Our first taste of the Caribbean
Trip Start
Jun 26, 2006
1
71
119
Trip End
Feb 28, 2007
Caye Calker,
Belize
Saturday, November 4, 2006
Then we reached the border, was excited at the prospect of seeing and hearing english again! Had to get all our stuff off the bus and carry it across the border...not to much problem getting out of Guatemala, a small fee...then it was into Belize. It was like another world, with a proper border station. Was more complicated and took longer, no dodgy īfeeīto pay though, and we were there.
Back on the bus and another fairly long journey, through the middle of nowhere....but everything was in english and the actually had roads!!!!
a. our first sunset in Belize
Finally arrived in Belize City. We had been told is was a dump, and it sure was! I was amazed, it didnīt look anything like a city, just a run down hole. It has been raining loads and the place was just one big river...we even had to drive right through the middle of the cemetery! we got greeted by some bloke who led us to the water taxi depot. There we had a reasonable wait for the taxi. Some german guy was waiting with us, and we had to laugh (sorry i know its not really funny, but the naivity of some people is amazing), when he couldnīt get any money out of any of the cash machines...and only had 12 belizian dollars on him. Thats like 3pound!!! He decided he had to go back to Mexico cause he could get money out there, but didnīt have the money for the fare!!! He asked us to lend him money, but who in their right mind is gonna lend a complete stranger that kind of money??? Had to leave him there and get our boat, feeling a little sorry for him, but hey, if you havent the brains to read about places before you go what can you say??????Got our boat. Was quite a long trip across the sea. Soon lost sight of the mainland. Started to rain, so everyone piled inside....got very cosy....and was a little bumpy with all the waves....still was cool....i like boats i do.
Reached Caye Calker...still raining....got hounded by people trying to take us to their hotel...but was nice to understand them for once....knew where we going and happened to only be a few feet away
b. Roger the famous chef cooks our amazing dinner
! Checked in....and got chatting to the others....seems it has been raining for days!!!Went to find food. Found a little place, where lots of people were sheltering from the rain....got a good plate of chicken and rice for not that much money...seems the place is not as expensive as people claimed. Then went to find some money. Was very wet...and had to walk through several rivers! Was praying it would stop raining, the place looked so cool, but was a little dead in the rain.
Chilled in our room, then got invited to help celebrate some swedish girls birthday. The lovely owner of the hostel had made a delicious cake...tasted like warm chocolate pudding! We all chilled in the cool garden, right by the sea, and watched the sun set. The others so excited cause it was the first time in days they had been able to go in the garden without getting wet.
Everyone headed out for food, so we tagged along. Glad we did, they took us to this amazing place on the road, where a huge local guy (a celebrity on TV it seems?!) cooked amazing fish on a rusty old barbeque. Damn was it good! It took ages to come....the guy was hilarious too, all the work was done in the little hut...by his wife, but he got all the credit for turning the fish over occasionally and chatting to people!!!!!
Food was out-of-this-world though, we got a huge plate of 2 huge lobster tails...a huge bit of red snapper, mash potato and garlic bread for 20belizean dollars! Thats like a fiver!! We shared it and were full after...tell me where you can get lobster for 5pounds...and then try to tell me belize is expensive!!!! Was also cool cos we sat outside to eat it, and could go into the local shop, buy a couple of bottles of good beer, and they would open it for you, so you could sit and drink it in the street
c. help i think its been raining!
.Started to rain then, so headed back and played dominos!!!
The next day the sun was almost shining!!! cool!!! Spent most of the day eating and drinking...enjoying the sun and sand and spending way too much money!!!!
Started with breakfast in Sandbox...a cool place with sand on the floor! Did rain while we were there but didnīt last long. All we had to do was put our raincaots on and it stopped! Chilled on the little jetty for a while, and had a little swim with the fishes!
The headed up the island to see the split (or spliff as neil calls it), where the island was divided in two by a hurricane a few years ago. Was a bit of a dump down that end, but there was a cool hotel for sale, which had dream of buying!!!
On the way back checked out the prices of snorkling and boat trips....Neil like the sound of the 3 day sailing trip....yeah right in his dreams! But problem was he was serious!! he said it would be a cool way to get to Palencia the next place we were heading, didnīt seem to dawn on him, it was expensive!
had a couple of yummy smoothies in a cool place called Banboo to discuss it. I couldn{t believe he was serious. It was like 550 belizean dollars each! It did sound cool i have to admit, but me being sensible was saying NO. After our drink he dragged me up there again to ask about it. He said it was destiny as it had been due to leave for a week and was finally leaving tomorrow...when we wanted to go. When we heard what it included we were convinced! It was three days on a sailing boat, including several snorkling trips along the barrier reef (which alone cost $45 for half a day), camping on remote oslands, including one we had been told was cool, and all you could eat and drink for 3 days
d. the amazing Caye Calker
! The mention of rum was all Neil needed!!!!! We reserved our place and then went to find lunch...me still gobsmacked!!!!!!Lunch was good, barbeque ribs and rice, real cheap. Then went back to the hostel to try and recover from my shock!!!!!!!
Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find me some swimming shorts cause i have very little to wear!!!! No seriously i didnīt want to take much on the trip...and didnīt have decent shorts. Couldnīt find any, apart from tiny little things, that wouldnīt go near me! Gave up and went and did some washing instead!
Then we had to meet with the other people who were going on the trip for a briefing. Has a banter with some of the locals on the way...they are such fun....neil was naughty and bought me a rasta necklace...its seems money is no object! Its so nice to be able to communicate with people again! Had a beer while having our meeting. Others seemed cool, got to see our boat and meet our captains!
Then it was time for food again. No question as to where we would eat....Rogers again.
Had one each this time, Neil having lobster, me having the snapper....god its good. Got talking to an aussie guy taking the trip with us, and then a couple of americans.
Then it was off to pack and get an early night...ready for our big adventure.
Were sad to say goodbye to Caye Calker....glad we didnīt listen to the guy who told us not to come....its seriously cool!!!
