More Island Life

Central America Caribbean » Belize » Belize Barrier Reef » Caye Caulker
January 2nd 2007

Published: January 8th 2007

Hello there everyone

With Christmas over, it was time for me to move on with my travels. The sea off the coast of Belize is dotted with dozens of small islands, known as cayes. I decided to head for Caye Caulker, a well known backpacker destination. A short journey of 45 minutes in a water taxi and I was there.

Back in Mexico, an American called Chuck gave me a recommendation on a place to stay on Caye Caulker. It turned out to be good. Nice one Chuck. For a tenner a night, I stayed in a small wooden hut perched high above the beach on stilts. There was a balcony complete with my new favourite accessory, a hammock. The view was picture perfect looking out over the Caribbean Sea.

I had told my American travel pals, Tom and Anna (Anna is from California not Boston as I previously reported), that I would be arriving on Caye Caulker on Boxing Day. Luckily, they had managed to bag a hut just a couple down from mine. They were not entirely sure about Boxing Day but I assured them that we should celebrate the holiday in a traditional British way. So we went to a bar. My taste buds seem to have found an affection for the local Belizean beer, Belikin. By drinking the local beer, I like to think that I am undertaking some kind of ecotourism. By drinking more, I am putting my tourist dollars back into the local economy, which is good for Belize. Ecoboozing is going to be the next big thing.

The days on Caye Caulker were very sedate. There are no cars and the roads are all made of sand. Everyone uses golf carts, bikes or feet to get around. The lack of cars made the place very peaceful. A typical day would be spent as follows:

9am - wake up, rub your eyes, open the hut door and look out at the sea for a few minutes to wake up properly

9.30am - take a leisurely breakfast at Cafe Amor

10am-2pm - hammock time - to get the right effect for this phrase you have to say it as MC Hammer would say "Hammer Time" back in the 80s. And no dad - MC Hammer is not Scottish.

2-3pm - maybe take a short walk to the shops to buy groceries or collect laundry

3pm - Tom would usually pop around to inform me that our "bar" would be opening soon - explanation below

6-9pm - head off into town to grab a meal. The food on the island was great, particularly Rasta Pasta. Again, the floor was made of sand and the motto was "No shirt, no shoes, no problem", which I thought was unique but I have since seen it in about 4 other places.

Early on in the week, Tom any myself took a liking to the local rum, One Barrel. The problem was we had no place to perch ourselves whilst supping. I walked down the stairs of my hut one afternoon to discover Tom heaving big lumps of wood around. He had arranged them under his hut as a kind of lounge area. I then helped him retrieve an old lobster pot which made a great table when turned upside down. The final piece in the jigsaw was a further old lump of wood which could hold a bottle of rum, a whole selection of mixers and an icebox made out of a 5 litre water bottle with the front cut out. Hey presto - we had a bar. We attracted a fair bit of attention as we sat drinking and playing cards. People joined us including a crazy duo, Gerard and Geoff. They explained about their mission to motorcycle all the way from Michigan to Panama. They had some great stories and I'll be keeping my eye out for them as I head the same way by bus.

The absolute highlight of the week was a snorkelling trip to the reef. Tom and Anna had been given a tip to arrange a trip with an old local guy. He was very secretive at first but it later became clear why. He didn't want to spoil the secrets he knew. Once he sussed out we were OK, he agreed to take us out in his boat. He was an old school guy and prefered to sail us to the reef rather than use the motor, which suited us fine. For some reason the theme tune to Howard's Way ran through my warped mind as we cruised out there. As the guide told us about the snorkel and that it was fairly advanced, I remembered that I'd never been snorkelling before. Can't be hard can it? I decided not to mention it.

When we arrived, I jumped off the side of the boat. My mouthpiece slipped and I swallowed a mouthful of salty sea water. My mask instantly flooded and steamed up. I'd also forgotten to put my flippers on. Not the composed start I had been looking for. I decided to practise on my own to get the hang of it whilst the others set off. When I did work out how to snorkel, the sights were amazing. The guide could see that I was OK and beckoned me out towards the reef. He had been swimming and snorkelling in the sea all his life. He had a magic way with the fish. As I approached, I could see half the cast of Finding Nemo next to him. He was a proper old Doctor Dolittle of the sea. Creatures of every kind and colour were there. He pointed at something. I looked to my left. I looked to my right. I saw nothing. He pointed again - this time down below. I looked down to see a five foot long nurse shark about a whisker away from my stomach. I think he was perfectly harmless. It's hard to enquire when you're underwater. We all finished the rest of the advanced snorkel together and the guide sailed us back. As we stepped off his boat, he gave us all a hug. The sea means a lot to this guy and he was pleased to share it with us. As we left he gave us a parting instruction, "You can tell other people about me but don't send me no a**holes". He was a top man.

Tom and Anna were great people and they shared New Year's Eve and my birthday with me. Would you believe it? I'm nearly 30 now. Cheers for all the birthday greetings from you folks back home.

Keep the stories from home coming. Hope you're all well.

Joff

Next time - I hit the road again in Belize, there are big cats on the prowl and a tale involving a cheeky little monkey

Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved