As I mentioned at the end of the last blog, Em and I met up with a great trio of travellers who were keen for an adventure in Belize. And So began the second part of our Belize trip.

Em, as is her way, had researched extensively what experiences proved most rewarding for travellers when in Belize. Amazing stories were told of a 3 day sailing trip that headed south down the Belizian coast. Unfortunately, as we are travelling in low season the recommended sailing companies were all closed. Enter Roy Flowers and his Little Kitchen Adventure Tours company - a name that truly inspires confidence. Roy was described to us by an expat who lives on Caye Caulker as a wonderful guy who was a bit clown and prone to take the odd risk. Naturally Em thought he was the perfect captain to sail the open seas. She was dead right.

Along with Roy (the captain) there was Alba (Roy's wife and the cook) and Alejandro (the deck hand). We would also be sharing our 35 foot yacht with Alicia (Aus), Natasha (Aus) and Graham (Brit) - the trio I mentioned earlier.

Like myself, Graham is a numbers man and so you could imagine my relief when despite this it turned out that he was a great bloke who enjoyed a beer. Alicia and Natasha were great fun and although I got off on the wrong foot by immediately offending them (accidently of course) they were quick to turn it to their advantage by holding it over my head for the next 3 days - a reasonable penance given the crime. This travelling trio made our trip all the more memborable.

The sailing itself got off to a bit of a rocky start. The yacht that Roy had described to us must have been someone else's, because 'Rassaya', our boat, was more modest than he'd lead us to believe. That said, she (the boat) proved to be sea worthy and we grew to appreciate her modesty. After the initial disappointment came the weather, it turned sour as soon as we left the 'port'. I guess low season is low season for a reason. Poor Alejandro absorbed the pouring rain whilst we cowered undercover. Not too long later the clouds cleared and we had beautiful sailing conditions all the way to our first destination - Goff Caye.

Goff Caye is a very small island (much smaller than a football oval) that is uninhabitated but often visited for its nice snorkelling just off the beach. It is an idyllic place. A rickety warped pier and perfectly turquouise waters greeted us as we moored in the late afternoon light. We had enough time to set up camp and sit on the pier, beer in hand, to watch the sun go down. Like I said, idyllic.

Our sleep that night wasn't idyllic. The sleeping mats were scarcely thicker than a piece of paper and it was very hot and humid. Still Em and I managed to stay dry in our little tent, something Alicia, Tash and Graham weren't so lucky with. And so morning on day two saw a few weary travellers who were silently questioning the wisdom of this sailing trip. But after a cup of coffee, some food in the belly and the refereshing sea breeze in our faces we all managed to perk up.

As on the first day, the winds the second morning were light so we spent most of it motoring rather than sailing. However by noon, as the dark grey clouds in the distance drew closer, the winds picked up and so we got to enjoy the wonderful silence of wind power. An ensuing deluge provided an impromptu shower to freshen the spirits. As the weather improved we anchored, retrieved the snorkelling gear and took once again to the water to try and catch a glimpse of a big sea turtle. We had to settle for amazing coral formations, beautiful schools of colourful fish and the odd ray.

Night two was spent on another small island, Caye Tobacco. This island was equally idyllic with the added bonus that it had a bar and thankfully, given the ensuing storm, some rudamentary accommodation that proved more waterproof than our tents. Dinner on the boat was conch, chickenfish, barracuda and other asorted things that we caught fresh that day.

At dinner over a beer Graham and I questioned Roy on what the sailing forecast was for the next day, our final day of sailing into Palcencia, ominously he described it as 'nasty' - gulp. And yet it was anything but nasty. Our final day proved to be the best sailing of the whole trip. Despite the threatening storms on the horizon we sailed under good southerly winds in perfect sunshine all day.

Just as I was beginning to realised how peaceful and tranquil this sailing trip was, it was over. The photos and story won't do it justice - suffice to say it was the best travel experience I've had on this trip.