Guess who’s back on the caribbean coast again, dear reader, with the rasta cats feeling bless-ed man? Yes that’s right, it’s your intrepid travel journalist happy to post this entry from Belize. Within a minute of arriving at the bus terminal in Belize City I walked around the corner and saw two local women; one of whom approached with outstretched arms, missing teeth but a winning smile and said to me ¨Hey baby, come to mama!¨ Well, that sure was an interesting opening gambit. So anyways, I go a little further down the street towards the marine terminal, and give some skin when offered by a rasta cat who was chilling with his brothers. The cat glances at my face and says ¨Hey man, why you look like that?¨ Apparently I’ve been away from the caribbean coast for too long, and am in desperate need of a third spell chilling caribbean style.
To recap the journal from where we left off in Guatemala, I parted company with my American friend after nearly three weeks. He had to fly home so I wanted to say it’s been great travelling with you brother, peace out and good luck to you and your wife with the move to New York City. I then experienced a four hour commute and the easiest border crossing yet. In fact I nearly fell over when the Belizean immigration official talked to me in perfect english. In this former colony of British Honduras english is the official language, and the Belizeans also speak creole and spanish. The Belizeans gained independence from Britain in 1981, and for a tiny country of less than 300,000 people there’s an impressive diversity within the population.
Anyways, getting back to the journal in Belize City after meeting my first two locals… I walked on to the marine terminal and jumped on a speedboat for the 45 minute commute to Caye Caulker. The Cayes of Belize are beautiful and feature coconut palms, white sand and a nearby barrier reef for some of the world’s best snorkelling and diving. For the divers who may be reading, the Cayes are the location for the world famous diving spot known as the Blue Hole. I walked from the wharf to Tina’s guest house where I had my first experience of a self check hostel in on this trip. There wasn’t a staff member in sight, so I chatted to some guests who showed me a spare bed and a locker, and easy as that I’d joined them as a guest. I saw the owner that night and introduced myself, and she said to me ¨I like when people check themselves in.¨ OK, this was going to be an interesting stay! The hostel has been a great experience and feels like a community, but occasionally we see the owner or her only staff member.
One night the European guys and an Alaskan bunged on a shrimp party for the whole hostel. They went for a shop and then cooked up a storm to feed fifteen people with no questions asked … they just laid on a delicious feed! We slapped down a bit of hard earned to cover their expenses, but it’s amazing to think that we were all total strangers only two days ago. When travelling I’ve always admired the generosity of Europeans in particular, as the concept of sharing seems to be ingrained in their culture. We had a lot of rain during my stay so the snorkelling trip was cancelled, but nevertheless visiting Caye Caulker has been a wonderfully relaxing experience. The people in the hostel and the locals have been absolutely brilliant.
Belize City has a population of 50,000 yet the capital of Belize is Belmopan with a population of 8,000. Belmopan was founded in 1961 when a hurricane wreaked destruction on Belize City, and passing through on the bus was certainly the fastest transit I’ve experienced in a Latin American capital. Belize provides a great opportunity to recuperate on the caribbean coast after the rigours of packing in the sights of Central America. I have enjoyed my stay here, and recommend this beautiful little caribbean country. As a matter of fact, basically all of you should be here now!
“The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forgo ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others.” Bertrand Russell
As I continue my travels, until next time it’s signing off for now
Tom
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