Caye Caulker with good friends and beautiful views
Trip Start
May 18, 2009
1
10
11
Trip End
Aug 21, 2009
San Ignacio, Belize
Saturday, June 6, 2009
It has been far too long since I’ve
updated this blog... guess I’ve just gotten into the Belize way of
life. So much has happened since that day in ATM, 3 weeks ago!
So far, I’ve raised over $300 for
Cornerstone through Fundable.com. Our truck that we use for many of
the programs here has been broken for months and we are trying to
fundraise to get a new one. I’ve contacted a lot of alumni who have
been very generous.... we’re no where near our $2200 goal though.
After the weekend at ATM, two new
people joined the Cornerstone family, Dan from Portsmouth England and
Erika from San Diego. We became friends quickly and Annette and I
invited them to travel with us for the weekend. Friday morning, after
lunch, the three of us boarded the local bus for a 3 hour ride east
to Belize City. Luckily, we got to the market where the buses stop,
just as an express bus pulled in. This was very lucky because the
non-express buses stop for people at the side of the roads along the
way and can take hours longer than express buses. We were also lucky
enough to get our own seats, at least for a little while.
Belize City is a busy place and the bus
station was packed with taxi drivers, we found one with a van who
took us through the narrow streets onwards to the dock. At the dock,
we had just enough time to wwait in line for our tickets (in
AIRCONDITIONING, yay!!!!) and then get on the boat to Caye Caulker.
Time-wise, today couldn’t have been any better! The boat was full
and it was a long hot ride to the island.
Finally at Caye Caulker which looks
like paradise. We were all hot and tired and wanted to find a room
so we could get in the sea, asap. Several places looked alright but
at $40 US a night, we weren’t staying. Finally found “Sandy Lane”
where we were offered a room with a double bed, single bed and shared
bathrooms for $12 US a night. We took it and were happy to see we had
the whole compound to ourselves, apart from the huge iguanas and the
loud roosters in our yard.
After getting settled, we went off to
find a place for dinner and found a place where we would spent most
of our time over the next 3 days. Amazingly, as much as we were
there, none of us thought to see what the name of the place was. They
had little thatched roof gazebos with swings for barstools, what a
great idea!
We headed to “The Split” which is
the part of the island which was divided by Hurricane Hattie in 1991.
South of the split is where the town part of the Caye is, north of
the split is uninhabited and very rugged. We found a bar at the tip
of the split which had picnic tables in the water so you could drink
while you swim. Before we knew it, it was well into the night and we
had met some interesting people.
We stopped by the store on the way back
to our room, since all of us were on a budget, we got peanut butter,
jam and a loaf of bread. No one thought to bring a knife so we used
another slice of bread to make our delicious sammies. Dan took the
single bed, Annette and I shared the double and Erika (what a little
trooper) volunteered to take the floor.
In the morning, Annette and I were
COVERED with bedbug bites. I guess the lesson learned here is that
you get what you pay for and we couldn’t really complain after only
paying $3 a night for our humble abode.
Back to our favourite restaurant, the
bartender told us of a little known spot where we could swim for the
day and off we went. We spent the entire day on this gorgeous little
thatch roofed pier, swimming, reading and generally doing a whole lot
of sitting. Some local kids were playing there and entertained us
with some pretty impressive flips and dives into the shallow water.
Erika was playing with the kids near
the steps to the dock when she felt something sharp on her side, she
got out of the water and was breaking out into a huge rash. The kids
told us it was a Jewfish (how appropriate, a Jewfish bit little
Jewish Erika) and that the fish attach themselves to the dock and
sting, similar to jellyfish. Luckily, she was able to get some cream
from the pharmacist ( whose expert opinion was ‘you got stung by
something in the water and have a rash now’).
Annette and I went to a yoga class that
was held next to our place. It was, for lack of a better word, an
unforgettable and magical experience. An ex-pat had set up the
business using the top level patio of a 5 storey hotel resort. Our
class was sunset yoga and we started in the breeze, facing the sea on
one side of the island. As we continued, we faced the other way,
looking into the sunset and the sea on the other side of the island.
It was an amazing experience, well worth the long journey back to the
Caye just for that class. I realized though, that the day at the
beach, combined with the lack of sunscreen had predictably turned me
into a tomato. A painful red had started replacing my tan and I
regretted not being just a bit more responsible.
We had a few more drinks at our local
spot and looked for a place for dinner. Erika had told us about ‘a
place with ingredients for dinner for only $10 Belize!!’ which of
course just sounded like a grocery store but she was sure she had
seen something that said that. Eventually we did find the place she
was talking about called “Willy’s Wish” which was in someone’s
yard. The cook came out, a big rasta guy who chained smoked and
laughed a lot. His first reaction to us ordering food was
“shiiiiiiit, that’s gonna be awhile, you’re not hungry yet are
you?” and told us to go grab a hammock under the trees to relax.
The cook gave Dan a golf club and dug a little hole in the yard and
told him “If you get this in, dinner is free, if you miss, you’re
paying double” Dan missed the hole terribly but blamed the dirt on
his bad swing. I decided to wander around while we waited for our
veggie stirfrys. In behind the house, I found neat little blue crabs
that would scurry into the holes in the mud as I approached. If I
stood still long enough, they would come back out and cautiously sit
next to them, only to go back in once I was close again.
The food did not disappoint, we got a
big platter of stirfry to share. I asked for hot sauce, thinking we
would get the usual and delicious Marie Sharp’s Heat - The pride of
Belize and on pretty much every table. Instead, he laughed and asked
us if we were sure. Another man had rolled up on a golf cart and
joined in with him, saying we couldn’t handle the heat. After a
long while (and lots of chopping and swearing coming for the upstairs
kitchen) he brought down a colourful bowl of onions, peppers and
vinager. Annette and I put some on our veggies and dug in. It was
excruciating pain. Like a slow burn that just got hotter and hotter.
The cook and his friend teased us some more as we bravely added even
more of the sauce. Both of us by this point we in tears and trying
to convince Erika and Dan to try a little taste. They wouldn’t have
any of it. We thanked the cook for his food and hospitality and went
to our fav little restaurant by the sea to swing with our Belikin
beers.
After, we tried a game of ‘21’ on
our porch... I was too sunburned and all of us were a bit too far
into the rum to make much sense of the game. Annette and I slather
bug spray on ourselves and hoped the bedbugs would leave us alone.
In the morning, back to our fav spot
for one last time, then on to Belize City and eventually back home to
San Ignacio. It was absolutely the most perfect weekend, can’t wait
to go back to the Caye!
