Belize It or Not!
I've had some miserably rainy days at the beach in Belize!
We took a 40 minute catamaran from Belize City (the largest town) to an island called Caye (pronounced key) Caulker. It's a tiny island along the Caribbean Barrier Reef with no cars - a few golf buggies as taxis and delivery vehicles, but there are only bikes and pedestrians.
And lots of sand flies that bite!
I had some bug repellent on my lower legs, which is why my inner thighs each have around 20 bites each - and they did not itch while I was there, but boy are they driving me nuts now in Mexico. It was just as well we were walking around in our bathers - in the end that was the only way to stay wet (there was no chance of staying dry!).
The island is quite small - the picture with this blog shows the main street. All the streets are packed sand.
Check out the gallery for more pictures. On some, you can see through to the other side of the island here, as it is only a few hundred metres wide, and about a kilometre long. Check out the puddles!
There's not much to do on Caye Caulker, other than snorkel, swim and drink. The beaches aren't that crash hot, actually - no long strips of white sands, as the place we were taken to swim had a jetty and only a little cove for easier access to the water. It was at one end of the island and the current was also quite strong, so nobody ventured out too far. Yes, I continue to be underwhelmed by this central American holiday!
Our second morning we went on a half day snorkel cruise. The first stop involved standing amongst stingrays and sharks. I wasn't so keen and waited until they dispersed a bit before getting in (they feed them, so there are many of them). I really did not want to stand on one at all! The water was so shallow and clear that it was actually a better view from the boat, I think. But I can say I've swum briefly with stingrays... We then snorkelled along a couple of areas of the reef. The plant life was amazing (like purple lungs swaying in the current) as were the yellow, blue, and green fish. No pretty coral, however. We must have swum a fair bit as my legs were a little sore the next morning! Which, predictably, saw the first blue sky as we left the island!
Oh, and the island specialty is Lobster - so cheap - a large one for around $10, and most delicious.
Back in Belize City, I took a few photos of the country's capital city - a very tiny place of only 70,000 people (the whole country has only 300,000 - so it's not densely populated at all). There is an interesting cultural mix here too. They have a Mennonite community - the progressive ones are responsible (along with the Chinese and Taiwanese) for major agricultural production, although there are also some more traditional Mennonites who drive horse and buggy and do not mix much with the locals. Apparently they have recently invited Belizeans who are interested to join their communities. There are still Mayan communities and many mestizos (mixed Spanish and Mayan). There are German and Lebanese communities too. Quite a Commonwealth! Like South America, they also like their dogs...
And while the entire city was moved and rebuilt in the 1960s after a hurricane/tsunami wiped out the previous one, some things look like they haven't been updated for some time!
Now I think of it, the slogan in the photo - "Yu Done Seh It" is probably Creole - which is spoken by most people here, although only English and Spanish is taught in school. In fact, Creole is not even officially written, according to my guide, although it is common to see slogans written in it.
So check out the photo of Downtown Belize City, mid-week, in the blog gallery. As well as the rather fetching building that serves some Governmental purpose, I think. Or it's their cricket club? You'll note the wet footpaths - raining when we left, and bucketed down when we returned, despite the blue sky over Caye Caulker. I was expecting maybe some rain in Cuba, but given the wet season should have ended with October in Central America, it's been most unfortunate to hit nearly two weeks of bad weather.
At least my rain jacket has paid for itself several times over! Next stop: Mexico.
Until then (or Hasta la vista, baby!), Aveline. xxx
