The Cabin:
The setting of our accommodations is perfect, right on the water and up on stilts. The only concerns we had were the smell of the bathroom and the other rustic aspects. I blame my initial reluctance on the long travel day to get here and comparison to some of the clean hotels we have been staying at. After a decent nights sleep and an afternoon sitting back on the front porch, looking at the water and feeling the wind, we realized this is exactly what we were looking for out here. We checked other places, most were cleaner and some even were equal in price, but none really compared. I would say this cabin is the primary reason we extended our stay.
Standing on the rickety wood planks that extend from our property out onto the water, we had looked in either direction and had dock envy. Clean wood structures with thatched roofs, hammocks, and lounge chairs. Without any real sandy beaches here, some hotels clear the sea grass around their dock so guests can swim, but not ours. This would turn out to be a non-issue as our porch view more than sufficed and our swimming could be done up at "The Split" (I will explain later).
Inside our cabin, it feels like a tree house with exposed wood siding painted purple, white, and sky blue. The bathroom has a half-sized swing door and the shower is a slow drizzle. There is also no mirror, which is always interesting. The freedom that comes with walking out the front door, not caring what you look like, is nice. You learn to let go of the worries that plague your life back home. Sure, I would look homeless and could probably make a few bucks if I walked around downtown Portland, but here nobody cares. That is generally true for backpacking anywhere, most travelers don't shave or get haircuts. They wear dirty torn clothing or ponchos and puffy pants, things that emphasize their escape from normal life. It is a little less extreme for us; Julia has used the IPad photobooth as a mirror a couple times and I may have taken a selfie once. But for the most part, I have no idea what my wind-blown salty hair and beard are doing, and I like it that way.
The People:
Caye Caulker is the most diverse place we have been. Immigrants from all over the world have settled here, either because they love the water or they saw a cheap English speaking place to live and make money off of tourists. The most prominent group is the Latino population. Some are originals, others came over from Mexico or Guatemala. They speak Spanish amongst their friends and family, but can switch to English depending on their audience.
The other major group is the Creole people. They give the place a Jamaican feel, with the accents and dreadlocks. Bob Marely music and paraphanalia are everywhere and tourists are constantly offered ganja. Shops have names like "Anda De Wata" and "Ragamuffin Tours", and signs that advertise "Di' 1 & only". They are a little more outgoing and aren't afraid to let a woman know that she is attractive and wonder if she would like to hold hands.
Rounding out the population are a good number of people from SE Asia, many of whom run restaurants attached to convienence stores. Plus a fair amount of Canadians, French, and other white people who visited and never left. For the most part, everyone mingles together in harmony and live by the island's "go slow" motto.
The Food:
With the mixture of people talked about above, the food options are actually quite good and varied, albeit expensive. The major theme is Creole dishes of either Chicken or Seafood, with rice. We splurged one night after seeing a spot on the main strip that was constantly crowded and had a charismatic owner. Simply called "Fran's Grill" and serving out of a small yellow wood shed, we sat at a picnic table and chatted with a couple from Lake Tahoe while drinking our 2 free rum cocktails and waiting for the meals to come out. Offering only 3 mains and no choice on sides (all come with curry rice and mashed potatoes), we went with the Red Snapper in garlic sauce and the shrimp in a coconut pineapple sauce. Both were excellent and the free chocolate cake topped it off. It ended up being our 2nd most expensive meal of the trip at $26, but we were happy that we got our seafood fix.
We also found the Chinese food to be most excellent and cheap. One small counter attached to a store had no tables but a good stream of locals popping in for fried rice to-go. We got beef chowmein and chicken curry rice, spent $12, and had enough leftovers for lunch the next day. That made me very happy.
Eating piles of Chinese food, watching street basketball
Then we found the cheapest options; a couple local food carts or shacks that offer tacos of all types, burritos, and burgers. Plus a local kitchen attached to a home, similar to what we had found in other countries, offering empañadas, baleadas (a Honduran quesadilla type thing), and other fried stuff. Our meal there was about $5.
The Island:
From our cabin, there is a sand path that hugs the eastern shore, past multiple hotels, to the ferry dock. It makes for a nice walk although it gets a bit dark at night and seems to be popular with bicyclists. To the south of us, the path crosses the small airport where small planes jump between islands. And further south it turns into smelly, uninhabited mangrove wetlands. Most locals live on the western shore or central. Colorful stilted houses filled with generations of families and gated condos for the expats.
There is a main sand road that travels up the east side which is sometimes crowded with golf carts, bicyclists, and walkers. No cars out here, but you will see the rare truck delivering stuff. The road comes to an end up north at "The Split", a channel that splits the island in half, created during a hurricane back in the 1960's. Most tourists go there and the people watching is world class. It has a bar named the "Lazy Lizzard" but many just hang out on dock and swim out to a sand bar. We roll up there about every other day to git in de wata.
Walking down the main drag
The main road has most of the tourist shops and restaurants. They brag about their food or tours and it is tougher to ignore them since they speak English. Now that we have been here for a while, I feel like some of them have started to give up on us. In general, basic needs are more expensive here than anywhere else we have found. Even the price of laundry service shocked us. The lady said it was 15 BZ$ per load (most places go by weight), and we thought we had just over 1 load worth. When we picked it up, we were shocked to hear it was over 2 loads and would cost us 40 BZ$ ($20 US). The most we had paid this trip was $10 US, and that was for an even bigger load. Julia questioned the ladies numbers and asked to see her washing machine. Eventually she talked her down to 35 BZ$ and we learned a valuable lesson; only do laundry by weight to get the cost upfront, and look around town more because we later found multiple laundry sites that would have been cheaper.
The Reef:
Just 1 mile off-shore is the 2nd longest barrier reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef). You can see the waves breaking over it in the distance. We knew we needed to at least go see it, so we booked a 3 hour trip to snorkel a few spots. Paired with just 2 other girls, the guide swam us around trying to point out things. No really huge schools of fish, but a good variety and some great coral. We saw the following things; Nurse Shark, Lobster, Squid, Lion Fish, Barracuda, Sea Turtle, Angel Fish, and other colorful stuff.
Some colorful fish and coral
At one point the guide pointed to a hole and said there was a Moray Green Eel down there. He encouraged us to dive down to see it, saying it was harmless and wouldn't leave its dwellings. I dove once but couldn't really see anything. Shortly after, the Eel came out and began swimming right at me. I have witnesses. I think he was following the rule of attacking the biggest guy out of the group, so the others run away. Well... he got within a few feet of me when the guide used his poking stick to distract him, and he retreated back to the coral. The group laughed at me but it could have been ugly. I researched Eels later and found out that they will bite divers fingers off when they try to feed them, or will attack if they feel their burrow is disturbed. I would have probably kicked it with my flippers, but who knows, if it would have got it's teeth into me, I would probably never go back into the water.
The eel coming at me while I bravely snapped photos
Our last stop of the tour was "Shark Ray Alley", where they throw sardines into the water so that the Nurse Sharks and Eagle Rays gather around the boat. A bit controversial and fake, but still kinda cool and heart pounding. I would like to point out that I was the first one into the water to snorkel around the sea monsters. After a few seconds, you realize they don't notice you and we kept our distance and watched. Now we can say we swam with sharks and my fear of rays has gone down just a little.
The other major attraction down here is the "Blue Hole", a sinkhole in the middle of the reef about 400ft deep and 1,000ft wide. If you don't know about it, you should look up pictures on the web. All tours out there are very expensive and it is mostly a diving destination, plus it is a 2hr boat ride away. I feel the need to mention it because it is probably the first thing most people think about when they hear Belize, and we didn't go see it. Maybe next time.
The Future:
That basically sums up our week here on the island. The rest and relaxation has been good but we are getting a bit lazy and are ready to get back on the road. Tomorrow (Monday) we will take the ferry back into Belize City before heading further west on Tuesday. Then we will dip back into Guatemala for a week or 2 to see some more ruins and natural wonders. We have been on the hot Caribbean coast for a long time now and look forward to the cool forests and hills further inland. I can't remember the last time I wore a long sleeve shirt. Who knows, I might even look in a mirror and decide to shave.
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