Caye Caulker

We caught a bus to Belize City which used to be the capital but to me seemed like a really small town. We then caught a water taxi over to Caye Caulker - well it was proper picture postcard stuff with crystal blue water and sandy beaches. Our hotel looked right onto the beach. The island does not have any cars as you can walk everywhere on sandy tracks but there are golf buggies for the really lazy.



First stop was the sports bar to catch the Champions League final - they were serving pints as well - my first in a long time so it was a good afternoon! Then there was just enough time to explore the island.

We had a group meal at Marlas Kitchen a place popular with the locals so we looked a bit out of place but the BBQ chicken and mashed potato was spot on.

My room mate was feeling sick so stayed in the room. Most of the group chipped in for some local One Barrel Rum and some Coke and we sat on the beach drinking under the umbrellas.



There was a very heavy rain shower but we were able to shelter under the umbrellas and carry on drinking. I popped back up to the room an hour later and knocked on the door. As soon as I walked in I saw that the room was flooded - my room mate was in a right daze and it was only when he realised his feet were wet that he got why I was shouting. Basically the bathroom wall was leaking rainwater and it had spread almost accross the whole floor of the room - my roomates stuff was wet but luckily I was just in time to lift my pack up off the floor. Fortunately the hotel did some quick repairs the next day!

The next day I signed up to do a snorkelling trip - the company Toucan recomended didn´t seem too good so we opted to go with Rag-a-Muffin tours which were a lot more professional. Basically it was a sail boat (with motor) where we travelled out to 3 snorkel spots and they provided lunch and rum punch.

First stop was the Coral Garden where we were free to swim around on our own. The fish were spectacular and it was interesting to look at the coral. I was a bit gutted I wasn´t watching the guide though as I missed the Manatee (sea cow) which are really rare.

On the way to the next spot I started getting a bit sea sick - however I was told the cure was to sit on deck in the middle of the boat and suck on a bit of lime! The second stop was the best one for me - shark ray alley . As the name suggests there were loads of sharks (mostly nurse sharks) - all harmless I hasten to add although it was a bit nerve racking jumping into the water as they were pretty big.

There were also rays which were massive - they can sting but the guides showed us what to do to avoid it.

After lunch our final stop was the Hol Chan marine reserve. This was pretty good too as we had a guided tour with our guide swimming down and pointing at stuff before surfacing and shouting out the names - so we got to identify lots of different fish (including Snappers, Angel Fish and Sergeant Majors) and coral (including Brain Correl which looks rank).

After this stop we used the wind and sails to get back to Caye Caulker - on the way we had some rum punch and that took my mind off the sea sickness.

We finished the day with a group meal at a restaurant on the beach and a quick crawl of the islands bars.