"Rush Hour in Belize" is the title of this flickr photo from jonrawlinson. Indeed, life has a slower pace in this small Central American nation, famous for its great diving, snorkeling, and fishing.

In this photo, I love the eclectic cast of characters lounging on the wall along the ocean, and the way the dark reef shows through the crystal-clear ocean. Can't wait to visit in a couple weeks and see it for myself!

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Cities tend to develop the way living organisms do-- they begin their lives as small and simple creatures, they eventually flower into maturity, and some occasionally decay and die out. Cities are located where they are-- Paris is on the Seine, Sydney is on the Pacific coast-- not because central planners decided that's where they should be, but because of the choices of individuals. The decision was made from the bottom-up, not from the top-down.

But it doesn't always happen like this. Sometimes well-meaning bureaucrats, or even megalomaniacal dictators, decide that a city should develop the way they want it to-- in exactly the place they want it to. The results are almost universally disappointing.

This problem is especially acute with capital cities, which are often thought to represent countries in important ways. Because of their symbolic nature, government oficials like to locate capitals in just the right place. Their intentions are often pure, but (to paraphrase an old saying) the road to a bad city is paved with good intentions.

Here are the top four worst planned capital cities in the world:

4. Brasilia, Brazil

Brazil's capital is one of the best examples of a planned city gone awry. In the late 1950s, Brazil's president ordered the construction of a new city, Brasilia, which would be the new, more centrally-located capital. At first, the city grew wildly, and its rate of growth (over 2%) is still above that of most large cities. But Brasilia is not thought of very highly by its residents, other Brazilians, or tourists.

The city was built more for the automobile than the pedestrian, so getting around can be difficult, confusing, and expensive. On the plus side, Brasilia is known for its impressive modernist architecture-- it's a UNESCO World Heritage site. Still, the city is too cold and impersonal to be thought of as anything but a massive disappointment.

[ Edit: Looks like this one is dead, foks. Congrats to those who booked a ticket --- ed.]

I've been sitting on this fare for a few days because I was sure that it was going to evaporate, but here, as I sit in a cafe three days after the fare went live, I stand corrected.

American Airlines is offering some pretty outrageous fares down to Belize for this fall and early winter from New York City (EWR) and Houston (IAH). For only abouht $150 round trip, you can get down to Central America, the jungles, beaches, strong dollar, and some classic adventure travel. Other cities around the country are clocking in at the $200 - $300 range, which, for a trip of this magnitude is still pretty fantastic.

The problem, in this case, is that the layovers on the connections are pretty terrible. If you're planning on making a weekend out of the fares, you may have to reconsider the 13 hours that you may have to spend in Miami (or maybe you'll enjoy it.)

They key, however, is to keep everything in perspective. You're paying $150 to fly to BELIZE on a fare that's less expensive than it usually is to fly 400 miles domestically. Book it, spend some time in Miami, bring a laptop and some movies and you'll have a great time.

You can't visit Central America and not make at least some effort to see the monkeys. That's just wrong. Monkeys are way too cute to be missed.

Like Costa Rica, and other countries in this region, Belize is also trying to brand itself as an ecotourism destination.

The Community Baboon Sanctuary, a conservation project in which over 200 private landowners in Belize have voluntarily pledged to conserve their land for the protection of the Black Howler Monkey (called 'baboon' in the local Creole dialect) habitat, is well-worth the trip inland. It's only about an hour drive from Belize City.

But, there is a but.

Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes.
Before I begin talking about how cute the monkeys are, I am going to say this: I had never, ever before, seen so many mosquitoes before visiting the Community Baboon Sanctuary (CBS). Anywhere.

The closest I had ever come to this kind of mosquito infestation was in Venice. (Camping outside a city built on a swamp is not a good idea, note to self.)

Isn't this heaven? (Sorry if these photos find you in the middle of cubicle hell.)

I took these pictures last week in Caye Caulker, one of the northern islands off the coast of Belize. Most people opt to go to the bigger Ambergris Caye, which is a bit more family friendly, but also more expensive.

Caye Caulker is smaller (about 5 miles x 1 mile), cheaper and hence packed with backpackers. The last time I saw so many backpackers in one place was probably Yangshuo, China. These are the kinds of places where you literally see more backpackers than locals. Kind of defeats the point of adventure travel, doesn't it.

There are a few great things about Caye Caulker, though:

Greetings from Belize.

I took this photo just a few days ago from the plane (hence the quality), during one of my island-hopping trips between Belize City and the island of Ambergris Caye.

Check it out. Some guy built a house on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean several miles of the coast of Belize.

I think that qualifies as "wanting to get away from it all."

Can you imagine bringing all the wood and building equipment here on boat? What happens when the hurricane season comes? I know hurricanes are not too frequent in this area, but still. A big storm could probably blow this house right in the ocean.

I'd love to meet this person. I picture him looking like Robinson Crusoe. I would be very disappointed to find a white-collar dude trying to create his own personal tax haven. (God knows Belize attracts those people.)

Greetings from Belize.

If you come to Belize, chances are you'll stay on one of the islands, not mainland. Not only is it easier to find nice beaches on the islands (cayes), but it is much closer to the Barrier Reef. And if you are visiting Belize, you simply must see the reef. Even if you don't dive, the ocean is shallow around here and the opportunities for snorkeling are plentiful.

If you're not sold on the idea of island vacation and decide to stay inland and spend time in the jungle instead, you should at least visit the islands for a day or two.

Flying tips
If you arrive in Belize by plane, you will most certainly land at Belize City International Airport. The most convenient way to get to the islands is to fly straight from here.

There are two local airlines that operate all those island-hopping routes: Maya Airlines (owned by Belizeans) and Tropic Air (owned by American expats living in Belize). I have flown both and I couldn't really tell the difference in quality or service between the two. Both use the same planes and operate efficiently. Tropic has more planes than Maya.

Greetings from Belize.

Those of you who have been to Belize before might not find these surprising, but this is my first time here and they surprised me. Here is a brief laundry list:

• The U.S. Dollar is widely accepted. With the Belize Dollar pegged at 2:1 to the U.S. Dollar, it's not surprising. Guess where you should be traveling when the U.S. Dollar is practically worthless? Where they accept dollars, of course! Although Belize is pretty expensive comparing to other Central American countries, the cheap dollar makes it affordable.
• English is all you'll ever need. While guidebook after guidebook tell you people speak Spanish or Creole, Belizeans almost universally speak perfect English. It's the official language, don't forget.
• It's not all jungle. While the UN pegs forest cover at 79% in Belize and the country itself claims to have 44% of its land under some legal land-protection regime, there are whole sections of the country that are open, rolling hills and farmland.
• It's not just the Blue Hole. There's great diving all up and down the world's second-largest barrier reef. The terrain is varied, and so is the wildlife. I can tell you that first hand, as I squeezed in 5 dives in 2 days off two different islands.
• There's a surprising level of development. Literacy is above 75% (depending on the source). The economy is rapidly growing. While the UN's human development index generally puts the country at about number 80 of 177 countries studied (in terms of education, GDP per person, etc.), life expectancy here is in the top 40 worldwide.
• The population density is one of the lowest in the world. With 300,000 or so people in an area the size of the state of New Jersey (which has almost 9 million folks), and 1/3 of people living in Belize City, it's not surprising, really.
• The rainy season (May-November) is quite pleasant here, especially if you stay in the north. We are in the middle of it right now. It rains about once a day, if that, for a while and then it's sunny again. The benefit over the dry season? It's cheaper and there are hardly any tourists.
• People are really friendly, helpful and pleasant. The islands have a Caribbean feel, while the inland is more Spanish-influenced.

I give Belize two thumbs up.

Greetings from Belize.

Yesterday, I made one of my life-long dreams come true. I dove the Great Blue Hole, a submarine cave about 45 miles off the coast of Belize. They say after diving it, divers are usually either utterly disappointed or absolutely blown away. I found it absolutely amazing.

The Great Blue Hole is circular, over 1,000 feet (330 meters) across and 400 feet (120 meters) deep. It was formed as a limestone cave system during the last ice age. As the ocean began to rise again, the caves flooded, and the roof collapsed.

The trip

To get to the Blue Hole, we booked a diving with the operator Aqua Dives Belize. They offer a $199 per person special now, which was the cheapest deal going, from what I could see. It includes the boat trip out there, breakfast, lunch (on a tiny caye on the same atoll) plus yummy rum punch (after diving), purified drinking water, 3 tanks and weight belts.

(We'd tried Ambergris Divers earlier, and found their staff friendly and competent, but we preferred Aqua Dives and their newer equipment.)

You start out at 5:30am, and make a 3-hour boat ride from Ambergris Caye to Lighthouse Reef. After a total of three dives, they get you back at 5:30pm.

Greetings from Belize!

In San Pedro, "the big town" on the Belize island of Ambergris Caye, the preferred form of transportation is a golf cart. (Most of the roads are not paved and the main inhabited part of the island is only a few miles long.)

Although golf carts don't have seat belts, there are some rules associated with using these things.

Most importantly, the first two weeks of each month, you are supposed to park them on the right side of the road. The second part of each month, they should be parked on the left side. It's only fair to those who live on those streets, I guess.

So far, I have seen a golf cart used as a vehicle for:

• grocery shopping
• place to conduct cell phone calls while driving (with a toddler or two on one's lap)
• doing "donuts" in sand
• place for local youngsters to kiss
• a way to distribute "sticky green" to those interested
• and, of course, preferred form of transportation for lazy tourists who can't walk a full mile into town.