Belmopan to Caye Caulker

Still stranded at Tiny houses in Belmopan we called up the owner who very kindly picked us up and dispatched us downtown to the bus station for our next leg to Belize city. First I had to go to the phone company to find out why the phone was not working, then down to the bank to draw out more money as Belize was proving rather more expensive than its counterpart central American neighbours. (apart from Costa Rica)

Wish you were here?

 Just as we got to the bus terminal a bus pulled up and I asked to guy if he was going to Belize city and he said yes so we climbed aboard. It was a nice bus with air-con and just over an hour later we arrived in the centre of the city for the sum of £2 each. Then we had to get a rip off taxi to go 800 meters to the sea taxi dock as all the info we received strongly advised us to not walk the streets with rucksacks on as we would be targeted by muggers and con men. At the sea taxi dock, San Pedro water taxis were doing a promotion to allow us transit to Caye Caulker which was a reef island in the Caribbean sea for a bargain £5 each. The boat ended up being a speedboat for the manic 45 minutes transfer, sitting in the open midday sun whizzing along in a beautiful clear turquoise sea. It was an exhilarating ride and ultimately stunning passing all the pristine Caye's that litter the reef shelf.

Whizzing along in the back of a speed boat.

  We collected our luggage when we arrived from the ramshackle beach hut and walked the 5 minutes to the hotel resort as they don't have any vehicles here apart from electric golf buggies and cycles.
 The staff at the hotel were a bit unprofessional when we checked in at the Tropical Paradise resort as  the room did not resemble what we had booked on line, but they were not having any of it so we had to suck it up but to be fair for the price we paid it was a huge room with air-con so we were happy with that.
  After unpacking for the umpteenth time on our travels (it gets so monotonous packing and unpacking rucksacks) we explored the island which we found to our liking. No rubbish that had plagued most of the islands in Asia and friendly laid back locals. All the buildings were pristine and the white sand glowing. It was a very pretty and photogenic place. The sea was a beautiful glowing luminescent blue and the coast was dotted with palm trees swaying in the cooling breeze. It was pretty close to paradise for an island town. We ended up at the end of the reef at a place called the Split where we purchased some cocktails and sat with all the other party souls waiting for the sunset to the background of what I am told, very loud Soca music. It has nothing to do with football.

Blood red sunsets, Shepperd's delight.

   The sunset was super duper but the Soca was not to our rocking roots so cocktails sunk we headed into town to get some food. One thing we did notice about this place is it is very expensive as everything has to be bought in from the mainland by speedboat but they did not seem to bother the free spending yanks who come here in their droves as it is only a short hop from Miami. On the way back we bumped into a tour agent who we called Pirate as he had a dodgy looking gold ear-ring and some tall stories. He convinced us to go on a snorkeling trip next day as he promised us swimming with manta rays and sharks which was on our bucket list.  We signed up with him and headed out to dinner which was poor Chinese affair.

I like their honesty.

   Next day was hot as usual, but with a cooling breeze along the coast, keeping the palm trees busy. We explored more of the island which was equally as scenic but by midday the heat was intense so we headed onto the hotel jetty to grab a sunbed and swim in the sea. The sea was a bit choppy but a lovely colour. The breeze was stiff so kept us cool. While we were there a pair of gay guys sat next to us  and were taking pictures on their I-phones. When they sat down, the I phone fell out of his pocket and between the jetty planks and into the deep blue sea. Not sure if I-phones are water proof or not but he was gutted. They did not seem bothered about trying to recover the phone though, I guess they had a good insurance. That night we went for a more traditional dinner which was some yummy burritos and coleslaw with sweet mashed potato.

Paradise incorporated.

Next day it was pouring down with rain in the morning so we stayed in and watched some poor American T.V.. The weather cleared by midday so we went to grab lunch at a local 'jack' shop. "A what? you  say. A jack is a cross between a pancake and a pitta that is fried and filled with various fillings. Really cheap, tasty and super filling. The clouds were still heavy in the sky even though it was super hot so decided that the sea was too choppy for our boat tour to the shark reef so cancelled which was a shame as we were really looking forward to it. The afternoon we spent on the roof lookout of the hotel catching up on some research and reading some magazines we took from reception. Again in the afternoon the heavens opened again and were trapped in the room where I had to endure 'Fifty Shades of Grey' for a 3rd time in as many months. The rain cleared quickly and we patrolled the town but it was super quiet being a Sunday, everything being shut apart from the local church which was blasting out some Bible Bashing good vibes so we had a quick dance and retired back to the hotel after dinner. Our next destination is Chetumel in Mexico.

Obey the rules.