Conch Shell Hotel San Pedro

... bus again and set off through the little town, was pretty and by this time we were driving a long the Carribean Coast. Our bus driver stopped at the start of Belize City and treated himself to a coffee and breakfast while we waited in the bus! From what we saw out the window of Belize City, it wasn´t somewhere worth visiting, more so, probably best to avoid. Very trailer park to say the least. We were dropped at ...

... to lose a week or two there. It seems the national motto is "go slow" - the signs are not just on the roads, but in restauants, bars and hostels. The island itself has no cars, which seems just as well as most of the locals seem to walk or cycle around with a bottle of stout in their hand. Its a fair bit stronger than the Guinness at home.

... in developing peoples perceptions. whoda thunk it. the local kids here seem to be facinated with me. apparently i am the first white "rasta man" that they have seen.... maybe i just look weird. Life here at the resort is really easy and idyllic (see pics) the roughtest part of my day, i imagine, will be deciding whether to go snorkeling on the reef or play beach volleyball, or lounge about in the sun next to or in the carribean...

... s and after our eventful night and early start, immediately fell back to sleep. The following day, once again, we were up bright and early. Thankfully it was a sunny and relatively cloudless day, with no storm clouds in sight. Having once again indulged in breakfast we boarded the boat and started a very bumpy 2 hour ride to the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is a perfectly round limestone sink hole which stretches some 300 feet in width and descends 412 feet (145m). Due to the depth of ...

... but we made the best of it. We went swimming a few times, and even attempted snorkeling during a brief lull. Visibility wasn't great, but we saw some cool fish, a starfish, some conchs, and even a few big rays. We found a great little spot to eat at for cheap called Amigos, and quickly became regulars there. We stayed at an awesome little cabana right on the ocean. We developed a love-hate relationship with the owner ...

... you could try a half dozen different ways to put the rain fly on, it only fit one way. It was pitch black and the storm went from nothing to full intensity in one minute flat, then pounded on us for 10 minutes and stopped. By the time we got our rain flys on we were all soaked, and then we didn't need it anymore. Half of us regrouped at the fire and drank the last of the rum punch while the other half went to bed. The next morning after breakfast we ...

... very nice, friendly looking town, but we never had any time there), we caught a cab directly upon hitting Belize City. Belize City is an unpleasant place, and being accosted by seedy looking men in the rain sounded even less pleasant than usual. The water taxi to Caye Caulker was leaving directly as we were dropped off, so we had no time to catch our breath before being bundled into the boat. As we left Belize's harbor, I saw a couple of dolphins leaping from the ...

... in a sideways bench wedged in under the overhang near the back, where we were cramped in, with no view to speak of and people constantly walking back and forth across our legs and over our shoulder. "It's obvious they know we're tourists," I thought resentfully to myself, "No one else got instructed where to sit except the children along the back, and they get a view." The boat pulled away on time, after at least a dozen more people piled on, in addition to one more bike, and ...