I was all packed and ready for the 9am bus to Belize City but still hadn't decided whether to stop at the zoo on the way there. Getting on the chicken bus I was pleasantly surprised to find that my legs actually fitted in the seats. - they obviously had less seats in Belize that the shorter in stature Guatemala. That and sitting by the window made the journey just as comfy as a transfer and a fraction of the price. While waiting at the tiny capital city of Belmopan I decided to get straight ot the island and relax rather than stressing baout my enrmous rucksack while I was at the zoo. This turned out to be the right decision as the boats to Caye Caulker were busy and I had to wait for the 1.30pm one as the 12 noon one was full.

An easy ferry journey and I arrived on the island paradise of Caye Caulker. The whole place has a chilled vibe - I have never been told by so many peolpe to slow down my walking and just relax! My hostel Pause was also a cat sanctuary and there were a lot of cats there although they took turns at coming out in the garden. There was also a small beach and dock and the whole place was chilled to go with the island. I ended uo in a 10 bed dorm as apparrently this would be cooler than my booked 6 bed dorm and it was definitely hot there!

That afternoon I called in at Frenchies to book a dive trip for the next day then headed for the Split for a swim, drink and watch the sun go down. I also caught up with David, the Belizian guy who I had met at La Iguana Perdida, and together we admired the toned male bodies throwing themselves of the dock and playing beach games!

I ate in the hostel and headed out to a bar David had reccommended and managed to meet up with John and two others from La Iguana and we had a few drinks before I retired to have a good nights before my diving.

Next day did not go to plan as my dive was cancelled as there were only two of us and the next day was going to Blue Hole - way too expensive - so I got my money back and booked to go on the 10.30 all day snorkelling trip with Ragamuffin tours instead. This turned out to be a great day - first visiting Shark ray Alley and diving with tens of nurse sharks and sting rays (no Steve Irwin incidents luckily), then going to the Ho Chan reserve and finally Coral Garden. All this with a good group, good food and sailing back to Caye Caulker with a large amount of rum punch.

I had also now decided to go straight to Mexico from Caye Caulker as the bus to Chetumal or Tulum did not go until 7.30pm meaning I would get in to Tulum around 3am - never a good time to arrive! I went to buy my ticket for the day after tomorrow and then decided to splash out on a manatee watching trip the next day rather than just chilling on the island.

There were only 5 guests on the trip the next day along with the captain and his 5 year old son. First we headed to Swallow Caye santuary. a large area of the sea designated as a home for manatees. We didn't find any in the main sea so headed into the managroves and clambered our way to a pool where there were 4 manatees resting. They all came over to see us several times and I think we all feel more than a little in love with them - so gentle and curious.

After this it was off to Goffs Caye, a tiny private island, for lunch, sunbathing and snorkelling. There were only two other groups there - a local group and strangely a group of Mennonites who went swimming fully dressed in their home made clothes. We had fish for lucnh and then got to eat the left overs of the local group which turned out to be lobster. I had two which made three really good cheap lobsters that I had eaten in 24 hours!

After our time on the island we cruised back stopping for fruit and rum punch breaks. Arriving back in Caye Caulker I strolled (slowly!) around the island taking photos and hoping (and failing) to see a good sunset at the Spilt then it was home for a home cooked meal and ready for the 7am boat to Mexico the next day