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Published: January 17th 2010
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So before leaving Dangriga, the debate began - south or north. Continue down south to potentially nicer areas, or head up north back to Corozal that we liked so much and could imagine living. Do we give up so quickly on the south? Should we spend money in the south to know for sure if we want to live there or not? Should we just go back north where we know we liked, and if it doesn’t work, spend the money coming back down? We talked for hours, met some tourists, talked to them. The decision came down to the fact that even if we liked the southern towns of Placencia or Hopkins, we could not afford to live there - thanks rich north american’s buying up land. So rather than going straight back to Corozal, we decided to go to another tourist hot spot - just to check it out on the way. So we bused back to Belize City - with our updated new and improved ‘bus getting-on’ technique, and headed to Caye Caulker.
Well this could not have been a better decision. It’s been 10 days know. This place is beautiful. Island paradise. The day we arrived the
sun was out, slight sea breeze, clear blue ocean, Belizean reggae playing everywhere. We found a cute little guest house for $BZ 25 per night, a bargain seeing as we were basically on the beach. We headed out our first night for a couple of drinks to enjoy the island atmosphere. After time in Dangriga where we ventured out at night and there was nothing open, the prospect of an open bar and people to talk to was all to exciting. We found the bar Bamboo - with happy hour from “3pm until everyone is happy”. They have swing seats at the bar - swinging and drinking, makes it hard not to look happy, but we scored happy hour until 10pmish, good work by us. The girl at the bar was Miss June in the Belizean Belikan (the local beer) 2010 calendar. This is a big deal in Belize, and of course when word got round, it bought in lots of extra male drinkers… We met some nice English and American couples - all very impressed at our guts to sell everything up and move to Belize.
So we’ve moved a round a couple of times since getting here. We
spent 2 nights at Tina’s backpackers - right on the beach where the water taxis come in. Prime location, lots of potential, but a horrible place to stay. (we’ve recently found out that the place has sold, just a week before we got here. The new owners have lots of work to do, but if the place can fill up on a bad reputation, things can only get better for them I guess). We made a batch of tortillas, got eaten by mice. People got bed bugs, rumours of sheets being turned over and wiped off after people checkout…and yet this place is always full. At least the communal areas were good and we met some really good people to waste a couple of days away with. We are now at Marilyn’s guest house down the other end of the island near ‘The Split’ if anyone looks on google maps. The 2 islands of Caye Caulker was once one - apparently a hurricane came through and split the island. Now it’s a great spot for snorkelling.
I have slightly conquered my fear of the ocean, or at least of a reef. We hired snorkel gear at $BZ 5 for the
day (as I didn’t want to pay $BZ 80 for a day trip each and not be able to put my head under the water). It took me about 30 minutes of getting frustrated with my goggles constantly fogging up and trying to breath properly and to get my head under water for more than one breath. Chad is very patient, especially since I could tell all he wanted to do was go and explore. But eventually I got there and got to see the beautiful colourful fish, the starfish, nurse sharks and so many conch shells - all under the patient guidance of Chad. After I got going, we explored for about half an hour. But I enjoyed it enough to go again later in the day. We have been out again another time and swam across The Split - which freaked me out a bit seeing as there was a very strong current, the bottom was so very far away and boats pass through the area quite quickly. But we made it and explored the underwater world of the mangroves.
So we are enjoying it immensely at this ‘Go Slow’ island, and making friends with some locals too.
I’m hoping someone’s mother will teach me how to cook local food. The rice and beans is so delicious here with stewed chicken - cannot get enough of it. We are hopefully looking in the next couple of days at an apartment to stay in. We are heading to San Pedro (on the next island of Ambergis Caye) to get our visa extended and wil probably stay in Caye Caulker for a month. We figured if we find any places we are interested in, we can at least leave our stuff in a secure house, and this is an incredible place to stay. There are no cars on the island, only bikes and golf carts to get around. The beaches are pristine, coconuts are plentiful and the water is very refreshing. Our guest house is on the lagoon side of the island - the local/non-tourist side, so we virtually have the beach to ourselves, and we get to see the most amazing sunsets. If anyone comes to visit, you will have to drag yourself away.
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