Days 30-33 - Caye Caulker, Belize

Caye Caulker (31/01/09 - 03/02/09)

After a very very bumpy hour long boat ride from Belize City we arrived in Caye Caulker. On this relaxed Caribbean island the streets are made of sand and no cars are allowed.

This made the streets very quiet and pleasurable to walk around.


There was not much here apart from sand, palm trees and boats, but we decided to stay a few days and relax.




Liz liked this rasta boat.




One day we decided to explore the island including the mangroves.




The island had other inhabitants other than rastafarians with big dreadlocks. But if you squint...

Adam took lots of photographs of lizards as usual.

Another day we spent watching Manatees and snorkelling. One Manatee got really close to the boat.

And then it got REALLY close. This is really unusual, normally on these tours you see a grey blob in the distance, since all they do is stick their nose out to breathe.

We stopped to have lunch on an almost deserted island called St Georges Caye. Currently about 10 people live there.

The island must have seen better days as there were lots of deserted jetties.

Whilst we were having lunch our guide was working hard cleaning the bottom of the boat.

It's nice riding around on a boat in the sun.

As you can see the waters are crystal clear - perfect for snorkelling. We saw lots of brightly coloured fish and a large green turtle.

We ventured onto one of the other islands but it was too busy and we didn't like the paved streets, so we went back to our own island.

We saw several dramatic sunsets.

We found a bar and restaurant called the sandbox, and it did the best veggie burgers in the world.

Day 29- River boat to Lamanai

Boat trip down the New River from Orange Walk to the Mayan ruins at Lamanai (30/01/09)

The picturesque New River. We decided to go on a boat trip to some Mayan ruins called Lamanai. As it turned out the boat trip itself was far more enjoyable than the ruins themselves. We travelled about 30 miles south upriver and saw lots of wildlife on the way, not letting a bit of rain dampen our spirits.

A Northern Jacana. Also known as the Jesus bird because of it's apparent ability to walk on water (or water lilies whichever the case may be).

This iguana was very well camouflaged in this rotten tree branch. We hadn't seen it until the guide pointed it out.

We were very excited to see a couple of Spider Monkeys swinging through the trees. They were very inquisitive and came right on to the branches overhanging the river to take a look at us. It was hard to tell who was doing the wildlife watching - us or the monkeys.

This one was slightly less bold than his friend.

One of the Spider Monkeys showing how they got their name. It is easy to imagine this silhouette from a distance might look like a giant spider.

Three small brown bats roosting in a rotten tree trunk. If you have trouble making them out take note that they are upside down. They are about tennis ball size and they live on mosquitos and flies.

We saw lots of different species of birds of prey. This Snail Kite was particularly interesting because it's hooked beak is perfectly designed for reaching right inside snail shells.

This Black Vulture strikes quite a dramatic pose silhouetted against the sun.

This is one of several Mennonite communities in Belize. We had previously noticed a number of strangely dressed people around, the men were all wearing the same clothes - black trousers held up with braces, checked shirts and straw hats. They looked like they had just stepped out of Little House on the Prairie. After a bit of research we discovered that they are a Christian pacifist group originally from Germany who have moved to various strange locations to escape conscription. They do not use electricity and mostly horses for farm work but still manage to produce as much as 50% of Belize's food. The fairly small numbers and ban on marrying outside the community has apparently led to problems with inbreeding, something which is very easy to believe when you see some of them.

The ruins were surrounded by jungle giving them something of an Indiana Jones feel.

This species of palm has a very spiny trunk. On one example near the track the guides had shaved the spines off at hand height giving rise to an amusing image of several previous tourists grabbing on to help them up the steep slope that was next to it.

This huge stone face was only discovered by accident when someone accidently knocked down one of the outer temple walls. Apparently it was common practice amongst the Mayans simply to build new structures onto what was already there.

Another enormous temple with lots of steps.

Yes, we did climb to the top. That is the New river in the background.

Liz climbing back down the steep stone steps. As our guide said - the climb to the top is physical, the climb down is psychological.

In the background is the Jaguar temple. It is supposed to depict the facial features of a Jaguar if you use your imagination. Adam is obviously not imaginative enough.

Nor Liz, but she is still smiling.

Black Orchids, the National flower of Belize. They are purple!

We were not the only river users. This was one of only a few pictures on the way back as it started raining quite hard.

But the rain storm ended well.

Day 28 - Orange Walk, Belize

Orange Walk Town (29/01/09)

Orange Walk is a somewhat sleepy town so named for it's massive production of oranges, nearly all of which are exported to large American juice companies such as Tropicana. The main square was pretty and very quiet.

Liz took a fancy to this rather ramshackle house on stilts.


The hotel we stayed had a large garden on the river with lots of different flowers. Hummingbirds were flying around these red ones but proved too quick to photograph.

Another interesting plant in the garden.

There were lots of birds by the river including this kingfisher.

The New River. We stopped in Orange Walk especially to go on a boat trip down this lovely river.

Adam looking at the shoals of fish swimming in the water and failing to see any crocodiles.

Day 27- Crossing from Mexico to Belize

Corozal Town, Belize (28/01/09)

The border crossing from Mexico into Belize was incredibly easy- they barely looked at our passports or our luggage. We soon arrived in the Belizean border town of Corozal which is slightly more interesting than Chetumal, but not much.

The hotel we stayed in for the night was run by a Welshman who sounded about as Welsh as Clint Eastwood. It did, however, have a bar so we had a couple of beers and watched the sunset over the bay.

Day 26- Chetumal, Mexico

Chetumal (27/01/09)

Chetumal is the capital of the state of Quintanaroo in Mexico. We had to go there because it is the closest town to the border crossing into Belize. It turned out to be an incredibly boring town, so boring that the most interesting photo we have is this one of our hotel. There was also a dog tied to a tree just below our hotel window and it howled all night.