We arrived on the island of Caye Caulker with severe winds and heavy rains, but the rain is warm, so it was no big deal, and our room at Tom’s Hotel was clean and fresh. The view was amazing, sea as far as you could see, and only 100m away from our beach hut room, and from the roof you could see the opposite side of the island-it was really thin.
We soon found out that this was nothing like Mexico; in fact, it was more like a mini-Jamaica. It was totally relaxed-in fact, so chilled out that we were practically horizontal most of the time (in the hammocks). The island hums with reggae music, and the relaxed Creole accent is almost hypnotic. We came across the I&I bar, where rum punch was the order of the day. We soon found ourselves under the wings of two local lads who told us that nothing matters here and that you have no worries. "Why are you rushin’? You are not from Russia," was the general vibe. The main form of transport was golf carts. They are battery powered and have a maximum speed of 20 mph. Great fun! They have just one pedal and one handle to change into reverse.
Our second day we went with Ragga Muffin tours for a day trip of snorkeling. I have never been snorkeling before, and it was absolutely amazing. I wore a float to start with and soon found that smiling and talking to the fish was letting water into my mask, so I had to be content with waving. There were so many fish; it is such a wicked experience being in their world. We even swam with nurse sharks, about six were ahead of Caz and I, and then, just as everyone got out, I saw a giant stingray; it was massive and flapped above the seabed below me.
We also met the Lyrical King, a Rasta from South Belize who was such a character. He sang us his reggae songs with his guitar, one about not kissing a woman until you know she can cook, kissing your fish Ed instead. And one about being from Belize, "We get our honey straight from da bees."
We were gutted to have to leave the island. Belize City was pretty grim, but I went to see the Cajal Petch ruins, which were less impressive, but still interesting, and there was hardly anyone there, so it was very peaceful. On the second day we opted for the caving expedition to the Actun Tunich Ill Muknal ancient Mayan caves. We were told we would have an hour’s hike to the caves and that we would have to swim in some parts. How exciting! The entrance alone was amazing, and the half-kilometer mission to the ancient artifacts was a really good challenge. We had a great guide who told us that the history of the Mayans and how they believed the spirits of the underworld lived in the caves. They went and made food offerings and did sacrifices deep in the caves! It must have been very spooky. He shined his torch so we could see the shadows from the stalactites, which were very freaky. We got to a huge chamber that looked like a cathedral with a giant organ (the crystal formations), and then we went to the artifacts. The cave was only officially discovered in 1986, and the artifacts are all in their original positions, not encased. You can touch the real Mayan skulls and see the carvings on the pottery that dates to 900AD. It’s incredible. At the very top is the Princess, a full-size skeleton that is lying down. It’s incredible to see; it’s in perfect condition due to the water and granite preserving it. There is a real atmosphere in the cave. The bloke said, on a number of occasions, that he has had weird experiences in the caves where he had felt something go through him.