Still, though, Caye Caulker is a wonderful place and probably shouldn’t be missed on a trip through Central America. People traveling on a budget can probably splurge for a couple days of island life.

That said, I bet most “budget” packpackers spent tons more money than I did. I wouldn’t be surprised if most were spending at least 50 dollars a day. Here’s what you can do to reduce costs:

Don’t stay right on the beach. Everything is literally a one minute walk from the beach – do you really need to be RIGHT on it? On the beach, the best 10 US dollars will get you is a bedbug-ridden dorm bed. Off the beach in the wonderful Sandy Lane Hotel, 10 US dollars a night (well, 20 for two people) will get you a private cabin with your own washroom, fridge, complete kitchen and TV. And there’s a place to barbeque! Staying here saves money because of good cooking facilities. The same kind of cabin would be double the price on the beach.

Don’t drink that much! Jeez… a beer in bar costs about 4 US$, a cocktail about 7 US$. Do you really need to get wasted while you are here? If you want to drink, go to one of the liquor stores off the beach and buy some beer or coconut rum. Much cheaper (about 1.50 US$ for a bottle of beer or 10US$ for a big bottle of rum.)

Cook! My brother and I bought a box of cornflakes and milk for breakfast, and barbequed fresh fish for dinner.

When eating out, don’t eat right on the beach. It’s pretty easy to get a big delicious lunch for 5 US$ (cheap for Caye Caulker) if you eat off the beach at a place like Sea Garden Cafe (hope I have that name right.)

Anyways, I think Belize and Caye Caulker would make a great first stop in Central America for those new to the region. It’s super easy to travel there, and coming from North America or Europe the prices will seem cheap! Then you can move further south and be pleasantly surprised as the prices get better.

Pirates? Pirates!

Brother and sister team:

Swimming spot at the “Split.”

No, not because of all the black people, silly. (Although that didn’t hurt.)

It was so hot that I couldn’t even wear a bra. That’s right, vanity and perkiness gave in to holyshititssohotout.

I started to remember why the first time I went to Burkina Faso I spent a lot of the time in bed: when one isn’t used to it, the body often shuts down in the heat. So my brother and I spent the hottest hours of the day hiding from the sun, and spent too much money on Caye Caulker’s overpriced cool beverages and ice cream. I couldn’t help it, I swear! I was losing too much water (and, er, sugar) through sweat.

But besides the high prices (and the heat, which I got used to by day three), Caye Caulker is cool and easy.

Above all: amazing tourist infrastructure. Maybe this takes the adventure out of travel, but it was nice having transport so convenient and well-organized. Getting to Belize City, the Caye Caulker Water Taxi Association was operated like an airport. An organized airport. When we took the water taxi back to Belize City from Caye Caulker, it took me all over 23.5 seconds to secure us transportation back to Flores in Guatemala.

At the borders, the Belizean officials are polite, efficient and professional. (Which is more than I can say for their Guatemalan counterparts at that particular border crossing. Coming soon on yelkaye.net: how to avoid paying a bribe.)

Anyways, Caye Caulker is a low-key, unpolished kind of paradise. There’s no perfect beach right up in front of the hotels, but if you walk only four minutes to the north end of town, there’s a beautiful little channel where you can take a swim. And the ocean is a beautiful turquoise colour. Standing in the middle of the village (four blocks wide), you can see the ocean to both the east and west.

Lots of fresh seafood everywhere. I was hoping stuff like lobster and ceviche would be dirt cheap. It wasn’t, but it was delicious and plentiful.

Plus, the ethnic diversity of the place is fascinating. (Funny… living in a place like Toronto you see racial diversity every day and don’t think of it as anything out of the ordinary. But in another part of the world, such a mix of people is interesting. Weird, huh?) I thought that Caye Caulker and Belize as a whole has a mostly black Caribean population (Kriol and Garifuna), but I was wrong. There were lots of latinos on the island, so I heard Spanish almost as much as English. In addition to the Kriols and latinos, there were also a surprising number of Chinese people.

Also, I love the sound of Kriol. It vaguely resembles English, but just barely.
Check it out.

Back in Guatemala now. Five more days of traveling with my brother: two nights in Flores, two nights in Antigua and then a night in Guatemala City. Then it’s back to Xela where I will settle back into the “day to day.” The “vacation from my vacation,” as I’ve liked to call it, is coming to a close.

More about Belize to come.

Belize is wonderful, and it is really interesting that a five hour drive brings one out of Latin America and into the Caribbean (at least culturally.)

However, this country is extremely expensive. Accommodation not so much but food, drink and internet prices are sky high, especially on the islands.

As a result, no blog updates until I get back to Guatemala because I’d rather spend $2.50 on food than on twenty minutes of internet.

Ciao.