I just wrote a whole entry and it was not saved... I'm not sure how TJ will work for us...
Anyway, YES, we are in Belize. We arrived in Belize International and took a 40 minute cab ride to Belize City. I don't have much to say about the city itself b/c we went straight to the Marine terminal and took a 45 minute Boat ride to Caye (pronounced 'Key') Caulker. It's a like tropical island/town but a little worse for wear b/c much of the island has been rampaged by hurricanes. It's coming back fast though. It's hot here... like 98 degrees hot and sunny. There's salty breeze that cools the island - it's so great. We are staying in a hostel right on the water hosted by Tina. It's $17.50 a night and we have our own room and shared bath. We also have a kitchen for our use... it wll help us save some cash. The Belizeans are nice and LAID BACK. While New Mexico may be the 'land of Manana,' Belize was probably one of the founding fathers. Like I said it's hot so around Noon-ish, things close up for a couple of hours. There is a lots of scuba diving, snorkeling, manatee watching and touring the barrier reef things options here. Yesterday, we rented snorkeling gear for $5 total for 5 hours and swam with the fishes in the water and even saw a barracuda. Tour packages run anywhere from $20 to 45 per person. Today we took a half day trip to the local reef to check out the varieties of fish and coral and swim with rather large nurse sharks and Eagle rays. It's was really freaky having to jump in the water when your intuition is telling you 'NO.' No problems though except Maya getting a little sea sick (Maya can only handle real vessels like the "Golden Bear"). Finally, the food. Lots of seafood at pretty good prices. I stopped but a restaurant to check out the dinner menu and the cook personally showed me the evenings entree - fresh, just caught snapper. Otherwise, I would say the prices for coffee, bfast and lunch are comparable to American stuff.
Overall, five days or so in Caye Caulker is a perfect visit for anyone wanting sun, good food and lots of water activities. While it would be easy to blow lots of cash here, there are lots of options for the budget traveller. Seeing is Belizing!
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