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| Sunset, Caye Caulker |
A common question I get goes something like this: What is the best place or country you have been to? It is impossible to answer. Often I answer Nepal because it is very different culturally from Norway, and the scenery in the mountains and old buildings in the Kathmandu valley are plainly amazing. Really, every country has its own share of highlights. However, maybe the correct answer for me is Belize. Reason? I have visited the country on three out four longer trips I have done. And it is nowhere more relaxing than Caye Caulker.
Belize is not very well known at all in Europe. Probably people would guess that the country is somewhere in Africa. Americans on the other hand probably knows that Belize is the country south of the tourist hotspots of Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel in Mexico. In other words, Belize is situated on the Yucatán Peninsula along the Caribbean coast and the second biggest reef in the world.
People who have lived for some time may remember a country named British Honduras. When that country got independent in 1973, it changed its name to Belize. The population in this small country is an interesting mix of Hispanic, Mayas,
Garifunas,
Mennonites and Creole people with a touch of Expats. As a former British colony, English is the official language, but Creole is spoken among the inhabitants. As you get closer to the Guatemalan border more and more Spanish is spoken.
Anyway,
Caye Caulker is small limestone coral island, which for the last decades has drawn many backpackers (and more regular sun seekers) to its laidback atmosphere. You would expect a sand island to boast some beaches, but you can forget that. They do not “cheat” either as in upmarket San Pedro where they bring sand from the leeward lagoon to please tourist in front of their hotels. This is part of Caye Caulker's charm in my opinion.
I first visited Caye Caulker very briefly in 2006 before I went on a stunning sailing trip with Ragamuffin Tours south along the reef to Placencia. I ate breakfast with delicious cinnamon rolls at "Glenda’s" and a superb fish-dinner at laidback reggae-cook Maurice Moore's "Wish Willy". I HAD to return in 2008 and 2012 for weeklong craves for those places and the only beer in the world I drink; Belikin Stout.
If you are an early riser, you get some really nice sunrises at the windward side of the island (the wind is blowing refreshingly all the time). In the afternoon, you get to watch even nicer sunsets 300 meters away on the leeward side of the islands. The nicest place for this spectacle be is right south of party point of The Split (or jokingly known as “The Spliff” because you get some illegal offers about that there).
Caye Caulker has not changed much during the years, and is still pretty low-key compared to many other Caribbean tourist places. After some days, you start recognizing other tourists which walks around the sand-streets only populated by golf-cars. The use of those cars has on the other hand exploded in the last 5 years, Really, this island is so small that it is a healthy exercise to use your legs instead. The other thing that is slowly changing is the switch from wood board cabins to concrete ones. I can understand why, but a small part of the old-style charm fades that way.
If you want go on some excursions, it is all about water. Of course, you could go on day trips to interesting Maya-ruins, but that is a rushed and long day-trip. Instead diving, snorkeling and fishing are good substitutes for plain relaxation. The reef here can boast some very good diving if you can stand a few hours boat trip (into open water), and snorkeling at the reef right outside Caye Caulker is not bad either. Generally, it is as always best to go places where not too many other tourists go. Looking for Manatees is also an option, but that has become a victim of its popularity.
If any of this sounds tempting, the hardest part is probably to work out how to get to Belize. It could be tempting getting a cheap airfare to Cancun, but you waste too much time travelling on ground that way (there is only one daily flight from Cancun to Belize City, and it is very risky counting on the connecting flight there to Caye Caulker). The easiest way is probably is to get a flight to Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport about 30 minutes outside Belize City. From there you have two options:
1. Let Tropic Air fly you surprisingly cheap to Caye Caulker in a really small plane.
2. Hire a taxi to Belize City (agree on the price beforehand = 25 dollar), and get a ticket on one of the many speedy water taxis to Caye Caulker
And after that follow the motto of Caye Caulker: Go Slow!
