Currency:
Belizean Dollars

Highlights:
The serenity, our own private beach (and condo complex), speaking English again, horny Indian shots.

Our Adventure:
It doesn't get much better than this... I'll paint you the scene of what lies before me while I write this blog - I'm sitting on the front porch of our condo and looking out over our own private beach which leads to our own jetty (where we are docking our imaginary boat) and a far-reaching stretch of blue-green ocean. Wow!!!

Belize is one of the countries I've been most excited to visit ever since seeing its beauty on the reality TV show 'Temptation Island' - and it hasn't disappointed! It's also quite exciting to be speaking English again rather than limping along in Spanish - Belize is the only country in Central America that used to be a British colony (it gained full independence in 1981 but still has strong Commonwealth ties - such as the queen appearing on their currency still). It is an interesting mix of culture - primarily due to all its difference influences - Mayans, Spanish, English, Africans. The area was even used by pirates once upon a time to stash all their stuff!

Belize also claims the second largest barrier reef in the world (which makes for exceptional diving) and has some 450 islets and islands (known as cayes).

And of course it was to the cayes that we first headed! After debating our options of travelling here from Mexico, we ended up electing for a lovely private 'kombi' transfer that took us directly over the border without the mission of changing busses in Chetumal. And then came the funny part - we were supposed to catch a ferry from Corozal to Ambergris Caye but the 3pm ferry was cancelled so our only other option was to fly. Luckily we got a good cash-only option but hadn't quite realized that flying meant a tiny 8-seater plane from the world's smallest airport. It ended up being a beautiful flight over all the other small islands on the way to Ambergris Caye - including over a long skinny island that Leonardo di Caprio just purchased and is planning on developing into an eco-resort in conjunction with the Four Seasons.

You can check out pics from our flight here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=342024&id=713415257&l=b13cdd90b0

We landed in San Pedro which is the 2nd largest town in Belize (with a whopping 8,400 people) and knew immediately that we'd like it here judging from their motto - 'No shirt, no shoes - no problem!'. Manolo, our new best friend taxi driver, transported us to our spot at Sunset Beach Resort - what a spot!

Because it is out of season, we basically have the whole place to ourselves. This means our own private pool (complete with bar stools in the pool) and private beach area.

V and Georgie cooked up a delicious pasta that night with ingredients purchased from the most expensive grocery store in the world, Joe's Grill. We're a bit of a ways out of town so Joe's is very conveniently located across the street versus missioning back into town - more importantly, past the lagoon teaming with crocodiles. Yes - crocodiles!!

The next day saw a lot of poolside-chilling (we're getting very good at that!) combined with some indoor chilling with the air conditioning and then we hit the town for an awesome seafood and pizza meal at Blue Water Grill.

Our pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=342030&id=713415257&l=7df683720e

We woke up early the next morning (much to Ali's dismay) for our snorkelling trip. We had wanted to go diving but it's a little pricy here so we decided to save our moolah for the Blue Hole. It was the best snorkelling trip I've been on though as we saw an incredible array of marine life. We went to the Hol Chan Reserve which is a natural channel in the barrier reef and separated into four zones.

We had left an hour earlier than the other tour boats so we had the place to ourselves and followed our boat driver Carlos (side note - lots of people named Carlos here!) on an underwater tour. The visibility in Belize is known to be one of the best in the world and we could see for about 40 metres. We started in Zone A which has the greatest abundance and diversity of fish. It was also really shallow so we saw as much snorkelling over the reef as we would have diving. So many fish - some of our favourites being the baracuda, parrot fish, blue snapper - and of course all the sting rays that would swim about and then dive into the sand and cover themselves up.

Next stop was Zone C - better know as 'Shark Reef Alley' !! This did not excite the likes of Georgie and Venetia - until Carlos informed us that the most prominent shark here is the nurse shark - so named because they have no teeth - phew! Carlos threw lots of chum into the water and our boat was suddenly surrounded by sharks of all different sizes - wow!! A few sting rays also came to witness the event. After stroking the sharks from the boat, it was time to jump in the water and show the sharks some true loving! Yes, we got to hug sharks - now that is a statement I never thought I'd make!

After our spectacular morning of snorkelling, the rain came down so after another lunch of V's awesome tuna sandwiches, it was nap time (yes, it's still a tough life). We then set out to explore 'downtown' that evening - which took all of 15 minutes - so it was soon on to happy hour at the Tacklebox Bar & Grill on the water where a local rum and coke cost us $2 - oh yeah! There were a few obnoxious people there though so we moved on to Fido's Restaurant on the water - well known for its seafood (although V and I didn't get our sushi again as the sushi bar was closed :( Even better was that there was a live band there that night- Hi Tail - who were awesome playing all the oldies we know and love. The music trivia, beer, vodka and later horny Indian shots (yummy!) were flowing!!

Check out our pics from this day here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=342037&id=713415257&l=0a9c118479

We have loved Ambergris Caye but think we may love the next island - Caye Caulker - even more as it's sposed to be even more chilled than this one!

Cheers,
Lara + Leise