Belize baby

  Ambergris Caye, Belize Cayes, Belize
Thursday, November 20, 2008

I woke up on Thursday morning not knowing where exactly I was going to end up but it would be somewhere in Belize, likely Belize City or Caye Caulker, an island just out in the ocean. I jumped on an early bus and reached Chetumal on the Mexican side of the border in time for lunch. Chatting to an American guy I discovered I could get a boat from the Belize side of the border to one of the other islands. Much easier than a second long bus journey to Belize City and then the boat. By early evening I was standing on the dock in San Pedro, Caye Ambergris (Mini Miami as its also known) with 6 new friends and we were off in search of a hostel. Pedro's chicken coup run by an English "gent". A bed is a bed and thats all ya need hey?

The islands on Belize have a pretty cool chiled out Carribean vibe. Think The Malibu Rum "you give me road rage" adverts.  Most tear around the streets on golf karts, gotta love it, adds to the chilled out fun vibe.

Beach tracks at Caye Aubergis

Friday, a few of us from the hostel hired some bikes and explored the island. The weather was fantastic (finally proper tanning time!) and we cycled around the beach tracks right on the water. It was remarkably quiet for such a beautiful island, even if it is off season. I saw many iguana, herons, pelicans, crabs and fish in and around the waters edge. After some swimming in the ocean at Captain Morgans resort we headed to the south of the island to watch the crocodiles being fed.  Many American Salt Water Crocodiles live in the lagoons on the sheltered side of the island.

Feeding the crocs

 The local guys like to entertain the tourist by enticing these guys ashore with chicken and then stroking them and sitting on them. The older crocs are used to it and have become quite tame but they donīt try it with the younger volitile crocs. Friday night I sampled some of the local rums and tasted a lobster burrito, a meal with is an accurate relection of the mix of the Carribean and Latin in this area. Most of the people here speak English (they use a form of English Creole eith each other) however in the west of the country Spanish is more dominant.



Saturday I had hoped for some snorkelling but the weather was too windy, so I chilled on the beach for a while and marvelled at my ever-so-slowly tanning arms. Saturday night consisted of watching the Ricky Hatton fight, some more rum and some pool. I could have been back in London!

First of many chicken buses

Sunday I had intentions of making it is far west towards Guatemala as possible by darkness via Belize zoo. After a short boat ride back in to Belize City, a town best described as a modern day wild west, I discovered today was to be my first day on a chicken bus. (The old american school buses used all over Central America, renowned for being overcrowded, hot, bumpy and smokey). The general idea seems to be to cram as many people onto the bus as possible and then squeeze some more in, like the Central Line in the mornings.



Belize zoo is regarded the finest in Latin America and it certainly had the most natural look and feel to a zoo I have experienced. The animals have large enclousres in a jungle setting. Itīs main claim to fame is the rehabilitation of local "troublesome" jaguars. The are known problem cats that attack farmers livestock. Instead of shooting the cats, the zoo takes them in, puts them through a programme to tame them and then offers them out to zoos around the world. When visiting the enclosure I got the impression that they train the cats a bit too well. Upon my arrival at the enclosure, a jaguar waltzed over, performed a twirl, lay down and started posing centrefold style for the camera. Later in the day I had a lucky escape when I heard a clatter behind me. I looked around on the path where there was a rather dazed and confused looking 4 foot iguana. He had fallen out of the tree many metres above my head. As soon as he came around he made am embarrasingly hasty exit for the nearest enclosure.

A jaguar..

..poses

Drunken Iguana