Belize City and Caye Caulker
9/26/2001
Right from the beginning, Belize shows itself to be different from
the rest of Central America - biggest difference, the people speak
English here (English is the official language).
Today I take the bus to Belize City. Belize City is the capital of
Belize and a not very attractive place, so my destination is Caye
Caulker, which is a small island of Belize. I get suprised when we
are leaving the marine terminal in Belize City - it is not a ferry
that brings us to Caye Caulker, rather a big motorboat. Hence, my
trip reminds me a little of some trips on Lake Hartwell in Clemson...
The wind blows hard in our faces due to the fast moving boat, and
seabirds accompany us on our ride. The water is beatiful and we pass
a couple of small islands before we finally arrive in Caye Caulker.
Caye Caulker is actually a pretty touristic place and I meet many
travellers, mostly couples that want to enjoy a good time there. The
island is very pretty and even more relaxed. Actually too relaxed for
me, here is not much going on. That is why I decide to do some
snorkeling trip tomorrow.
9/27/2001
The wheather is bad today and the (recommended) place that organizes
the snorkeling trips is closed, since there are not enough people
interested. There are other places, but I don't know which are the
good ones... As I start getting bored here I decide to leave the
island in the morning, heading quicker towards Antiqua, where I want
to do a language course in Spanish, and where I can meet some people.
Hence, I take so boat back to Belize City and find the bus to the
Guatemala border. Causing some anger, the taxi driver drops my at the
wrong bus terminal and I miss the 11 o' clock bus, and I have to wait
for one hour.
Two hours later (Belize is a small country...) I already reach the
border, well, there is still 5km to go where the bus drops me... I
decide to walk being pissed at taxi drivers today. Crossing the
border is pretty much straightforward. On the Guatemala side, I catch
the bus to Flores, which will be my first stopover on my way to
Antigua.
On to Guatemala...