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Today, I awaken before anyone else and decide to go fishing. I start on the sea side of the split. It is very windy and casting with my 4wt trout rod is difficult to say the least. The wind is also causing ripples on the water and I can’t see even see the sandy flats below. I’m blind-casting sloppily into the wind and my line is a tangled mess at my side. I can hear Haywood in the back of my mind telling me that I won’t catch anything if I can’t see the fish. I give up quickly realizing that my efforts are futile and decide to try my luck on the calm side of the island to see if it’s any better. There is a line of f fly-fisherman working the edge of the flat that follows the split. These men are decked out in all the latest gear and have equipment much better suited for the conditions. They are throwing long, perfect casts with ease. I’m much too intimidated to join them. I watch for a while, make a few casts from a dock, and head back home.
Our plan today is to take a boat ride
to explore the uninhabited north island of Caye Caulker. I tell the girls that the shores are littered with the finest seashells they’ve ever seen, and they are brimming with excitement. Karin takes one look at Haywood’s canoe and quickly decides we should rent kayaks instead. Can’t really say I disagree. There’s a place down the street called “Chocolates” that rents them by the hour.
Chocolate is the name of the man who owns the shop. He’s a thin older man with dark leathery skin. He’s got thick silver hair and a matching moustache. He’s also famous for his manatee tours and is well known by everyone on the island. I had originally hoped to take his highly recommended tour, but decided against it yesterday after a very strange conversation with the lady at the front desk. In a roundabout sort of way, she conveyed that she really had no idea if, or when, Chocolate would be conducting the tours again. She was scheduled to leave the island for a week or two, and apparently the tours were subject to his mood that day. After this conversation, I had pretty much checked this one off my to-do list.
We all walked down to his place around 9:00am to figure out what we wanted to rent and how much it would cost. They had single and double kayaks. The singles were very similar to my kayak at home. We decided we would do two singles and let the girls sit on the back. Chocolate was sitting on the porch swing on the balcony. “Can we rent some kayaks?” I yelled up to him. “Maybe” he replied. I chuckled assuming he was joking. He wasn’t. That’s an odd response, I thought to myself. He looked at his watch and announced “It’s too early right now”. Are you kidding me, I thought to myself. “Maybe later?” I asked, slightly confused. “Maybe” he says once again. “Come back at 9:40 or so, we’ll see.” Karin and I gathered the girls to walk back. It was all we could do to contain our laughter until we got out of sight. Neither of us could believe the bizarre conversation we just had with this man. At 9:40 we headed back down. Our bags were packed and I my fishing rod was in hand. Chocolate hadn’t budged. “Can we rent the kayaks now?” I ask
politely. “I don’t think so” he replies. “We don’t rent to fishermen. There are other places down the road that are cheaper anyway.” I don’t know if it was the kids, the fishing rod, or he really was just this moody, but by this point, I’d had enough.
We continued down the road and rented a huge two-man kayak from one of the vendors. There were two seats in the middle and a large enough space at the front and back for each of the girls to sit. The man says there is a sandy beach and good swimming area just a half hour paddle away. We set off in no particular hurry. We stopped to look at starfish, got stuck on a few low spots along the way, and eventually made it to our destination about 40 minutes later. I pulled the boat onto shore and we began exploring. The girls gathered lots and lots of shells and I eventually get stuck in some mud up past my knees. I made the mistake of jokingly telling Karin that it was quicksand. With that, she had seen enough and was ready to go back. I don’t want to get
caught in the heat of the day again anyway, so after a quick dip to cool off, we begin the paddle back.
We’ve worked up quite an appetite by the time we get back and I can’t wait to eat at one of the BBQ pits that seem to spring up randomly on the beach. I walk up and down the main street surveying the scene. It’s now our third day on Caye Caulker and most of the vendors seem to recognize us. They no longer yell or hassle us to buy their goods; instead they simply greet us in their own individual ways. We stop at a grill being run by a man with a thin moustache and beret. He certainly appears to be French, but it’s impossible to discern from his accent. We get a red snapper kabob, rice and beans, and coleslaw for $7.50. It is out of this world. His sign simply says “Best BBQ on the beach” and I’m certainly not going to argue. Karin loves the fish-kabab, so I leave the rest for her and head back out. This time I choose a different pit being run by a jovial local lady. She
has BBQ chicken, beans and tortillas, and cole slaw for $5.00. There is a good sized crowd gathered and everyone is raving about how good it is. They are right. There’s one thing for certain, the people of Caye Caulker definitely know how to BBQ. There are probably 200 houses and 50 rentals on the entire island and every single one of them has a pit in the yard (often 2 or 3). BBQ isn’t just a hobby for them; it’s a way of life. Even the restaurants typically have a BBQ barrel in full view where they prepare your food. This is my kind of place and I decide that I would be perfectly content eating from these beachside pits the rest of the week.
We chill on the hammocks for an hour or so while the girls write in their journals. Afterwards we head up to the split for a swim and a few cocktails. On our walk back we see that Willies is having a buffet tonight. All you can eat fish, chicken, shrimp, rice, noodles, and veggies for $9.00; can’t beat that. We shower up and head out for dinner around 7:00pm. The place is packed. It’s evident that Willie has his hands full, but he still finds time to welcome us and promises to bring the girls the shrimp they loved so much the first time around. There are about 40 people seated. Willie only has one helper and two modest sized grills, one of which is currently covered with whole snappers. I have no idea how will ever pull this off. He begins bringing huge bowls of food to a central table and the mob swarms. We hang towards the back and much of the food is gone by the time we get to the bowls. I manage to get the last piece of chicken, we both get a fish, and we get as much noodles and rice as we want. Eventually more veggies are brought out as well. As promised, Willie personally delivers a giant bowl of shrimp for the girls which Karin and I also sample. All-in-all it wasn’t nearly as good as our previous experience at Willies, but there’s little doubt that the evening was a financial success, and we’re happy for him.
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