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Published: January 10th 2008
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Last night in Flores
Jack enjoying the view of the lake on our last night in Guatemala Our last night in Guatemala was lovely, as we started with drinks at a bar by the lake, and then had a lovely dinner in a gorgeous restaurant. Sadly our time in Guatemala had come to an end though as we then had another early start, this time to head to Belize. While Belize is by no means a rich country, there is a stark contrast between Belize and Guatemala, as illustrated by the border crossing. The last hour or so of the road in Guatemala is a dirt/mud road and incredibly bumpy and uncomfortable. At the border you get out of the bus with all your luggage, go through the Guatemala departure hall, then walk up the road shaking mud off your shoes to the Belize arrival hall and get back in the van, where the road became pretty much what you would normally expect from a road, that is two lanes, no pot holes and fully paved.
We got to Belize City just on mid-day, which was a shame as we missed the boat to Caye Caulker by minutes. We had lunch at "Big Daddy's Diner" and quickly discovered that there isn't much to see in Belize City.
Caye Caulker
Welcome to Caye Caulker! Parts of it very dangerous, with even the locals advising us to get a cab to the bus terminal if we wanted to go there. Happily we were in the just the right spot to get a boat to Caye Caulker though. The funniest thing was two cruise ships who'd unloaded passengers and were being "greeted" by local helpful Belize men. Not sure if it's the kind of help they were looking for.
Caye Caulker is a tiny island about 35 kms north of Belize City. It's long and narrow, not even a kilometre across at the widest point, and about 6kms or so long. Very touristy, but very nice! Seriously chilled out. Think about the most chilled out place you've ever been - it will be busy and rushed compared to the pace here. They've elevated "laid back" to a whole new level. The breakfast place this morning said its hours were from 7.00am until 5.00pm, "but sometimes we close early and sometimes we stay open later. Sometimes we shut in the afternoon for a couple of hours".
It's an idyllic little island, covered with white sand and palm trees. Bars on the beach front have swing
Across the road
Our hotel is just across the road seats which is really cool. We went to happy hour last night (happy hour from 3.00pm "until everybody's happy") and happily rocked on swing seats while admiring the view and feeling white sand between our toes. You hear Bob Marley everywhere you go, and lots of rasta references. The language is English, but not as we know it. After living in the Caribbean for several years, Jack claims to be fluent in Caribbean English, but we've yet to test this out. Everybody is very friendly though - this morning I was greeted by a man as black as night biking past me with "morning gorgeous" (you have to imagine the accent!). It would be very easy to relax and chill here for a long time.
We are really excited about the seafood on offer here. Last night we had a fantastic dinner at a lovely restaurant built over the water - all three of us ordered lobster. Jack had a whole one nearly as big as him. After Guatemala it seems wildly expensive, but we later realised that three lobsters, desert, an expensive bottle of Italian wine isn't bad for $US40 each. But not an everyday occasion.
Although
Jack and Lucy
They fit right in! surrounded by beautiful turquoise water the beaches aren't great for swimming. Instead the main attraction seems to be sailing, and the nearby snorkelling and diving on offer. We will probably go on a snorkelling tour this afternoon. Because everything is so laid back there's not need to book anything in advance. In fact when we inquired about flights down south they felt necessary to advise us it's best to book a day in advance, ie not just turn up!
Ironically now that we've reached a land with proper roads we've decided that we'll fly to our next destination, which is in the south. Sadly Jack is leaving us, but Lucy and I are heading to Placencia for a couple of days at least. We're flying to make the most of our time, and putting a positive spin on things we think it'll make a fantastic scenic flight.
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