Crossin' to Corozal

Border towns suck. While clearly there are gleaming examples indicting the opposite, in general, in my observations of nearly 2 decades on the road and 100+ countries later, border towns suck. So recently while crossing from the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, i was expecting much of the Belizean town just across the border. But, when push comes to shove, I am fully content saying Corozal in northern Belize doesn't totally suck.

Corozal seems to be on the upswing. Only becoming a registered city in 1848, it used to be a private estate. Things grew pretty quickly and Corozal was was pretty big for a while ("big" by Belizean standards) But it all came to a screeching halt visit an uninvited visit from Hurricane Janet in 1955. Pretty much trashed the place. But, like mighty little ants, they just began building again. Today the town is a hefty 8,100 people big. Perhaps not a metropolis just yet, but doing ok. Sugar cane helps at least in the short term. I even met some aging foreign guys building retirement homes here.

As you might guess, an agricultural, border town of 8,100 people on the verge of becoming a retirement community doesn't really have a lot going on. But the town hall has a pretty painting inside... umm... and the sea isn't clear because of the wind direction, but it's ok to swim in... umm.... there's plenty of Chinese restaurants... and i guess that's about it. There are a couple of ruins of moderate interest in the area, the most popular being Cerros. Built right by the waters edge, it approached by sea, which is a little different. Corozal is one of those places where they have a "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it" mentality. Speaking of which, another thing worth checking out what happens when there is no bridge. Due to low traffic, the state won't build bridges across a couple rivers. So the locals make due with a hand powered ferry. They're actually a little proud of it. It works 24 hours and it's free!!

If using the Mexican/Belizean border crossing, you have to cross through Corozal. So there's no need to make a "special" trip. With a couple accommodation choice in the town which fulfill the requirements of paying for a place to sleep, a traveller could use a day or so the town.