Belize - Lobster, reggae and coconut rum

So for what it's worth this is Day 21 in LatAm ( and Day 5 in Belize). Or my and Roger's 3 week anniversary if you're of the romantic bent ;)

We left Isla Mujeres in the Yucutan Penninsula 5 days back, taking the ferry to Cancun and then a 4 (read 6!) hour bus ride to Chetumal on the Mexican border with Belize. We decided to get a boat to Caye Caulker, Belize. As the boat was to leave the next afternoon, we had no option but to overnight in Chetumal, a rather typically soulless border town with next to NOTHING going for it other than its proximity to the beautiful Belize.  Sunday evening nothing was open, no restaurants, no bars, nothing. Our hunt for food ended at the docks, where we ended up wading through crowds of locals down by the docks clustered around Covent Garden style street entertainers, to join a queue for churros, the Mexican staple party snack. A dinner of churros (sticky, oily, and cloyingly sweet), washed down with luke warm Coke, was enough to drive us back to our motel room where we holed ourselves up for the night.

The following day we got hold of the boat tickets, Belizian currency, whole roast chicken, and surprisingly delicious Taiwanese bubble tea before heading to the pier to set off for Belize. Our bags were inspected by a squad of somewhat intimidating Mexican army personnel and a sniffer dog, which I later found out took a perverse joy in tipping people's water bottles over to spill the contents across bags and ground alike. The boat ride was two hours of butt-numbing bouncing to the island of San Pedro where we went through the most chilled out immigration procedure I have ever encountered - a passport stamp and a big smile, followed by a first taste of the local brew - Belikin, yumm! - and a second open speed boat ride to the island of paradisaical island of Caye Caulker...

Caye Caulker is a beautiful place, full of beautiful people. We have been chillin' here for 5 days enjoying warm seas,  speaking English for a change, hot sun, shrimp sticks, coconut rum, local beer, whole grilled lobster every night, lots of Reggae music, street parties, and most of all the incredibly laid back & welcoming locals.

Amongst all the chillin, which is hugely hard work, we also managed to fit in a day sailing to and snorkeling on local reefs, where we swam with eagle rays, giant sting rays, nurse sharks, turtles, giant barracuda etc etc etc. The snorkelling was mindblowingly good. Thank you Black Hawk tours.

We plan to leave tomorrow. That or risk never leaving the island. I'm devastated already! I'm about to find out if  we have enough people to charter a sailing boat from Ragamuffin Tours for a 3 day cruise down to the southern cayes, with loads of snorkelling, fishing and camping on tiny islands along the barrier reef. Otherwise it's straight to San Ignatio in Western Belize via boat and bus for caves/trekking before crossing the border to Flores, Guatemala. Watch this spot..

x