Caye Caulker, Belize - 10 January 08

We're in Belize!

Belize is a small country in Central America south of Mexico, north west of Honduras and north east of Guatemala. It is famous for its coastline and its great diving and snorkelling due to a long barrier reef which runs along side its coast. This place is great! Or, you might say, unbelizeable!

We left Isla Mujeres a few days ago and stayed in Tulum, Mexico for a couple of nights. Gorgeous, long white sand beach and some great Mayan ruins right on the coast overlooking the beach. It was an important shipping and trade port for the whole region in its day, up to about 500 years ago until the Spanish came in and took over. It would have been a pretty cruisy location for any 4 foot Mayan to get transferred to...

Then on to Belize. Got ripped off at the Mexico / Belize border by a dodgy Mexican, but it was our first border crossing and we'll be getting wiser and more used to the tricks from now on. Harder when you don't speak the language. The difference was amazing when we checked in at the Belize border control right next door.. they all speak fluent English and were really, really, really friendly. No money was required either. The dude was even asking me about Ian Thorpe and how cool he is, and told me he's got the Thorpedo video and was really sad about Steve Irwin. Class!

Caught a small boat with loads of locals from Belize City for 45 mins to the island of Caye CAulker (pron: Key Caulker). The people here are so different to the Mexicans. For a start they're all about 2 foot taller. The population here was made from British pirates and African slaves and they are proud of their mixed heritage. There's a very strong Creole influence, and everythign here is more like the Caribbean people, rastas.. so freindly and loving love and peace. Very good looking people with massive, wide white smiles.

We're staying in some basic rooms right on the beach. The food is barbequed seafood, all caught locally and we've been trying it all out. :-) James is off getting a massage right now as a bit of a treat. Tomorrow we are booked on an all day snorkelling trip aboard a sailboat called Ragamuffin. Should be ace. We're going to a reef about 25 mins away which has been protected for more than 20 years so all the marine life there is really big, fat and happy. :-) The first stop is somewhere called Shark Ray Alley.. cool..! :-D

We are both having loads of fun. We're really brown and James has a few more freckles. ;-) I've read a couple of books already and we are sleeping and relaxing and keeping our eyes and ears open to every new sight, sound and experience. Have been chatting to some cool people - locals and travellers alike. We've decided we need to stick to a pretty strict budget from now on, starting tomorrow, if we want our trip to last more than a few months!

Better go. Got some lobster kebabs in coconut sauce to eat under some palm trees on the beach. (seriously, it's just like that). So in the words of the Belizian people, stay cool mon, relax, enjoy your day, peace.. one love.... :-)

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