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November 25th 2007

Published: November 25th 2007

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Jackie G

Caye Caulker

Kicking back

Hello again!
I´ve just had several fantastic days in Belize! We left Playa Del Carmen at 6am for a 12 hour trip to Caye Caulker in Belize which involved several buses, taxis and a speed boat to finish the day! The first bus was fine, but the second for the next four hours was a local bus which also picked up anyone along the side of the road that put their hand out... We managed to get to Belize city just in time for the last speed boat out to the island of Caye Caulker and in time for the storm to set in as we boarded the half uncovered boat. Half of our group was undercover and the other half weren´t, which included me, so when the storm hit we were handed a tarporlan to cover us with as we speed across the Caribbean before arriving on the island just after dark. Caye Caulker is such a gorgeous island only an hour from the mainland of Belize and is such a great hideaway. It´s only about 600m wide and 6kms long without cars and completely based on sand. We only had one full day here which was spent snorkeling the

Caye Caulker

On the main road!

reef, eating, shopping and basically kicking back. Our hotel wasn´t that flashy, but was directly opposite the beach and where the local markets were located. Check out the pictures!!! Unfortunately we didn´t have that long to enjoy the extremely relaxed atmosphere, so much so that if you walked too fast in the street the locals would tell you to ¨slow down or we´ll have to give you a ticket for speeding¨. After enjoying Caye Caulker for two nights, we caught the speed boat back to the mainland & caught another local bus and headed west to San Ignacio which is in the mountain region of Belize and just 7kms from the Guatemala border. We stayed in an eco lodge called Trek Stop out on one of the mountains surrounded by lush vegetation and complete with it´s own cabins and butterfly farm. Our first afternoon was spent tubing down the local river over the currents and rocks, which I managed to stack myself on right at the end and hitting the only log in the river.... The eco lodge was such a great place to stay, we all had our own little cabins with balcony´s and eco friendly showers and toilets.

Caye Caulker

The drop toilets weren´t too bad, but after seeing my first tarantula on the path that night, I wasn´t that keen to use in the dark. The next morning we hiked up to my first Mayan ruins called Cahal Pech which was a city from 900BC to 800AD. Absolutely amazing!!! I was surprised we were allowed to climb on pretty much everything, and managed to get to the top of the main ruin which gave a fantastic view over both Belize and Guatemala. There was also a strong presence of military in Belize, but it was still a little off putting to finally get to the very top to be greeted by two military guys with guns. But they were friendly enough to have their photo taken!!! That night we just cooked up a feast at the lodge as well as finding some australian wine to share before heading off the next day for the trip to Guatemala..... All in all, Belize was an amazing place to visit. The main language is actually English due to previous British occupation, and it has a completely different culture to Mexico and Guatemala which it borders. Hope you enjoy the pictures!! I arrived