Hi, Diane again. No doubt Paul will resume more normal service in the near future when he gets his head above water for long enough. Not much chance of an internet connection down with those sharks!
We got the overnight comfy ADO bus from Playa del Carmen (Mexico). After a snooze we arrived at the checkpoint to leave Mexico where a grumpy official insisted we each pay 20 US dollars exit fee. Despite many complaints he insisted and wasn’t letting us go anywhere so, like everyone else in the line, we paid up. Then on to Belize immigration – hauling your luggage out of the bus, across a car park and around a couple of buildings in the middle of the night wasn’t the best experience, but soon we were on our way to Belize City. Luckily for us the bus ran late and we arrived at 8.30am, so at least it was light and we could see to walk into town.
We knew the neighbourhood wouldn’t be great but the walk was short. Belize is primarily English speaking, so easy-peasy we thought, let’s just find a bank. The first ATM wouldn’t give us any money, and the guard outside was trying to be helpful and was apparently speaking English – however, we couldn’t understand a word and resorted to sign language. Finally Paul found another bank and some money.
Wallet now full of Belizean dollars we found the water taxi terminal and had a well deserved breakfast – Paul had been out of range of Mexican food for at least 12 hours so obviously chose a burrito! I said goodbye to Paul as he was going diving again – this time for a week, one of those dive/eat/dive/eat etc etc routines. I left the city on the water taxi to Caye Caulker (pronounced Key Corker) – here’s the Swing Bridge which apparently is the only working bridge of its type in the world and was built in Liverpool in 1923. It’s one of the more picturesque sights in the area.
We arrived at the dock at Caye Caulker which is tiny, like the island. The weather was warm and sunny, nice!
I had booked into Yuma’s Guesthouse all of about 100 yards from the dock, a place with lots of lounging around space and comfy hammocks – an easy place to hang around and relax. Bunk rooms fine and the showers a nice degree or so off completely cold, but the friendly atmosphere, location and people made it a great place to stay. The place was full every night I was there, but then at about £8/night no wonder.
I went for a walk that afternoon, and was reminded I’m a long way from London!
Sat watching the fabulous sunset wondering where Paul had got to and how many sharks he had seen already.
I went on a snorkelling trip with Ragamuffin Tours to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, including stops at the local reef and Shark Ray Alley. Here’s the boat we were on.
After a first dip in the water at the local Coral Gardens to try out our snorkelling skills we stopped at Shark Ray Alley – yes, you guess it, both Nurse Sharks and Southern Stingrays are there in abundance, plus large groupers and various other beautifully coloured fish. We don’t have a waterproof camera, so here’s a picture of the sharks taken from above water. But, after being assured that nurse sharks are harmless, we did get into the water and very close to them all – it was awesome and they are huge!
We made a final stop at Hol Chan – ‘little channel’ in the Mayan language. No fishing is allowed in the marine reserve and we saw huge numbers of fish. Quite spectacular were the large eagle rays, the green moray eels and the amazing coral. Somewhere in the excitement we made time for lunch, then late afternoon cocktails and ceviche – a great day!
Caye Caulker was split into two islands a few years ago by a hurricane. The north island has only a few houses and is now a nature reserve. I went kayaking there amongst the mangroves and spotted kingfishers, ibis and on land came across significant numbers of wandering hermit crabs.
The main south island is where visitors arrive – it has no cars, just golf carts and bicycles. Most people just stroll around – it’s too hot to hurry, and in any case there’s nothing to hurry for, you’re on Belize time. Here’s a photo of the main street.
After a chatty morning with people in the hostel it was time for a very lazy afternoon.
Then fresh fish grilled at a stall on the shorefront for my evening meal. Do I really want to leave paradise? Well the time came, and I sped back to Belize City a day earlier than Paul was due back from the dive trip to do some sightseeing. It was a bit of a shock to see cars and so many people after quiet Caye Caulker. Just one bird picture this time, taken as we arrive back at the ferry dock.
I booked into Sea Breeze Guest House which was recommended as a safe place to stay – well, I guess this is one way of securing a property!
I met another woman and we both wanted to do something different – we fancied taking a day trip to the Mayan site of Lamanai by boat. No help from the hotel staff, but whilst walking around we managed to find a tour company rep and arranged to join their tour the next day (for a nicely discounted price!). We had a good evening meal of pork stew and local Belikin beer. It was nice to have a big double bed and a room all to myself after a few days of sharing with others.
The next day we had to be up early and after an hour’s drive we transferred onto a speedy motor boat to zip up the river to the Lamanai (which means submerged crocodile).
It was a wide river, with herons, kingfishers, ospreys and a few large termite nests in the trees. A few minutes into the trip the driver stopped suddenly and declared there was a large crocodile on the bank. We had hoped to see one and here it was, we were lucky. Only afterwards did we wonder whether it was real or not – I doubt you can tell from the photo, and I’m not sure why we doubted the guide, however, he didn’t stop anywhere else, for anything at all!
At Lamanai we walked into the deep undergrowth, lush palms, muddy and slippy underfoot, few people about. Very few of the original structures have been excavated and it was quite overgrown. The few we saw were pretty impressive, and here;s a photo of one. Note the man on the left-hand size of the picture, which shows the size of the thing. By now it was raining quite hard.
From the top of the highest temple you can look out over the jungle canopy. I climbed up, but didn’t take the camera as the steps were very slippy and I didn’t want to drop it!
Here’s some evidence I was there, although my designated photographer missed noting I’d reached the top L
BTW I look skankier than usual as it had been pouring down with rain for quite some time, and my waterproof is on a dive boat somewhere off the shore!
Feeling happy to get up and down without any trauma we were on our way back to the boat when we spotted a mother and baby monkey, tricky to spot in this photo – the mother is leaning with her back on a branch and the baby is playing around just below her. Howler monkeys we think – the guide was rushing back to the boat so wasn’t much help.
Back in Belize City it was raining again – very very very heavily!
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