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Published: March 7th 2010
Butter cooler
Sheryl's excellent idea for keeping the butter from melting. It's in the bottle of water. We're flash packing to point of rediculous now with fresh coffee and a cafetiere.We're now in San Ignacio on the western side of Belize, 9 km east of the border with Guatemala.
We left Caye Caulker on Friday morning having spent the last few days enjoying the relaxed pace. We hired a double kayak for an hour on Wednesday and got a couple of dives in on Thursday at a dive site called Spanish Bay. The conditions, other than very sunny, were blustery which meant that we were bobbing around in quite large waves before decending to a 25m wall and drift dive.
Spanish Bay is part of the Meso-American Barrier Reef, the second largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef. The coral was spectacular along with the diversity of fish. We got to swim with turtles on both dives. On the first dive Sheryl's regulator (the bit that provides the air to your mouth) was leaking, so after every three breaths or so she had to clear the airway. This was a test of diving confidence as only a few dives ago this could have led to an early exit. We've both logged 30+ dives now, so our ability is growing, and improved communication made sure that Steve stayed
Caye Caulker
On a cloudy day - their winter supposedly. A good day for hiring a kayak. close by in case of complete failure.
The journey from Caye Caulker to Belize city was by water taxi, a very fast boat that got us there in 45 minutes. A quick taxi journey to the bus station left us taking our first local 'chicken bus' journey to San Ignacio. The seats were cramped and the bus regularly full, but the speed made the journey exciting if a little hairy at times. All in all it was a decent journey, and only cost us about £2 each to cross most of Belize.
One thing that was noticeable on the journey was the variety of ethnic groups. There were white folk (not just us), Garufina (black), Ladino (mixed spanish/indigineous) and Chinese. A group of men and boys all dressed in straw hats, blue shirts and dungerees boarded for a few stops too. No chickens though.
We had booked in to the Hi-Et Hotel located smack bang in the centre of town. It's very handy, but each night you get to tap your toes to the music coming from the local clubs. Again, we're not very good at staying up late and have missed out on the club action
going to bed around 9 to 10 o'clock. What is happening to us? Maybe the happy hour up the road selling rum and cokes at 60p each between 3 and 6pm doesn't help!
Yesterday we went to a Mayan ruin called Cahal Pech, a steep half hour walk away. The views were amazing, as were the ruins. Can't really tell you much more than that as there were no info boards, but it was impressive non the less. After, we headed to the market for a wonder. Today is Sunday and we're declaring it a proper lazy day to prepare for our crossing to Guatemala tomorrow. We're heading to a tiny town called Flores which is a peninsula in Lago De Peten.
As of tomorrow we'll be saying goodbye to the English speaking countries and ola to the rest of Central America. Wish us luck!
Hope all is well back home. Wishing you were here, even for a 60p rum.
Lots of love
S&S
xx
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Rhonda in Your Pocket
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