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Published: December 15th 2008
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13th - 16th November
Arriving in Belize City we were immediately struck by the profuse culture shift, the abundance of the English language, the vibrant sounds and colours of the Caribbean replacing the Latin-Spanish atmosphere to which we had become accustomed. You could almost hear the cogs in our brain slow to a more relaxed rhythm as we settled back into our mother tongue. A boat ticket to Caye Caulker was bought and a plate of rice and beans eagerly consumed, washed down with the local brew, as we waited for our water taxi to the Cayes.
Caye Caulker is the cheapest of the Caye’s, though still relatively expensive when compared to the mainland. We found the cheapest place possible, a wooden hut on stilts which we shared with a few too many non-paying guests, situated a few huts away from the beach and guarded by an aggressive sounding dog. Bags were dumped and we hitched a lift back to the town on the golf buggy taxi which had taken us there, and inevitably ripped us off royally.
We found an internet sports bar/cafe on the waterfront and watched the titanic moon, which we initially took to be
the setting sun, rise while sipping overpriced beers. That night we treated ourselves to coconut fish curries, the island’s delicacy, and watched giant crabs scurry around the sandy restaurant floor. We also investigated snorkelling tours and booked ourselves on to an economic half day tour to Hol Chan marine reserve, enthused by the UNEP and ICRAN logoed fliers we had picked up at the agency.
The trip to Hol Chan area was spectacular. Our first stop, aptly named ‘Shark and Ray Alley,’ has been protected since 1999, we swam alongside nurse sharks, southern stingrays and, to my great excitement, spotted eagle rays. About an hour was spent here. The major disappointment, however, was that even in this protected area, our guide proceeded to pick up the southern stingrays for us to stroke. I don’t think my disapproval carried much weight however as the rest of the boat excitedly jumped back into the water to have ‘a feel’ and a skinny American boy (who was a remarkably capable free-diver) boasted about stroking the nurse sharks.
Our next stop was at the Hol Chan reef proper. Hol Chan, Mayan for ‘little channel’ is a natural channel in the second largest barrier
reef in the world. We were informed by our guide that it had been protected for at least 20 years and the abundance in marine life evidenced this. Here we saw the same rays and sharks and other marine life among the slightly more vibrant coral with the addition of beautiful coral fish formations and hawksbill turtles. We felt very privileged indeed, and slightly smug, seeing as our eager ‘friends’ had been too interested in their hangovers, in touching fish or in eating, to see the turtles aimlessly munching on the sea grass!
The last stop was shocking, we were now out of Hol-Chan and back to the local reef which had been protected for less than two years. The coral here was bland and much of it dead and lay broken off and greyish on the ocean floor. Guides were out spear fishing with tourists adding to the misery and desolation. It was a great shame, I thought, that the guides did not use this opportunity to point out the value of protected areas. It certainly hit home to James and I.
That night, in order to save money, we bought a bottle of pineapple squash, coconut rum
and fixed ourselves a ‘Belize Squeeze,’ (named after the first few). We then ate at the local Chinese fast food joint (the cheapest place to eat on the island) and relished our non-Chinese burgers and gawped and giggled at CNN.
The following day was spent chilling out. Caye Caulker is surrounded by sea grass so there is not really any swimming to be had apart from at ‘the split’ - essentially a straight, dividing the island in two, caused by a hurricane some years ago which has formed a natural swimming area, although strong currents and fast boats rage through the channel making swimming in the straight itself dangerous, to say the least. Reggae blares out of speakers and tourists and locals alike, soak up the sun and the Caribbean vibes from walls which presumably used to join up to the other side. Few, for some reason, sit on the beach itself.
We were up early the following morning to catch the 8am water taxi back to the mainland where we planned to catch a bus to Flores in Guatemala. We were rather selfishly pleased to see that the weather had draw in and that the island (previously
blue skied and hot) was cold, windy and blanketed in thick black cloud.
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