Belize Travel Diary: Carnival J’Ouvert, Belize City Landmarks and Final Breakfast
- The Anonymous Hungry Hippopotamus
- May 25, 2023
- 2 min read
I woke up early on my final morning in Belize. Not because I had somewhere to be, but because I didn’t want to miss whatever light might look like on the last day.
The sunrise came quietly through the hotel window.
It turned out my timing wasn’t random at all. My last day in Belize coincided with Carnival, or more specifically, J’Ouvert, a word that comes from the French jour ouvert—meaning “day break.”
In practice, it was is exactly that. A celebration that begins at sunrise, when the city is still half-asleep and already moving. There was music and energy spilling into streets before the day has fully formed.
Belize, on my final morning, was not easing into anything. It was waking up fully alive.
A Quick Tour Through Belize City
Philip SW Goldson Statue
I took a quick city tour before brunch. The Philip S.W. Goldson statue stood quietly in contrast to the movement around it.
Belizean Water Taxi
The Water Taxi terminals were already active, connecting the city outward toward the cayes.
The Swing Bridge
And the Swing Bridge—one of the last manually operated bridges in the world—sat between old and new versions of the city, opening and closing as it always has.
Breakfast at the End of a Journey
Brunch was at Celebrity Restaurant and Bar. This was my final meal in a country that had slowly redefined what I thought I was here for.
I ordered a traditional Belizean breakfast of eggs, refried beans and fry jacks.
Fry jacks especially feel like they belong to mornings like this—light, warm, slightly imperfect in shape, and entirely comforting.
The Quiet Part of Leaving
At some point, travel always shifts from discovery to departure. Belize had been generous in every direction—jungle, coast, water, food, people, rhythm. And now it was simply time to leave it as it was.
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