Paradise! (aka Belize)

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Oh my god, we found paradise and its at Caye Caulker, Belize. This place is amazing. When we arrived it was pretty late - we were lucky enough to meet a local guy on our bus who rang the ferry company to delay the last ferry out to the island until we arrived. Needless to say we didnt see much when we arrived. The next morning we got up and decided to do a little exploring and found what they call the split. Back in the 60s, the island was split in two by a hurricane, hence the name. There is a bar here, with picnic tables that were submerged in water after the hurricane which they never changed - and we can totally see why. Its so nice to sit there in the water and have a few drinks. We spent a lot of our time here as you can rent snorkel gear and just go snorkelling off the bar. The water is that perfect caribbean clear blue that you imagine and great for snorkelling. We met some great people while were here as well - 2 Germans that we couldn't get rid of till we left for Nicaragua 2 weeks later!

We also took an organised snorkelling trip from Caye Culker which I think may be just as good as any trip to the great barrier reef. We saw some beautiful fish, but most amazing was all the sting rays - first of all we got really close to some small ones, pretty much swimming with them. And then we saw the biggest one we have ever seen, it was huge. Unfortunately we didnt have the camera with us for this one but we got a few of the small ones which you can see. Carol was also lucky enough to spot a shark in the distance.

There are a few extra things that also make Belize a little bit special. For one, it's the only English speaking country in Central America, by this we mean it is actually their national language. This is due to it having been affiliated with the British Empire before they gained their independence. Another legacy of this is that they seem to have no particular local cuisine - there are some coconut flavoured dishes but mostly it's fish and chips or cheap chinese. The locals are also pretty friendly, the motto of the island is "Go Slow".

There isn't too much else to say about our time at Caye Caulker, it was a lazy few days spent mostly at the split, but to date is probably one of our favourite places on the trip.

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