Caye Caulker, Belize

Well hello!

Here I am on the road again. Sandra and I have embarked on a Thanksgiving adventure in Central America. After a red eye flight to Atlanta, we landed in Belize City, Belize for ultimate transport to Caye Caulker. Already the people are ridiculously nice. Our taxi driver gave us a brief description of the city as we aggressively passed every slow vehicle in our way.

At the terminal, we stopped for a quick beer. The national beer is Belikin and it tasted amazing on this hot and languid afternoon. By the time the water taxi took off I was already passed out, rocking gently against the stranger sitting next to me. Typical Katie.

About 30 minutes later I woke up to a sharp elbow in my side. "Mira, Katie, Katie!" I followed Sandra's gaze and saw our island, Caye (pronounced key) Caulker. Friends, this place is paradise. Bright and sunny wood buildings fight for attention among the coconut palms at the edge of the sand.

Our hostel is right on the beach, full of hammocks and swing benches. Hell, even the bars have swing benches instead of stools. No cars are allowed on the island, so we stroll on the road dodging the occasional bicycle. Locals say "Good evening!" and "How are you ladies?"

We drank a cup of coffee with our toes in the sand gazing out over the ocean. We then explored the island, making friends with locals and shopping for dive shops. Starving, we got talked into a conch kebab grilled in front of us. Later, we wandered over to a restaurant called Rose's Grill. The 'chef' wore a ball cap backward and brandished a pair of tongs.

"Ladies! This is our menu tonight," he announced, drawing us in. Several platters of fresh fish and lobster sat out on a table. His tongs smacked each fish as he ran through his list. "Red snapper fillet, barracuda steak, whole lobster -" at this Sandra and I shrieked, because when he hit the lobster they moved! They were still alive! Talk about fresh. I ordered the snapper and Sandra picked out her own lobster for the grill. Deliciousssssss.

We ended the evening with a few Belikin beers down on the dock at the "Split," an area where a hurricane split the island into two. The stars were out, the ocean breeze was warm, and we could spot giant tarppor fish swimming just under our feet. Just as we were about to leave, a fantastically bright orange slice appeared in the sky. We watched in fascination before realizing it was the moon, slowly rising over the water. Hello moon.

Hello Belize :)




Katie