Belize: Caye Caulker

We had so much trouble getting our airline tickets to Belize straightened out that we seriously considered skipping Belize and flying home early.  I am very glad we decided not to.  There was, as usual, some delay and a little confusion at the check-in desk in San Salvador but by this point, half an hour to be given boarding passes seemed like nothing.  Our flight was delayed about an hour but we still made it to Belize City in time for our connecting flight to the small island of Caye Caulker, where we spent the entire week.  Our flight was on a small, eight passenger plane and took eleven minutes.  We had amazing views along the way of the Caribbean Sea.

Ready to board

The Caye Caulker airport was nothing more than a dirt landing strip and a small building that appeared to serve as offices for the few companies that fly there.  We were greeted by a man with only one good eye and very few teeth who helped pull our bags off of the plane.  We then waited about five minutes for our taxi, which was actually just a golf cart.

Caye Caulker Airport

Iguana at the airport

There are no cars on Caye Caulker.  Everyone gets around by walking or golf cart.  After all, the island is only five miles north to south and less than one mile east to west.  We easily could have walked to our hotel from the airport, but since we didn't know our way around yet and didn't really want to carry the big bags any distance at all in the 95 degree weather with 85% humidity, we went with the taxi.  Our driver, Lou Lou gave us a tour as we drove.  There are only three main streets on Caye Caulker - front street, middle street, and back street.  Front street, is the nearest to the sea and takes you directly to "The Split", where everyone hangs out by the water.  Here are a few shots from around the town. 

Our favorite sign

Fire Station

Laundromat

Drinking is fun

Throughout the week, most of the time we just relaxed, and there is no better place for relaxing than Caye Caulker.  Nobody is in a hurry.  In fact, the unofficial island motto is "go slow."  Everyone is friendly.  There's not a lot more to do than snorkel, dive, sit on the shore, or enjoy the amazing fresh seafood.  We went for a few walks past the village to the mangrove forest and saw all kinds of lizards, including a few giant iguanas, running around.  We tried to avoid the midday sun but often before or after noon we would go down to the Split and hang out.  The water must have been 80 degrees and was crystal clear.

Testing the waters

Hammocks on the dock

Simon reading at The Split

Caye Caulker is known for its amazing snorkeling as the second largest barrier reef in the world is just a short distance away.  You can actually see waves breaking over the reef from the island.  So, even though we were quite happy with just hanging out, we couldn't miss the opportunity.  Simon did a half day diving trip with a small group.  I was wishing I had learned to dive at some point, but after the snorkeling trip we took, I can't imagine I would have enjoyed the diving any more.

On my birthday, we joined a sailing/snorkeling tour with Ragamuffin Tours.  There were about ten of us on the trip and we had three snorkeling stops along the way.  On our first stop we spotted a massive manatee and actually got pretty close to it.  The second stop was at Shark and Ray Alley where we swam with a ton of nurse sharks and southern stingrays, in addition to some huge fish.  Our guide caught a few sharks and rays so that we could touch them as well.  It was quite unnerving to have sharks swimming less than a foot away at times, but was an amazing experience.  Our last stop was at the Hol Chan Marine Reserve where we saw some beautiful coral, all kinds of fish, an eel, and my favorite, sea turtles.  For the trip back to the island, our guides, Ish and Chris, put up the sail and we cruised back while snacking on chips and ceviche and drinking rum punch.  It was a really incredible day.

Catching a shark

Our guide holding a stingray

Sea Turtle

Swimming among the fish and coral

Simon going deep

Me diving

After seven days, it was finally time to say goodbye to island life and bring our trip of a lifetime to a close.  We decided to splurge on our final meal and each had a full lobster meal (for just $15) at our favorite Caye Caulker restaurant, Rose's Grill and Bar.

Rose's menu

Rose's kitchen

The next morning we took an hour long water taxi back to Belize City and our final taxi ride to the airport.  It was hard to leave the tropical paradise we had made our home for the last week and even more difficult to come to terms with the fact that our around the world adventure was actually ending, but we were still excited to get home and see our family and friends.  Caye Caulker was the perfect end to an incredible trip.