While Belize was my 44th country visited, it was my first south of Mexico.

An amazing, beautiful, peaceful place to escape from the hustle and bustle of the big city, Belize doesn't even have, or at least didn't when I visited there, have a proper shopping mall. If you want to go to a shopping mall, the nearest one is in Mexico. No complaints. I loved the natural beauty, the sounds of howler monkeys, the constant drumbeat of heavy raindrops on the sheet metal roof of my bungalow.

While it is hard to say what I liked most, it may have been the incredible Mayan ruins. And perhaps the most surprising thing I saw was a rather large and thriving Mennonite community out in the country.

Belize fun facts:

• The movie "The Dogs of War" (United Artists, 1980) was filmed in Belize, standing in for the fictional, standard African "Third World" dictatorship of "Zangaro.”
  
• No shopping malls – not a single one in the entire country, though they are building one in Belize City. There was a Big Bang Theory episode where Dr. Sheldon Cooper said he was going to buy things he needed at shopping malls as he traversed the country. “It’s called living off the land.” he said. This was my plan as I packed very light. No luck.
  
• While there may be some, I didn’t see a single fast-food franchise. No McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, nothing.
  
• The speed bumps are TREACHEROUS! Seriously, some of them are a couple of feet high, sometimes poorly marked, and occasionally appear on highways for no apparent reason (at least not apparent to me).
  
• Chinese population. In addition to the previously mentioned ethnic groups, there is a huge (at least with respect to total national population) Chinese population in Belize. No judgment call here, just something I found surprising.
  
• Belize is part of the British Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth is their head of state and her likeness appears on their currency.
  
• Finally, monkey roadkill. Never saw that before.