Island chilling in Belize

Having spent a night in what looked like Bates Motel in Chetumal, i was delighted to get up at 5.30am and get the bus down into Belize. It was a relatively painless 4 hour journey to Belize City followed by an hour in a very wet water taxi before I found myself on the paradise island that is Caye Caulker. It really is almost too good to be true- perfect crystal clear turquoise water gently lapping at the shore of white sand fringed pathways with the only real nose being the calling of birds and a gentle reggae beat sounding in the distance.

I went straight to the only backpackers on the island only to be cheerfully informed that yes, they had a dorm bed but that they'd had no shower or toilet facilities for 3 days and weren't sure when they'd be fixed! errr, no thanks!!

I trolled along the shore for a bit in search ofr the "{ purple cabanas- you can't miss them- cheapest on the island" only to miss them 3 times before finally stumbling upon them in a heat exhausted daze! Luckily they had a lovely beach front one free and this was to be my idyllic home for the next three days.

Island life moves at a very slow pace and i really enjoyed my time here. On the first night i went to a restaurant recommended in my guidebook, the owner of whom I'd met earlier that day, and was promply introduced to Dionne and Greg, an english couple whom i spent most of the following few days with. that night we were given far too many free rums by the owner and had a great night meeting people, despite me having to fend off the restaurant owners ill advised advances at every turn! (the locals are very persistant, I'll give them that!)

The following day (valentines) we went out on an all day reef snorkelling tour which was just spectacular. We went to three different sites and saw amazingly colourewd coral, beautiful fish, loads of stingrays (i was soooo excited!), reef sharks, eels and turtles (they were just like in "Finding Nemo"- busy scoffing seagrass and looking very mellow!) On the sail back we were treated to a potent rum cocktail and snacks which made us all smile a lot!Dionne and greg let me come out with them in the evening (they've been together for ages and said "romance is dead baby!" so we drank lots more rum, ate lobster and had a great evening.

The following day I'd booked a dive trip which turned out to be a big mistake. I am a nervous diver and freaked out on my first descent and ended up having to0 pay full price for a 3 dive trip when all i did was snorkel! They weren't very helpful on the boat and I've vowed to stick to snorkelling from now on!! Still, I had a nice evening with Dionne, greg and some other new friends drinking rum (yet again!) and chilling out in the various bars around the spit.

Island life in between boat trips has been pretty much about chilling out in the sun, swimming in the clear sea and drinking far too much rum to wash down the seafood fare. A sign above one bar pretty much sums up the island motto- it says

"Happy Hour- 3pm til everybody happy!"

Tomorrow I'm off on a 3 day boat and camping trip down to Placencia on the southern tip of Belize- Dioone and Greg are coming too and I think it'll be a total trip highlight- i'll be sure to write more about it when its over!