Living On Caye Caulker Is Like Living On Gilligan's Island!

 Going to Caye Caulker was like living a dream...to a tropical island with sandy white streets used by cyclists and pedestrians only.  In the two weeks we spent there, I saw only two vehicles...with the exception of golf carts! The vibe on the island was different from Mexico...it was a calmer place and the people of the island were a mix of Rastafarians, Expats, and Latinos.  It was strange to hear English being spoken again as we walked down the sandy streets strewn with jumbled buildings both large and small, selling food and other goods.  The best restaurants were the tiny family establishments that cooked the local favorites of rice, beans, and stewed chicken for $3.50!  It was cheaper to eat out at a restaurant every night than to buy food.  The grocery stores on the island all sold the basics and were high priced.  The diving/snorkeling near the island was very memorable- we saw huge fish and tree-sized coral.  The marine life has been protected for about 25 years so it is healthy and abundant.  It was a relaxed and interesting island that we will never forget. Some day I would love to go back and visit the good friends we made there!

Roland waiting with our luggage in Playa Del Carmen as we wait for our ADO bus to Chetumal.

Brenda on the Chetumal Pier with the water taxi on the right.  This pier also serves as customs and immigration for visitors traveling to Belize...the military officer and a drug-sniffing dog came later!

The inside of the water taxi...it was not a smooth ride!

Our first stop was Ambegris Caye, just a half hour boat ride from Caye Caulker.

Our hotel was Leeside Rooms, a charming place right on the water, run by Tom who showed us great hospitality.

Our bed was especially made Tom and was very high which afforded us a view of the ocean view.

Our eating area with a mini kitchen over looking some banana trees.

Tom and Polly-O the parrot in from of Leeside.

I made a new friend!

Enjoying a chat after a home cooked meal of lobster made by Tom...Polly-O looking on from the deck ledge.

Roland scuba diving in the second biggest coral reef in the world!

The streets were sand like the beach...bicycles and golf carts are the preferred form of transportation...
many people also walk around in bare feet!

This sign cracked me up- "Drinking is fun!"

Some houses near our hotel....most of the houses are on stilts.

This is the police station...the officers are rarely seen and ride around in golf carts....



This is a closer view of the sign.

The barber shop around the corner from our room.

The Reggae Bar in town.

A view of Front Street.

His name was Guru and he ran the carving shop where we bought some bowls and carvings on Front Street.

One of the houses downtown...this was a pretty one with coche shells along the steps leading up to the front door.

I took this photo before it got dark- the BBQ on the left was right on the street and the meat or seafood to be grilled later  were  displayed on the table without refrigeration....it tasted delicious!

Fanta Corner, as I called it, was our turn off to our room, this little boy is walking with bare feet...

Here I go to the beach at the Split to get cooled down...all the bikes in town are a touring style and old fashioned looking...

This was our favorite restaurant.  We could get a typical Belizian meal of rice and beans
with stewed chicken for $3.50 CDN

This is the Caye Caulker Community Centre complete with a Public Library, Post Office and other offices.

Here I am with my Canadian friend and fellow-teacher, Joni.  She started Ocean Academy School
 because of a need she saw for a secondary school. She has relocated on the Caye and  is
now married to a Honduran man.

These are some of the girls that visited the library after school.

(Brenda and Marconi in the Puiblic Libary) I met and listened to this boy read on two occasions, to help out my Canadian teacher friend, Joni, who tutors him.  He was interesting boy...he is a student and also sells popcorn to the locals and tourists alike to help make money for his family.  He loved this shark book!

This is Sandra the teacher at Ocean Academy School and a librarian too. She is also a Canadian who relocated to Caye Caulker after marrying a local fisherman and has three children.

I called this Crab Lane because it was literally crawling with crabs...a blue type and another one with some red markings.  They lived on the sandy street in the holes they dig and hid in the low grass and shrubbery...It was creepy to to walk on this lane at night without a light because you could hear the crabs but hardly see them!

No, these are not mouse holes, they are crab holes along the road...

A blue crab that I could see hiding along the way!

Brenda and Roland at the Split.

The Split bar and beach area.

Brenda in repose in the kayak near the Split.

A Raggae Touring boat complete with thatched roof docked near the Split.

Roland kayaking near the Split.

This is the bar at the Split beach with loud Reggae music and good food and drinks all day long!

This wreck of a boat reminded us of the SS Minnow from the  Gilligan's Island

View of the boats along the coastline of Caye Caulker with lots of Mangrove trees, fish, and even crocs (but we didn't see any)!

Leeside Rooms from the water...

Lobster pots waiting for lobster season to start.

One of many little wharfs out in the shallow water waiting for lobster season.

Brenda and Roland in Cozumel For A Month!

After three months with my two children, it was great to see my husband again!  We met up in Cozumel and had a very relaxing a fun-filled visit.  The Coral Princess Resort was a great location and the staff was very welcoming.  We listened to the music available at the hotel some of the nights, swam with the fish, and got a lot of sun!  On a few occasions, we ventured to the other side of the island. On one of our trips, I drove a scooter and had  a "hair raising" ride...I had very little experience driving a scooter and doing this in Mexican traffic was quite a challenge!  We made some nice friends and ate some delicious local food.  We also visited a Mayan village, a cenote, and the Mayan ruins of Coba.  Another fun outing we took was biking and exploring  the coastal road. We swam and snorkeled as we went along.  The diving for Roland was full of exotic fish and turtles too! It was a great place for a holiday!

A relaxed Roland on the balcony of our Cozumel hotel.

I love vacations!

View of the pool and the ocean below where you can jump off and snorkel.

Another view of the property with the pirate ship floating by.

Roland and Brenda on the pirate cruise.

The pirate show.

The pirate ship getting ready to launch.

Lounging with our friends, Buddy, Katie, Lorenzo (the bartender), John, and Brenda.

The hotel that we stayed at- the Coral Princess.

Roland on the sandy beach up from the hotel.

I had a nice cool off in the beautiful clear water.

Here we are with a funny shadow photo.

View out our balcony sliding door.

Roland and Brenda at the hotel with a cruise ship passing by.

Here we are at the back of the hotel by the water.

Our room was in the middle  with the two white chairs.

Brenda jumping in to swim with fish!

Snorkeling was right there...I saw so many types of fish, even an eel and a squid!

Our room.

Roland jumping on the diving boat that picked us right up at the hotel.

What a great snorkel and diving day we had!

Here I am snorkeling above the divers.

After one dive...getting ready for another one.

This was my snorkeling buddy!

Roland lounging at Corona Beach after a long bike ride to get there.

Snorkeling  at Corona beach...there were so many fish...

VISITING THR CENOTE GRANDE- This is a view of the cenote with  a couple
having wedding photos taken in the water.

The cenote water was cool and refreshing and the caves were swarming with birds.

Cenote swimming!

Cenote exploring.

Here we are in front of a chicle tree- I am holding a chicle berry that oozes a
sticky white substace that is an ingedient in Chiclets gum!

MAYAN HOUSE- We had a tour at a Mayan home complete with 14 children and lots of exotic pets.

These were the wild boars that the family had fenced in as livestock.

This was a female monkey that lived at the house.

This is a pet that eats the bugs and rats in the area...

This is the only lake I ever saw in the area, usually the rivers were underground cenotes.

VISITING THE MAYAN RUINS OF COBA

This is the area they used to play a ball game that used this hole like a basketball hoop of sorts.

Here is our comical guide on the transportation around the ruins...bikes driven by the locals...

Rolalnd at the ruins.

A temple.

Roland and Brenda before climbing the pyramid at Coba.

What a view at the top!

The stellas that were like stone  newspapers at this time in history...they were all over the place.

VISITING THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND- Brenda enjoying the beautiful beach.

We stopped in at the restaurant along the way and Roland got a tatoo made of henna.

The final product...a cool Mayan design.

Lounging on some hammocks at the restaurant.

COZUMEL- Roland by our favorite tree along our walk to town.

Brenda in front of a beautiful fountain sculpture along the sea wall in Cozumel.

Roland in downtown Cozumel.

The view that we saw when we walked  to town almost every day

"TRASHY BEACH CLUB" CLEAN UP ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND- Buddy picking up trash.

Before

Here I am picking up trash!

After!

Our American friends, Katie and John took us to the other side of the island
and then to lunch at a local restaurant.

We had a good visit to this beach but we had to be careful in the surf!