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.

mexican street art

Qq photos choppees dans les rues d oaxaca ou de san cristobal
Some street shots taken in oaxaca and san cristobal (special dedication to bruvioli and other graffiti fans)

chichen itza

templo de los 1000 columnas ----------------------el castillo de chichen itza



el caracol ----------------------------archeologists posing


ball court hoop ---------------------skull temple


one of our last days in mexico was spent in the mayan ruins of chichen itza. it was a three - hour bus trip there on one of the mexican busliners. it seems as though this is quite a ¨normal¨trip to make as there were so many people, just going for the day.

on arrival, i thought that perhaps we had confused our destination with disney as there were parking lots filled with tour buses. initially, i was quite disappointed as i have never found it too enjoyable travelling with a billion people. luckily, the park is really vast so it is not often that one is bombarded by the mobs.

archaeologists have said that chichen itza was inhabited before the 9th century and again in the late 10th century until about the 14th when it was abandoned for mysterious reasons.
the reliefs on the temples and structures are incredibly well-done with images of the rain god, chac-mool, and the plumed serpant, quetzalcoatl, almost everywhere.

el castillo is probably one of the most interesting as each stone that was laid is based on the mayan calendar. for example: there are four stairways which have 91 steps each, adding up to 365 - the number of days in the year.
the ball court is also impressive, probably the most amazing i have seen during this trip. in fact, it is the largest in the whole of central america. on either sides are two temples and towering parallel walls which have stone cement rings attached to them. along the walls are carvings of players. these hint that the game might have changed over the years as here they wear padding on their knees and elbows and some even are holding bats (players were then able to hit the ball through the hoop), a change from other courts we have seen.
these two were my favourites but of course, all of the other structures were incredible. each with their own characteristic.

On part decouvrir Chichen Itza pour la journee depuis Tulum. Le site ne possède pas l´atmosphère de Palenque (pas de jungle et du coup on se sent moins arqueologue aventurier) mais les édifices sont spectaculaires. Le caracol, temple d´observation du ciel et des astres, retient mon attention par sa forme d´escargot. Les mayas était passé expert dans l´observation des étoiles et déduisaient ainsi les périodes de moisson, de récolte ainsi que les éclipses. Ils ont également développé un calendrier solaire qui nous sert de base encore aujourd´hui moyennant une correction de qq jours effectuée sous l´ère gregorienne (1520).

Ils possédaient en fait 2 calendriers, l´un solaire sur 365 jours et l´autre plus ancien de 260 jours utilisé par les pretres maya du guatemala. Mélangés, ces deux calendriers donnaient les cycles de 18980 jours soit 52 ans solaires, ce qui est relativement court et ne permet pas de distinguer deux dates séparées par plus de 52 ans.
Ainsi ils ont développé un troisieme calendrier au compte long, sur une base de 144 000 jours par cycle (ou baktuns) et comptabilise depuis la creation (le 13 aout de l´an 3114 BC). Les anciens mayas croyaient que le grand cycle de l´age actuel ne durerait que pour 13 baktuns (13 cycles), ce qui nous amene en calendrier solaire au 23 decembre 2012.
Prenez donc note ! Les mayas prevoient de nombreuses morts pour cette fin de grand cycle. Mais tout etant du a un eternel recommencement dans cette culture (d´ou les cycles) , il ne faut pas trop s´inquieter...

Le court de pelote est vraiment impressionnant par sa taille et les anneaux dans lesquels il fallait faire passer la pelote de pierre sont encore visibles. Par contre, il reste encore une enigme a résoudre car plusieurs théorie s´affrontent quand au sort des deux équipes en fin de partie :
- est ce le vainqueur qui est sacrifié aux dieux en récompense
- ou est ce le perdant ???

On quitte Duarte et Marrianne après deux semaines de voyage au coeur du Mexique. Encore merci a vous deux pour ces aventures partagées et ces apéros endiablés.

Le temps passe vite et d autant plus vite que l´on progresse dans notre voyage. Les destinations défilent et il nous reste deux semaines pour rejoindre Guatemala city.

A nous le Belize....

tulum

view from the cabaña in tulum ------- sunrise



tulum ruins


fishing rods


fishermen in action -------------------------------catch of the day



caribbean seagulls -----------------tulum ruins from the boat



carlos, mario and the catch ------------------ karis and her new idol



baracuda feast -------------------------------family photo


who would have thought that water could be as clear and as mesmorising than that! welcome to the caribbean. we were in awe from the moment our (tanned, slip-slopped) feet hit that pure, white sand.we stayed in an ¨eco-chic hotel¨, or thats what they liked to call it, right on the beach with our window over-looking this amazing setting. funny thing though, the bed was hanging from the beams, so it gave us the hammock-effect...weird!

from the word ¨go¨, we were up and about; if we were not visiting tulum town and it´s ruins (meaning ¨wall¨of ¨fortification¨in maya), we were out with the locals fishing and snorkelling or lazing on the various hammocks attached to the palm trees.

the ruins were beautiful especially with the clear blue sea as the backdrop. unfortunately, there was not as much info. as we had hoped and the lawns were really well-manicured...just for the tourists, no doubt! however, we did manage to find out that they were inhabited in around 500AD, in the middle of the maya classic period, until 1544 when the ¨friendly¨spanish arrived and forcefully took it away.

our day out fishing and snorkelling was fan-ta-stic! the hotel manager´s husband took us out with his stepson (that looked the same age he did). once we had made it past the reef, it was extremely windy and the sea rough. we were given fishing rods with bait and were told to be patient and wait. so that´s what we did...after about twenty minutes, i felt a bite which caused much excitement only to find that either 1) it was my imagination (quite likely) or 2) it was caused from the energetic waves (quite probable). damn! just after that, marianne started to bellow and she had reason to. her rod was bending at such an angle i thought that it wa going to grow wings and fly away, fish and all. carlos - the husband - reeled and fought, fought and reeled until finally he landed a 10kg baracuda into the boat. with that the stepson knocked it out and did some other stuff, but by that stage i was no longer watching - distraught.
just when we thought that the action was over, seb caught himself a mother! same drama with the reeling and fighting. however this time the husband was shouting instructions, in spanish of course, and were were looking around anxiously for the beast to meet his once-brother and that he did! they must have been twins as they both were more or less, the same size and weight. wasn´t that (fishing, not fish) family happy (as luck would have it, we were invited to lunch at their place. like i said - happy, happy family)!!

so with the fishing expedition over, it was snorkel time. we were taken to a cenote where we snorkelled in magnificant clear water, passing tree roots and all kinds of marine life (mostly aggresive blue crabs and clear coloured fish). it´s amazing as this cenote has both fresh and sea water and one can feel the difference in temperature. snorkelling experience #2 was on the reef, but we did not see too much. the sea was agitated and the fish were all hiding. i begin to wonder if people did indeed see a turtle there the day before...

so lunch... REALLY funny experience. the four of us arrived at the family home with beers, wine and a bottle of coke (i know, i know but they really are fond of it) and we are told to sit at their diningroom table where there were only four chairs. feeling somewhat uncomfortable, we sat, chatted, drank and attempted to make conversation with the various people wafting in and out of the house. things were going pretty well until the husband puts on some house music. that would have been fine but he pumped the volume so much that it was pretty impossible to speak (perhaps that was his point?) so drinking and eating were the only options we are left with. perhaps in our state of nerves, marianne kept on knocking over her beer, seb and duarte had to get up and walk around as their bellies were too full and i was sitting on their couch (this is the part where we took turns at sitting at the table eating) laughing at the most extraordinary scene i was in. an extremely memorable day, indeed!

one thing must be said, tulum has some great restaurants and an even better italian ice cream shop, which we visited on a nightly basis. very often, we would have sundowners in front of our cabaña with oaxacan cheese and head into town for dinner then of course, it would be followed by a roomys (ice cream in afrikaans). mmm - a perfect meal!

Apres la visite de Palenque, la nissan turu loué par Duarte et pleine a craquer file droit sur la cote Carraibe. Et ce ne sont pas les 5 controles de routine de l´armée mexicaine qui la feront ralentir. En effet, c´est la fumée s´échappant du moteur qui nous force a nous garer en bord de route. Heureusement, un taxi s´arrete pour nous montrer la cause du problème (fuite d´eau dans le circuit de refroidissement). On le résoud temporairement en vidant nos dernières réserves d´eau dans le réservoir et on trouve un mécano qq kms plus loin qui nous répare tout ca en 2 heures sous un soleil de plomb et sous l oeil attentif de son chef qui se repose dans un hamac (cf photos)

Tulum et ses plages de sable fin nous acceuille par une journée ensoleillée. On se loue une cabaña en bord de plage et on se repose qq jours. Au programme, plage, grosses siestes dans les hamacs suspendus aux palmiers avec vue sur la mer, séances de natation dans l´eau bleu turquoise, parties de cartes en sirotant une margarita, la vie est dure quoi...

Les ruines de Tulum sont vraiment bien situées, en bord de mer. C´est ici que les mayas auraient apercu les premiers navires espagnols en 1518.

On organise une sortie peche au gros avec Carlos et Mario. La houle est forte en ce début de journée et le vent nous glace le sang durant la premiere heure de peche infructueuse. Heureusement, la ligne de Marrianne plonge soudainement, ce qui nous tire un peu de notre révasserie. Il faut ramener toutes les lignes en vitesse afin de ne pas géner le duel. Il lui faut 5 minutes de lutte acharnée pour ramener le poisson, qui, a notre grande surprise, est énorme : un beau baracuda de 10 kg. Nos visages s´illuminent alors en pensant au bon repas qui va suivre...
Qq minutes plus tard, Duarte loupe le coche et laisse filer sa chance. Je termine la session de peche en ramenant a mon tour un beau bébé de 10 kg, surement le frère de celui ramené par Marrianne.

On organise également une petite sortie de snorkelling (masque et tuba) dans les cenotes, ces grottes naturelles aux formations rocheuses étranges (stalagtites de calcaire). Nager dans les caves est qq peu inquiétant car il fait noir et les chauves souris peuplent le plafond. La visibilité dans l´eau est très bonne et on peut jouer avec les crabes qui courent au fond.

Au retour du voyage, Carlos et Mario nous invitent chez eux pour déguster le festin sur fond sonore a base de techno (bizarre...). Au menu, soupe de poisson puis frijoles, guacamole, tortilla et baracuda bien sur. Je mange tellement ( 3 gros steaks de baracuda pour moi seul) que j´en ai mal au ventre pendant deux jours...

palenque

agua azul waterfalls

xylophone concerto in palenque
templo de las inscriptiones in palenque




hyeroglyphs -------------------------palacio



archeologists at work ---------------------------queen´s waterfall



car problems -------------------the infamous nissan turu being repaired



chief mechanic at work ----------------------duarte and the quadruple cheese burger



laguna bacalar ---------------------------------taxi service


after an extemely long and exhausting drive, we made it to agua azul. we were lucky to see the water blue, as often it becomes muddy due to the rainy season. it was exactly what we needed (especially after an evening of chilean wine), dipping into the water before heading to the palenque ruins.

palenque was first occupied in 100BC and flourished from 630 - 740AD, thanks to mister pakal (who was in power for much of that time). there are sooo many temples to see (500 buildings spread over 15 square kms), although unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?) could not be visited as they are closed to the public. some of the most interesting were the templo XIII with the tomb of the red queen (coloured red due to treatment with cinnabar), two smaller ones almost lost in the jungle and the palace, which had four main courtyards with a maize of corridors and rooms. some of the stucco reliefs are still evident. mind blowing.
seeing all those temples, makes it difficult to imagine that they were all built without tools, animals or wheels. clever and innovative folk they were!

just when we thought the fun had ended, a pipe in duarte´s rent-a-car broke (how? who knows?) causing the car to overheat. imagine the scene; a long, straight road with not a soul and a smoking car. indeed, that was us until a taxi driver came and saved-ish the day. to the crossroads we went to find a mechanic...there were two at work and one in a hammock lying with one eye open, around him many, many open beers. i´m guessing that it was a good thing that he was out of action!

Ce sont 8 heures de routes montagneuses qui nous emmènent sur Palenque. Heureusement, on interromp le calvaire ( la route tourne beaucoup et les relans de vins rouges se font de plus en plus inquiétants..) à Agua Azul, site de cascades naturelles au milieu de la jungle. On arrive de nuit sur Palenque et on loue une cabaña aux portes du site. Il fait humide et les moustiques sont omniprésents.

Palenque a connu son apogée aux alentours de 700 AC sous le règne du roi Pakal. Les ruines y sont bien conservées et les hyéroglyphes sont encore visibles sur les facades des temples, notament le temple des inscriptions, tombeau funéraire de Pakal. Quelques temples au nord du site sont assez funky puisqu´ils auraient été pensés sous l´influence de champignons hallucinogènes, assez répandus dans la jungle alentour.