Old Belize Train Ride

Enter through the dense sub-tropical rainforests of Belize, which blanket more than half of the country’s land cover. The space is fashionably untamed across its verdant showcase of flora from wet and dry environments, and those between; a waterfall and limestone cave display are complete with stalactites and stalagmites.    

Replicas of temples and tombs act as an ode to Belize’s indigenous Maya ancestors, radiant under a starry night. Between the Mopan, Q'eqchi, and Yucatec groups, Belize was the home of some of the earliest Maya settlements, and Maya today make up an estimated 11% of the country’s population.

The Industrial section returns to when the sugarcane, chicle, and logging industry reigned supreme in then-British Honduras, complete with genuine artifacts like a sugarcane press and steam-powered sawmill. Chicleros post on their chicle trees with their iron spurs, while key players—like Yucatec Mayas fleeing the Caste War, ex-Confederates, and British and Scottish elites—tell the story of the rise of the sugarcane industry. 

A typical Garifuna fishing home, with relics of the coastal community of Dangriga where this culturally rich and resilient people first settled on arrival. The Garinagu, who found a new homeland in Belize, led an epic exodus to the shores of Southern Belize, arriving in the very dugout canoes and dories on display more than 2 centuries ago. With it, weaving a mosaic of arts and heritage into Belize’s cultural tapestry. 

Circa 1910, find yourself in the middle of North Front Street—a main street of the once British colony. Belize City was established in the mid-seventeenth century as a trading post for precious woods from the Central American hinterland. Built on red bricks hundreds of years old, many weatherboarding-clad buildings were styled Creole Colonial, like the ones you’ll find on display during our Old Belize Train Ride.