The Belize Cayes

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'Next stop Belize' would be San Pedro on the southern end of Ambergris Caye. Madonna's 1980's song ("I fell in love with San Pedro. It all feels like yesterday....") did a lot for business and golf cart (the standard transport introduced by Americans to save them from any uneccessary exercise and cope with the then sandy roads) proliferation. While Madonna loved it, we only liked it (I suspect it's changed) so headed toward a quieter alternative with sand roads and more pushbikes/fewer golf carts) further south along the cayes that make up part the 2nd longest barrier reef (after ours) in the world.

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The plan was to stay a few days on Caye Caulker (still with sandy roads, rickety houses, fishing locals and mobile hardware) then catch a sail boat for 2 nights camping on tinier islands (4 palm trees) en route south. Sadly, despite us hanging around and waiting on the island longer than we might have (mostly because of the man who kept telling me I had a lovely tan and that he would like to rub it (I said I didn't think so)), they never got enough takers so cancelled twice and we gave up. But before moving on we ate lots of lobsters and found Errol (or he found us) with his beach umbrella topped trolley selling the best little Belizean pies and cakes (his wife cook is brilliant) including a rather special lemon meringue pie. I liked Errol's pies so much that I'ld ride a bike the length of the island (not that far) just to find him each day.

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Other than that we spent our time sitting in the breeze on the roof, swimming off the dock, spotting crocs (just the two), frollicking with sting rays (someone feeds them) and making friends with Snip-R (pronounced "Snipper") and Snip-L (you can work it out). We don't know who snipped or why.

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Into Belize

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We left Mexico via an o/n bus trip from Palenque to Chetamul including a stop by the well-armed Mexican army (which is better than 2 angry Chinese guys with swords and daggers) who got us all off the bus and searched our gear (but not Mary's who claimes she looks too respectable ... and she does) at about 1.00 in the morning. One on the lads on the bus suggested they were looking for contraband and (without any hint of humour) fruit.

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We arrived in Chetamul very early, dodged the usual shonky taxi men and got a local bus to the Mexican side of the border. Did all the stamping and paying and then back on the bus through no man's land to the Belize side. By the time we exchanged niceties with the Belize people (who speak English and share our queen.... all very comforting) and got the welcome nod, our bus had gone. Although we were pretty tired and a soomewhat marooned, we felt a little fortunate that the bus hadn't charged us for the trip yet.

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We spent the day in Corozal (my god it's hot and humid) waiting for a boat (if there were enough people for it to run) to drop us off on it's way to San Pedro (of Madonna's "I fell in love with ....."). We were headed for "Backpacker's Paradise" (turned out to be a misnomer). The place got a rave review in Lonely Planet but, based on the evidence we think that must have been a self-asssessment. Nothing much was as it claimed, and in a Miss Marple-like moment, Mary spotted the owner's maiden name (observed on her tourist licence) as an contributor listed in the back of the book. We're losing faith in Lonely Planet.

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Although the place was disappointing, we got to visit an orphan baby manatee ...... a face only a mother could love but cute anyway.

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The rest of our time was spent swatting unprecedented numbers of mozzies and cycling back and forth to town and the "nearby" (Lonely Planet!) beach for cool-downs before we could get the boat to call in and take us across to the Belize Caye's.

Some Images of Mexico

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Just a few photos......
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In Every Kiss a Revolution

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After the Pacific coast we headed to San Cristobal de las Casas (where at least one person sees a bit of politics in 2 girls kissing (en cada beso una revolucion - in every kiss a revolution), planned for another week of Spanish and settled down in a homestay on the edge of town. Mama, papa, 18 yo nino,12 yo nina and a very vigilant perro. We don’t think we’ll do a homestay again.

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Most evenings in San Cristobal began and/or ended in a lovely little wine bar with a nice (imported) glass or two plus snacks and maybe a pasta. And we caught some films (including "Una Tranvia llama Deseo" (could be misspelt ... "A Streetcar Named Desire". Was Stanley bad?) in cute little cinemas relaxing on lounges, plastic or camping chairs.

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San Cristobal offers lots of activities and tours. First we opted for a horse ride to a nearby invillage. We were collected for the halfday outing and directed to the back of a pickup (you were right Bob, don't know what the fuss is about) to scoot through town and out into the surrounding semi-rural area. The horses and gear were .....well, very little padding or leather involved (none on the seat) and in my case, no bit either. Pretty creative use of nylon rope though. Didn't seem to matter. The horse knew what it was doing. We pretty well trotted the hour or so out of town (not the horse's idea but the 12 year old guide's) and moaned the hour or so back (and for 3 days later).

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The indigenous market was interesting. Lots of farm produce, wool for making the traditional heavy skirts and vests, plus loads of local handicrafts (apparently local in all parts of Mexico (and probably Central America)).

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En route toward the east and Belize we took a three day (jungle/river to Mayan ruins/rafting) tour staying in lovely rustic (see-through bamboo walls and a mosquito net between you and whatever lives out there) cabins on stilts by a river (really very nice) and ending at Palenque for a bit more of the rustic and ruins, and waking to howler monkeys (extremely loud!) in the jungle.

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