy eagles, essentially free-range spider monkeys and lumbering tapirs (the national animal of Belize). However, it was Junior Buddy who won our hearts.

Another great zoo sign and a tapir--a kind of cross between an anteater, a pig and a pony--which is the national animal of Belize.

Born at the zoo to a female jaguar who was rescued after the owner of the livestock she begun hunting threatened to kill her, Junior Buddy is not a wild animal. The three-year-old is extremely comfortable around humans.

We were more than content with watching Junior Buddy watch us. We sat quietly on a bench just a few inches from the fence around his large, well-jungled enclosure and Junior Buddy seemed to think WE were on display. He sauntered back and forth right on the fence in front of us, showing off his sexy sleek self and sneaking sideways glances at us. It was hard to leave.

We'd love to let you believe that we were lucky enough to see this jaguar in the wild, but this is another one of the rescued jaguars living at the Belize Zoo.

Endangered harpy eagles are a lot like regular eagles, only super-sized (up to 3.5 feet tall) and outfitted with flamboyant head feathers that can stand up like a crown. This harpy eagle is part of a pair at the Belize Zoo.

Spider monkeys have the run of the place at the Belize Zoo.

The main attractions are the animals but the handmade rhyming signs at the Belize Zoo are worth the price of admission too.

GLAD WE HAD
Natrapel wipes from Adventure Medical Kits to ward off the mosquitoes that love the jungle environment of the Belize Zoo as much as the animals do. We know that deet isn’t good for us, but we’re always a bit skeptical about deet-free repellents, especially in a jungly place like Belize. But the Natrapel worked great and smelled great and one wipe per person did the trick even without the deet.

Did we mention the rain? It never down-poured and the glorious Colorado sunshine always returned but we did get enough of the wet stuff to make some quality mud pits to dance barefoot in. What do you expect during a September festival in the mountains!

Day 2 started out sunny, but it didn't last, much to the delight of these happy mud dancers.

Day 2 was extra wet for another reason besides the rain–it was the day the festival held the Grand Tasting. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (from Chico, CA where Karen grew up) was the festival’s anchor brewery but on Day 2 more than 50 microbrews tented up and poured their stuff for a very eager crowd. Once properly lubricated, we were treated to yet another day of kickass music.

Vieux Farka Toure, direct from Mali, helped warm up the crowd.

Some of our New Orleans favorites -- Anders Osborne, Kirk Joseph on sousaphone and Simon Lott working the drums.

What better way to complement some New Orleans music than with a Mardi Gras-style parade through the crowd during Anders' set?

Of course no Mardi Gras parade is complete without throwing beads to the crowd. Festival Director Steve Gumble and family members helped from the stage.

Anders "Grizzly" Osborne (LOVE the facial hair) and Kirk Joseph.

Enjoying the New Orleans jamming of Anders Osborne.

Anders having as much fun as the crowed.

Enjoying Anders Osborne--except for that guy on the left who looks like he's asleep on the rail...

Ryan Stasik, Jake Cinninger and Kris Myers of Umphrey's McGee.

Ryan Stasik of Umphrey's Mcgee brought his 'nasty' face.

The one, the only Buddy Guy.

Buddy Guy

Anders Osborne and Kirk Joseph played a blistering night show (along with Simon Lott) at the historic Sheridan Opera House.

Kirk Joseph at the Sheridan Opera House.

For a tiny town, Bernal–less than an hour from Querétaro–has a lot going for it, including Peña de Bernal (Bernal’s Boulder or Bernal Peak) which is, according to some estimates, the second largest monolith in the world after Mt. Augustus in Western Australia. At 350 meters (1150 ft) tall it’s also the fourth tallest (or third tallest, again, depending on who you ask) monolith in the world after Mount Augustus, the Rock of Gilbraltar and Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio.

As you can imagine, a pedigree like that attracts a lot of rock climbers. The rest of the scant visitors to Bernal come for the town’s own unique brand of peace and quiet.

Peña de Bernal, seen from the porch of our room at the Parador Vernal, is one of the largest monoliths in the world.

Bernal was designated a Pueblo Magico by the Mexican government in 2005 so it delivers a pleasantly stuck-in-time look and feel with simple buildings, festive colors and a central square dominated by a lively church. Old men sit around and do what old men do while younger men gallop down the cobbled streets. Every once in a while a woman pokes her head out of the shop or restaurant she’s running. It is altogether nap inspiring.

While in Bernal we stayed at the Parador Vernal about a 10 minute walk above town itself. The hotel’s mediocre and poorly translated web site doesn’t do its quirks and charms justice. The lobby is largely populated by big colorful birds in even bigger ornate cages. Our room, #8, had one wall that was painted entirely electric green and featured a huge loosely looped wool area rug that felt like walking on a sheep. The bed was comfortable and the view of Peña de Bernal couldn’t be beat. Some of the hotel’s other rooms (there are 13 in total), however, seemed a bit small and dark so ask for room 7 or 8 if you plan to stay the night. Or just pop up for a bite or a drink in the dining room or outdoor bar with an unobstructed view of the monolith.

Peña de Bernal rises above the tiny town of Bernal.

A wedding at the church of St. Sebastian in Bernal.

Throughout Mexico it seems like we rarely see beer on tap, so we were surprised and delighted when we walked past a pretty cafe with outdoor seating and cerveza de baril on the menu. And that’s not the only beverage surprise the area had in store for us…

Peña de Bernal features a hypnotic light show every Saturday that goes on for more than an hour.

If you don't have a horse you can flag down the Asian-style tuk-tuk that plies the streets of Bernal.

About 30 minutes from Bernal in the town of Ezequiel Montes is the Cavas Freixenet winery complete with tours and wine sales and a kind of manic crowd on weekends that seems intent on downing as much of their newly purchased wine and sparkling wine right then and there at tables and chairs set up in an open-air courtyard.

We missed the last tour of the day so we just wandered around trying not to get between the Mexican couples and families and their wine. Weirdly, there wasn’t a single black bottle of too-sweet Cordon Negro sparkling wine that we associate with the Freixenet brand in the U.S. In fact, none of the wine for sale even had Freixenet on the label–the sparkling wine was called Petillant and turned out to be just as sweet as Cordon Negro.

There's more to drink in Mexico than just cerveza and tequila.