Belize Trip, Caye Caulker (Day 3, 12/27, Wednesday)

We woke up late in the morning without any plans, but we had talked about a couple of different options: exploring Ambergris Caye on a golf cart, or going over to Belize City and walk around there for a few hours. It turned out that all golf carts were rented out and they were not cheap to rent ($50 a day). We hesitated. It's hot. My arms were getting burned. After wallowing in our wishy-washiness for a while, we decided that we would go and check out Caye Caulker and maybe catch a water taxi to Belize City.

We got on the water taxi. Instead of getting another boat, the taxi operator squeezed every body in, the boat was more than full. Local and tourist passengers were all jammed in together. Most of the tourists are from the US judging from the conversations going around on the boat. One guy has moved to Caye Caulker from Montana about two years ago.


Caye Caulker is a small sleepy, laid back fishing town, now also a popular tourist destination. In fact, it didn't become a tourist spot until the late 1960s and early 1970s when some hippies found their way there. Before that, it's an island that specializes in coconut processing, fishing, lobster trapping and boat building. Even its name 'Caulker' was said to have originated from the word 'caulk' or 'cork' when fishermen and explorers would work on their boats here (corking their boats). Then again, another story goes that the name 'Caulker' is actually from the Spanish word 'hicago" referring to a kind of cocoplum trees that were abudant once on this island. At the small water taxi terminal, there was a sign that says "Welcome to Hicago," I almost pronounced it as 'Chicago!'.


We walked for a couple of blocks and ran into a store run by a Chinese guy. He owns a general store and also rents out bikes to tourists. We picked out two bikes for BZ$8 per bike for two hours. It's a great way to see this island on a bike. We randomly rode around on different roads and trails, and from one end to the other end. The island is small: about 4 miles long, and 0.5 mile at its widest point and it was split into two halves by 1961 Hurricane Hattie, which created a natural shallow area for snorkelling and swimming.


We had lunch - two big shrimp and lobster Burritos - at a Cabana-styled restaurant near the beach, with Reggae playing in the background and sea ripples glistening in sight. Then, we returned to the water taxi terminal only to find out that we missed the boat headed for Belize. No disappointment. We were on island time. No pressing agenda. We rented snorkels and fins at a local store where the owner was racking his brains trying to figure out why Ebay woudn't accept his credit card. Michael helped him and he gave his own special snorkel to Michael. That was a good deal.

We walked to the Split where there were people swimming and snorkelling. We joined them in the fun. I didn't see many big marine creatures, just little fish and little sting rays.

Compared to San Pedro, Caye Caulker is definitely more laid back: fewer golf carts trucking around, less dusty. Everything seems to be in a nonchalant mode which quelled some tourists' urge to make a loud statement of their presence.

We hopped on the last water taxi at 3:50pm heading back to San Pedro. The ride was quick and fuss-free, except my eyes were hurting from irritation caused by sea water that seeped through snorkels earlier.

While I was resting my eyes in bed, Michael went out and made arrangements for the next day: Cave Tubing and Belize Zoo, which turned out to be the highlight of our whole trip!