Currency:
Belizean Dollars

Highlights:
Our first World Tour Scuba dives including the Blue Hole, Chocolate's manatee tour, unbelievable food, the split, Lazy Lizard, great friends, great times

Our Adventure:
It was time to say goodbye to San Pedro and we boarded the water taxi to our next destination in Belize, Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is a small island off the coast of Belize. It's popular with backpackers and budget travelers for its (relatively) cheap prices, laid-back vibe, and abundance of restaurants and bars. There aren't really any proper beaches to speak of, but plenty of docks are spread around the island where you can pull up a plastic chair and get your sun on, or hang out at one of the ocean front restaurants.

Upon arrival in Belize the first thing we saw as we jumped off of our water taxi was the islands motto engrained at the end of the dock which was "Go Slow" - we knew then and there that we had arrived at a place that we were going to love for the next few days.

We were met by our host Kim who guided us to our "limousine" which was a 6-seater golf cart. We had been recommended by Amanda, the person that we booked our accommodation through, that we would need a taxi to get from the dock to our perfect little home for the next few days called Georgia Peach as it was a 20 minute drive away.

We were soon to discover that there were only 3 roads in town, all sandy. Front Street ran along the east coast, Back Street along the west coast, and Middle Street exactly where you'd expect it. Everything is within walking distance - it takes approximately 20 minutes to slow-walk (and I will emphasise the word slow) from the Front Pier to almost anywhere on Caye Caulker.

So we loaded up our "limousine" with all of our gear and settled in for our 20 minute drive. One corner, 30 metres and 25 BZ$ (US$ 12.50) later we had arrived at Georgia Peach. Biggest rip off on tour. Ever. Mental note - you do not need a taxi on Caye Caulker to anywhere on the island.

After our initial rip off we managed to find the funny side things and after dropping off our bags we decided to head out and explore what Caye Caulker had to offer us. First stop was lunch at Bamboos where we sat with our feet in the sand looking out over the ocean and proceeded to fill our tummies with some great food, a few welcome cocktails and some ice cold beers.

We headed down front street, where we were soon greeted by all of the locals who we would come to know well over the next few days, and our next stop was at Frenchies which is one of the scuba dive shops on the island. The guys at Frenchies were extremely friendly, helpful and laid back and after chatting to them about a trip to the Blue Hole they informed us that there was some extremely bad weather off the coast and depending on if it passed or not they may not be heading out to the Blue Hole for a while. We put our names down tentatively for the Monday trip and hoped and prayed that the bad weather would pass so that we could dive the Blue Hole.

We wandered further down front street and checked out an awesome little bar at the split called Lazy Lizards. The split is the place where hurricane Mitch split the island in two (It was actually hurricane Hattie in 1961, a bit of dredging and currents that really formed the split). Lazy Lizards is a little bar on its own near what can only be described as the island's only beach, however, do not expect Rio or Hawaii - there is no sand here. The "beach" is a sunken area of a picnic area surrounded by cement sea walls, damage from the hurricane and smartly kept as it was in 1961. On the walls you'll see the young and hip lazing about, catching a tan. When it gets too hot, you can jump into the water and climb back again, or make the short walk to the Lazy Lizard to refresh your drink. But oh my what an awesome spot which we would return to many times during our stay in Caye Caulker.

That night we headed to the sports bar which held a quiz night on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday for the Friday night quiz and some dinner. We were a little nervous about the quiz having all American questions so we recruited Kasey the Canadian to join our team who ended up being part of our group for the next few days. We finished up second in the quiz by one point which scored us BZ$ 30 off our bill and had a great night out meeting and chatting to some of the Caye Caulker locals and other travelers. Outside it was bucketing down and we were told that there would be bad weather for the next few days which made our Blue Hole tour not look so good.

You can see the photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=344968&id=713415257&l=83b9c148fd

The next day we woke up to clear blue skies and beautiful sunshine and decided to head straight to Lazy Lizards at the split to lap up the good weather and have some chill time. Lazy Lizards is the major chill zone in Caye Caulker. You can sip your beer or whatever while tanning or snorkeling next to the bar. There are a few tables placed in the water, but not to worry, the water is not deep enough for you to drown in - even if your drunk body gives out. No shoes, no shirt, no problem.

What else can I say about this place then one of the best beach bars ever. You can grab yourself a drink (the typical island drink is a "Pantyripper" which is pineapple juice and rum), find a place to sit either on the walls or on the tables in the water, chat with new friends, fellow travelers and even the locals. And the whole time awesome reggae music is blaring in the background - loving it!

As we were chilling out at Lazy Lizards we heard some South African accents behind us and turned around to see two girls feeding the birds with some fish that one of the locals had caught. We suddenly realised that it was two South African girls we knew from London - Kasia and Amanda (or more commonly known as "Phoebe"). Small world and how awesome to catch up with some familiar faces in the middle of Central America. Our wolf pack had now grown from 5 to 8 of us to include Kasey, Kasia and Phoebe and we spent the rest of the day chilling out and indulging in some alcoholic beverages in the sunshine.

On our walk home we stopped passed Frenchies where we were told that the bad weather had passed and the Blue Hole tour on Monday was a go for Monday. Woohoo!!

We decided to all head out for a night and we started with pre-drinks at the Georgia Peach. After we worked up an appetite we headed out on the town and started our adventures with a dinner at the world famous Jolly Rogers Grill. Jolly Rogers is located on Front Street and for 20 BZ$ you can get the catch of the day - lobster, snapper or barracuda - with garlic bread, mashed potatoes, two rum punches and a small desert. The grilled seafood is delicious and is all cooked right in front of you on a braai. Jolly Rogers has no official restaurant structure and you sit out on wooden tables on the side of the street. But my word the lobster was unbelievable and it was a delicious meal.

We then headed on and checked out the I&I reggae bar. It is a great place to hang out on a hammock or swing with an ice cold cocktail or beer and that is exactly what we did. We headed up to the deck and from the top deck you can see the whole island, which is eerily peaceful at night.

With none of the crew wanting the night to end we headed back to Georgia Peach and up onto our rooftop for some serious chill out time, lots of good conversation and night caps (read a full bottle of rum). What an awesome end to an unbelievable day.

You can see the photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=344971&id=713415257&l=2794504dcf

The next day Georgie, Lara and I decided to head out on a day trip to see the manatees. The manatees are lovably large, stodgy sea mammals related to the dugong, that were often wishfully mistaken for mermaids by ancient sailors. The manatees are an almost distinct species and they only now exist in 3 places in the world and one of these places is Belize. After doing some research there was no better guide in the world than a gentleman by the name of Chocolate (Lionel "Chocolate" Heredia's).

Chocolate is an avid conservationist, he is nationally recognized in Belize for his work with manatees and establishing the Swallow Caye Manatee Reserve. He is a man of both inspiration and passion - a passion that just won't quit as he continues protecting the environment in the Belizean Community.

The creation of Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary - a manatee reserve near Belize City - was due to the efforts of the Caye Caulker local and our guide for the day Chocolate. He offers guided tours to the manatee reserve approximately every other day. Manatees can be seen all year long, and in the summer months can be seen near Hol Chan Marine Reserve as well as other local areas. The younger ones are curious and will swim close to you, unlike the more mature manatees, which generally avoid people (for good reason).

What an unbelievable day we had with Chocolate and our other guide Donovan who spoke with such passion about their lives and daily struggles to make their fellow Belizeans aware of conservation and to save the manatees. To save the manatees from distinction in Belize he started with two manatees - 1 male and 1 female - and he has now grown the manatee population to the biggest population in the world of between 50 and 60 manatees in the Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary. During the day we spotted 3 manatees including a baby manatee which was absolutely unbelievable to see. What a great day out on the water which was completed by seeing dolphins at sunset on our boat ride home.

That night we headed out to dinner at Rose Bar and Grill where you again could pick your lobster, grouper or snapper (which were all caught that day) with two side orders and have them done for you on the braai. Truly some of the best fish we had eaten and another truly scrumptious meal.

The next day was diving the Blue Hole so we ended the night off at the sports bar for another pub quiz and (not great) chocolate milkshakes. No drinking unfortunately as everyone wanted to be in tip top shape for one of the highlights of our World Tour - the Blue Hole.

You can see our photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=344979&id=713415257&l=838798d996

We woke up the next day before the sun was in the sky and wandered down to Frenchies. Today was the Blue Hole Day. The Blue Hole is a 40 meter deep circular hole in the ocean, with many fish, sharks and corals. The Blue Hole is the most famous dive site in Belize, and one of the most famous dive sites in the world even though it's nearly straight down to a depth of around 120 metres. The days scuba diving would consist of 3 dives: the Blue Hole, Half Moon Caye and The Aquarium.

After some coffees and some raisin buns we jumped on the dive boat and began our journey towards Lighthouse Reef and more importantly the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is at least a two hour boat ride away from Caye Caulker. After catching the sunrise out on the ocean we finally arrived at the Blue Hole and sat down for a dive briefing. We would be going down to a depth of around 40 metres, the deepest you can dive in recreational diving. The Blue Hole is not a dive to specifically see an abundance of marine life but more for the beauty of the underwater formations of stalactites that have been formed over hundreds of years.

Going down to 40 metres as open water divers did give us all some butterflies but I think that was due to the excitement rather than any worries. We dropped off the boat and after navigating a sand bank there is a sheer drop off to a ledge that sits at around 40 metres under the water. The only issue with going to 40 metres is that you can get Nitrogen Narcosis (or commonly known as "the narcs") which has different effects on different people but can be described as feeling very high and happy and just wanting to stay down under water and chill out with our without any of your scuba equipment.

As we dropped off we looked down into the darkness and we spotted our first shark, a grey reef shark as we were descending to the 40 metre drop off point. What awaited for us at 40 metres can only be described as unbelievable. There are massive stalactites ('water drippings') that hang from the ledge which have been formed over hundreds of years and they can only be described as amazing and truly unique to this dive. We did get a video of the Blue Hole dive which will give you a good feel of what we saw. We swam through these stalactites, seeing a few more grey tipped reef sharks and lapping up all that the Blue Hole had to offer. What an unbelievable dive and you will need to watch the video to get a true understanding of the beauty of this dive.

The rest of the day was spent diving Half Moon Caye, exploring the Half Moon Caye Natural Monument, which is a world heritage site and possibly the most beautiful island I have ever been on. Here we had lunch and explored the beauty of Half Moon Caye including the magnificent and truly unique Frigatebirds. That was not all we spotted as one of the Americans on our dive boat insisted he prance around the whole day on the island in his stars and stripes budgie smuggling Speedo. Mooi. Not.

The final dive of the day was at a dive spot called The Aquarium and aptly so. It was rich with sea life, reefs and was another great dive. It was time to head back to Caye Caulker and on our way back we were treated to 20 or so dolphins swimming, jumping and playing alongside our boat. What an unbelievable way to finish off one of the greatest days we have had on World Tour so far.

We wrapped up the day with another scrumptious meal with Kasia and Phoebs on the beach front at Sobre Las Olas. This would be our farewell dinner and our time to say goodbye to the new members of our wolf pack. That was it for our time on Caye Caulker and what an unbelievable time we had. We were off early in the morning to head to Belize City by water taxi, then on a 5 hour bus from Belize City into Guatemala.

You can see the photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=344982&id=713415257&l=2f4a2392fa

Next stop Tikal and the Mayan Splendors.

Until next time Belize - we had an unbelievable time here (possibly the best on our tour so far) and we will be back.

Leise + Lara.