Welcome to Paradise mon

This is written in retrospect from Tulum, Mexico, since the internet in Caye Caulker was outrageous.. something like 12 euros per hour... so I'll try to recall most of the stuff that happened...

18 Mar

On the advice of a couple I'd met in Panajachel, I made a last minute decision to go to Cay Caulker instead of Ambergris Caye in Belize's northern cayes... the proved to be the single best decision I've made on this trip so far.

Having met Jonny the night before in Flores (he had only just arrived there that day), he was going to head to Tikal today and I headed off on my own to Belize bright and early (around 5am) from the hotel. On the bus was a guy I would later become really good friends with, Aries (from the Basque country), but didn't start talkin to him until we had arrived at Belize City!

I mention that Caye Caulker was the best decision over Ambergris Caye for this one reason: I saw a load of middle-aged/retiring couples plus several unfriendly types with their wheeled suitcases queued up for the boat taxis leaving Belize City (where our bus had dropped us off). I was thinking to myself "Oh great, it's going to be a Cancun crowd of rich obnoxious tourists on the island... ho hum"

Thankfully I quickly discovered that this crowd were headin for Ambergris Caye and then the following group (a cool bunch of 20-somethings from UK, US, Canada, Sweden, etc.. armed with backpacks and Gallo beer t-shirts) were heading for Caye Caulker.. score!

It was on the speedboat to Cay Caulker that I first got a glimpse of what was to become the norm.. the most perfect aqua-marine water with the whitest sand along with palm-fringed islands and manta rays skimming the water's surface under a sunny-but-not-too-hot sky and a fresh, warm breeze. Don't forget the ambient rasta music playing too.

Yep those pirate's sure had it made (pirate's used Belize as a base for piledging the seas around the Carribean.. they gave up pirating when they decided to become tree-loggers!!)

I got chatting to Aries on the boat over, plus Shannon Moran (from California!) and once we arrived on Caye Caulker we hooked up with 2 english girls, Nat and Liz, plus a german girl, Jane and made our way down along the beach to check out some cabanas on the beach.

Wow... Caye Caulker is stunning... over the following 6 days it really became my single favourite place on this trip. It has everything I was looking for in a holiday!

"Welcome to Paradise mon" came the welcome from the rasta as we went arrived at our cabanas, Lorraine's, on the beach. The cabana was a good deal.. myself and Asier shared one, the girls took another. The cabanas were on raised stilts and had shower (even though the water stinks of sulphur.. as it does everywhere on the island since it comes from underground). A family of iguanas was there to greet us every morn. It only cost 15 belize dollars each per night (7.50 USD)

That night, we all got drunk at Wish Willy's, with Willy (real name Maurice) providing the delicious rum and ambient tunes. Great laugh!

Right.. time to mention the food here.. delicious! Marie Sharp's hot sauce is an absolute requisite too.. yummy... Belizean Rum? It's now my favourite drink.. damn life is good...

"Tek it sloooow mon".. damn right!