Dear Friends,
I´m so sorry for the delay. Just for the record I am mostly fine. I haven´t been very good about blogging for various reasons. 1) It was just too expensive to sit around in an internet cafe in Belize. 2) Then the start of my Guatemala trip featured slower than slow internet. 3) Finally, I have been sick for the last 4 days. =( Poor me. The good news is that I´m almost 100% again. Yay! The other good news is that I have part one of my Belize blog ready to post. Yay!
xx,
gwen
Ah, Belize. Sweet sweet Belize. You entice me with your vibrant colors and easy to use keyboards, and meanwhile you secretly empty my wallet.
I had a great time in Belize, but I definitely payed a price for it. It´s not that Belize is really that expensive, it´s just expensive in comparison to the rest of Central America. Undoubtedly, if you wanted a warm tropical Carribean vacation you could go to Belize and have a very nice time and it could be cheaper than going to some resort. It´s possible to keep the day to day costs of housing and food somewhat cheap, but what ends up eating a hole in your wallet are all the diving and little day trips you can do.
My time in Belize started with a bus trip across the Mexican border. As soon as I saw my mode of transportation I had a the thought of, ¨ Oh, man! Now, I´m really in Central America.¨ The bus was an old Blue Bird made over with a brightly colored paint job. The paint was probably the only improvement made to the vehicule since it´s past life as an American school bus. When I stepped onto the bus I was overcome with the weird sensation that I was back in school and had to decide where to sit on the bus. I picked a seat in the middle and soon we were on our way. Night quickly approached and soon the bus was whizzing through towns in the silent and smokey (people burning trash) night air; the road illuminated only by starlight and the occasional glow of Christmas lights from a passing house. We finally reached Belize City and I buddied up with some Swedish girls so that we could split a taxi. It was too late to catch the water taxi to my original destination, so I had to stay overnight in a hostel. I´ve been told that Belize City is a very sketchy town. I would have to agree, but my point of view is maybe a little skewed since I arrived there after it was dark, and left for Caye Caulker the first thing in the morning.
The next morning the sun was shinging brightly as the Swedish girls and I caught the ferry to Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is a pretty little island about 30 minutes boat trip (speed boat) from the main land. We all ended up staying in a hostel called Tina´s which is right off to the side from the ferry dock. I would recommend Tina´s for the ambiance and the sweetness of being able to hang from a hammock with a view of the ocean. However if you´re not into being eaten alive by bedbugs and you don´t like your water to smell like moldy shower curtain then Tina´s is not the place for you. I fall into the later category, but it took me two days and a couple dozen bites
later to realize that. After I got settled in my hostel I spent the rest of the day hanging out at the split whilst I munched on fresh pineapple and attempted to finish Love in the Time of Cholera. The split is the premier sunbathing spot on the island, and is essentially a small patch of sand at the end of the island with a restaurant and two concrete piers jutting out from it. I guess the spot is popular because the piers are convenient jumping in points as to avoid wading through all the sea grass just off shore.
Day two of Belize was all about diving. The Swedish girls and I booked an all day diving trip featuring a dive to the Blue Hole with a company called Aqua Dives, which cost us about $175 each. If you´ve never heard of the blue hole it´s this massive sinkhole down into a cave, that was made tons of years ago, and is now underwater. It was first made famous by a Jacques Cousteau documentary. Even though the dive is quite deep, 130 ft. down, they let open water divers do it because it’s only an 8 minute dive. Since there isn’t a whole lot to see on the way down it seemed like the descent was pretty rapid, and before I knew it I looked down at my depth meter and we were almost at 130. 
And right when we were almost at our maximum depth we swam under the ledge and we were suddenly swimming between these massive stalagtites that took thousands of years to form, millions of years ago. It felt really cool to be down there like I was actually in the documentary. After a couple of minutes we swam out from under the ledge, and then the dive master put his hand up to his forehead like a fin, which is the sign for shark, and I looked down underneath me and saw the shadowy shilouettes of a dozen or so sharks. 
They weren’t close enough for me to see any details like teeth, but I still got shivers down my spine. The two other dives that day were fun dives at Half Moon Caye wall and the Aquarium. On both of those dives we saw lots of different kinds of fishes and coral. Between the dives lunch was served on the island of Half Moon Caye and consisted of the typical Belizian meal of stew chicken with rice and beans. 
After lunch we did a quick nature walk on the island and I got to see actual hermit crabs in the wild, and lots of frigate and booby birds. The booby gift shop was not as exciting as it sounded. 
I´m so sorry for the delay. Just for the record I am mostly fine. I haven´t been very good about blogging for various reasons. 1) It was just too expensive to sit around in an internet cafe in Belize. 2) Then the start of my Guatemala trip featured slower than slow internet. 3) Finally, I have been sick for the last 4 days. =( Poor me. The good news is that I´m almost 100% again. Yay! The other good news is that I have part one of my Belize blog ready to post. Yay!
xx,
gwen
Ah, Belize. Sweet sweet Belize. You entice me with your vibrant colors and easy to use keyboards, and meanwhile you secretly empty my wallet.
I had a great time in Belize, but I definitely payed a price for it. It´s not that Belize is really that expensive, it´s just expensive in comparison to the rest of Central America. Undoubtedly, if you wanted a warm tropical Carribean vacation you could go to Belize and have a very nice time and it could be cheaper than going to some resort. It´s possible to keep the day to day costs of housing and food somewhat cheap, but what ends up eating a hole in your wallet are all the diving and little day trips you can do.
My time in Belize started with a bus trip across the Mexican border. As soon as I saw my mode of transportation I had a the thought of, ¨ Oh, man! Now, I´m really in Central America.¨ The bus was an old Blue Bird made over with a brightly colored paint job. The paint was probably the only improvement made to the vehicule since it´s past life as an American school bus. When I stepped onto the bus I was overcome with the weird sensation that I was back in school and had to decide where to sit on the bus. I picked a seat in the middle and soon we were on our way. Night quickly approached and soon the bus was whizzing through towns in the silent and smokey (people burning trash) night air; the road illuminated only by starlight and the occasional glow of Christmas lights from a passing house. We finally reached Belize City and I buddied up with some Swedish girls so that we could split a taxi. It was too late to catch the water taxi to my original destination, so I had to stay overnight in a hostel. I´ve been told that Belize City is a very sketchy town. I would have to agree, but my point of view is maybe a little skewed since I arrived there after it was dark, and left for Caye Caulker the first thing in the morning.
The next morning the sun was shinging brightly as the Swedish girls and I caught the ferry to Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is a pretty little island about 30 minutes boat trip (speed boat) from the main land. We all ended up staying in a hostel called Tina´s which is right off to the side from the ferry dock. I would recommend Tina´s for the ambiance and the sweetness of being able to hang from a hammock with a view of the ocean. However if you´re not into being eaten alive by bedbugs and you don´t like your water to smell like moldy shower curtain then Tina´s is not the place for you. I fall into the later category, but it took me two days and a couple dozen bites
later to realize that. After I got settled in my hostel I spent the rest of the day hanging out at the split whilst I munched on fresh pineapple and attempted to finish Love in the Time of Cholera. The split is the premier sunbathing spot on the island, and is essentially a small patch of sand at the end of the island with a restaurant and two concrete piers jutting out from it. I guess the spot is popular because the piers are convenient jumping in points as to avoid wading through all the sea grass just off shore.
Day two of Belize was all about diving. The Swedish girls and I booked an all day diving trip featuring a dive to the Blue Hole with a company called Aqua Dives, which cost us about $175 each. If you´ve never heard of the blue hole it´s this massive sinkhole down into a cave, that was made tons of years ago, and is now underwater. It was first made famous by a Jacques Cousteau documentary. Even though the dive is quite deep, 130 ft. down, they let open water divers do it because it’s only an 8 minute dive. Since there isn’t a whole lot to see on the way down it seemed like the descent was pretty rapid, and before I knew it I looked down at my depth meter and we were almost at 130. 
And right when we were almost at our maximum depth we swam under the ledge and we were suddenly swimming between these massive stalagtites that took thousands of years to form, millions of years ago. It felt really cool to be down there like I was actually in the documentary. After a couple of minutes we swam out from under the ledge, and then the dive master put his hand up to his forehead like a fin, which is the sign for shark, and I looked down underneath me and saw the shadowy shilouettes of a dozen or so sharks. 
They weren’t close enough for me to see any details like teeth, but I still got shivers down my spine. The two other dives that day were fun dives at Half Moon Caye wall and the Aquarium. On both of those dives we saw lots of different kinds of fishes and coral. Between the dives lunch was served on the island of Half Moon Caye and consisted of the typical Belizian meal of stew chicken with rice and beans. 
After lunch we did a quick nature walk on the island and I got to see actual hermit crabs in the wild, and lots of frigate and booby birds. The booby gift shop was not as exciting as it sounded. 
Overall, the day was a tremendous success, we were blessed with good weather and calm seas.
The next day I did made an overnight stop to the city of San Pedro on Ambergis Caye. I hadn’t actually heard anything particularly exciting about it but I decided it would be worth checking out a bigger city in Belize. I think it was good for me to go there and see something more of the real Belize, but it kind of burst the bubble of the cute tropical paradise image that Caye Caulker presented. Caye Caulker is such a small island and everything looks freshly painted in a rainbow of bright colors. There aren’t any paved roads on Caye Caulker, just sandy lanes. As a result there are almost no cars, just some golf carts. San Pedro on the other hand is much more urban and caters more to tourists who want to stay in resorts or who want more nightlife. In comparison Caye Caulker almost looks like Disneyland. 
After a day hanging out in the hammocks of some expensive resort, it was back to Caye Caulker for me. My last night in Caye Caulker was spent at the other hostel on the island called Bella´s. Staying at Bella´s was like staying at some really cool summer camp. The dorm room was kind of barn like, with high high ceilings and a loft that connected to another room higher up, which connected to another room in a tower. The best thing about Bella´s was no bug bites!
After a night at camp it was off to my 3 day sailing trip with Raggamuffin tours.
(to be continued)
After a day hanging out in the hammocks of some expensive resort, it was back to Caye Caulker for me. My last night in Caye Caulker was spent at the other hostel on the island called Bella´s. Staying at Bella´s was like staying at some really cool summer camp. The dorm room was kind of barn like, with high high ceilings and a loft that connected to another room higher up, which connected to another room in a tower. The best thing about Bella´s was no bug bites!
After a night at camp it was off to my 3 day sailing trip with Raggamuffin tours.
(to be continued)
1 comment:
your post makes me wish I could scuba dive! (damn my sinuses)
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