caye caulker

pelican on the jetty ------------------our spot


view from the terrasse -------------------------sunset from the deck


jolly roger´s - best deal in town ---------------------typical island house


island motto , no comment ----------------------


cemetery - home of the iguanas ----------------local snorkeler

as you walk off the jetty, there is a mosaic saying ¨caye caulker - go slow¨and that is exactly how it works here! noone walks quickly besides newly-arrived tourists. it is quite humerous because the locals tune the people,¨hey! where you going so faaaast?¨
this is how i would imagine jamaica to be. red, yellow and green are colours that one sees and occassionally smells as one walks down the sandy streets.

so that is the vibe - extremely mellow and chilled, almost sedated. the food is comforting...with lots of coconut-flavoured rice and beans and one can´t forget the freshly caught crayfish! the water activities were unbelievable with pristine visibility when snorkelling (seb said that it was perfect for diving, too).

thanks to gus´advice, we went directly to jolly roger´s to eat. we were in heaven from the moment we sat down. we had a choice between either fresh crayfish tails or snapper. of course, there were no hesitations and lobster was had by all. we were given two tails each, served in a buttery sauce with coconut rice, potato salad, 3 rum scented drinks (what else does one drink on an island in the caribbean?!) and chocolate cake. yes, all that! needless to say, we went there both nights for dinner.

¨anda de wata snorkelling¨ provided us with a wonderful experience on the reef, at sting ray island and at the coral forest. art, the owner, pointed out various marine life and explained a bit about them. for instance, there is a male fish (for the life of me can´t remember the name) that has four females and when ¨he¨ dies, the strongest female becomes a male and so it continues. the weird wonders of the world! snorkelling with the stingrays was somewhat frightening as they were so curious as to who was swimming in their territory. they are like a flock of birds in their formation and probably, just as graceful as they ¨fly¨past. it´s a pity that some companies feed them which could maybe explain their curiosity.

all in all, a great three-day stay which i would recommend to anyone passing through belize.

A peine arrivée sur l´ile que l´on peut comprendre l´origine du crédo de caye caulker 'go slow'. En effet, ici, il ne faut surtout pas se presser. Les gens sont charmants, souriants et visiblement prennent le temps de vivre. L´ile est composée de 3 rues : la plage, la rue du milieu et la rue de derriere. Difficile donc de se perdre. Le tour de l´ile est vite fait et on peut voir défiler les touristes depuis notre terrasse du miramar qui montent la rue puis la redescendent puis la remontent puis la redescendent. Jusqu´a ce qu´ils comprennent, comme nous l´avons compris nous memes après 1 jour, qu´ici il n´y a pas grand chose a faire si ce n´est profiter de ses journées pour se reposer au soleil sur la jetée, gouter au rhum local, faire qq sorties en mer ( snorkeling ou plongée) et attendre patiemment le soir pour pouvoir déguster les délicieuses langoustes au bbq de Rogers... (J´en salive encore...)

Une premiere plongée dans la réserve naturelle de Hol Chan ou la visibilité est exceptionelle. Ainsi je nage au milieu des requins nurse, des langoustes, des tortues et des coraux multicolores. J´apercois meme une murène énorme (3m) cachée sous son rocher et prète a attaquer tout intrus dans son domicile...impressionant.

Une deuxième sortie snorkeling avec Karis nous permet d´observer la vie aquatique de la barrière de corail. Art, notre guide, nous fait découvrir qq espèces de poissons spécifique du coin (chez certains poissons dont la population est essentiellement constituée de femelles, lorsque le male meurt, la femelle dominante change de sexe pour assurer la survie de l´espèce). On nage également au milieu de raies de taille gigantesque (qq 2m d´envergure) qui sont assez curieuses et n´hésitent pas a venir se frotter aux jambes des nageurs...

Enfin, pour tous les voyageurs qui comptent passer par le Belize, je me dois de décrire le deal de Rogers que j´attendais impatiemment tous les soirs :
salade de patates + riz + pain grillé + 2 queues de langoustes + gateau au chocolat + 3 verres de punch = 10 US dollars.... mmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhh.

belize city - gangsta paradise

sebs eating tamales with the queen -------guesthouse seaside (for sale)




main street belize city ------------------------main belizean radio station channel 7



belize harbour ------------------------------chug boat


gangsta city by night, safe-haven by day. that is the impression i got from belize city. thank the pope we arrived on halloween night as there were loads of dressed -up kids perusing the streets, asking for sweets. this, believe it or not, made us (or rather me) feel much safer, especially after all the stories we had heard about this city.
we stayed in a ¨typical¨looking belizean backpacker/ hostel with pink-coloured wooden walls and a purple staircase with a view of the caribbean sea (unfortunately not as clear as we were treated to in tulum) which was quaint.
in the morning we visited a few of the ¨monuments¨. the house of culture, otherwise known as the government house, which is the oldest building in the city. built in 1814, it was the residence of the governer-general until belize became independant in 1981. it is a mansion built of wood, painted white and deep green. exactly how one would imagine, it is on the water´s edge and has a large terrace wrapped around the house. really beautiful.
opposite is st. john´s cathedral, the oldest anglican church in central america, which was built in 1812 with bricks brought from europe. it was closed when we walked past so we were not able to see the ancient pipe organ that is so boasted about.
belize city is not very big and we were over with our little walking tour before we knew it. to end it off, we stopped off at a well-known little restaurant and had a piece of coconut pie and coffee which gave us the sugar high that was needed to last us to caye caulker island.

Apres un dernier tamales salsa roja (farine de mais+poulet+piment+tomate enveloppe dans une feuille de bananier) pour le ptit dej, on embarque pour le Belize. Le changement de paysage est très net puisque les champs de mais se transforment en champs de canne a sucre, que les habitations sont maintenant sur pilotis et que la route est inondée sur plusieurs kms, séquelles visibles du dernier ouragan.

Les gens aussi sont très différent et l´influence américaine est omniprésente. Jeunes et moins jeunes portent basket montantes, tee shirt extra larges et casquette de rapeur. Plus flagrant, on y parle anglais, certes un anglais tinté d´un doux accent carribéen mais ca fait bizarre d´etre en amerique centrale et de parler anglais.

Belize city a deux facettes, paradis de gangsters la nuit et havre de paix le jour. On arrive de nuit et on sent de suite le danger lorsque l´on se promene dans les rues le soir, les jeunes conduisent les 4*4 tout neuf avec la musique a fond, chaque gang a son quartier et la population a l´air de vivre plutot bien au milieu de ce chaos urbain. Mick de l´auberge nous explique que la ville est une étape importante du traffic de drogue venant de Colombie vers les US et que par conséquent la drogue est omniprésente.

Au matin, c´est une nouvelle ville que l´on visite ou les habitants sont charmants, prennent le temps de nous saluer et de discuter avec nous. On ressent alors enfin l´ambiance carraibe que l´on recherchait: petit rythme de vie tranquille, tout le monde a le sourire.