God Bless the ‘Rasta’ Queen

Two days of partying in Cancun was more like two days running back and forth to the toilets as I must of picked up a bug somewhere in Cuba. So all i really did was sit in my dorm room and write blogs about Cuba and try and get better for the next leg of the trip, Belize.

The couple of days of rest did me the world of good as the 6 hour bus ride to the south border seemed to fly by. Crossing borders was a relaxed affair and with another stamp in the passport I crossed no mans land in to this small and rather odd little country. Chris and I climbed aboard a chicken bus to take us to the jungle town of Orange Walk. The chicken bus which in its previous life was an old yellow US school bus but now painted in psychedelic colours, a killer sound system and a rather large Rasta sitting behind the wheel with dreadlocks proudly displayed down his neck, we knew we were in for a random two hour journey .

The country couldn’t be more different than Mexico, the British set up shop here in 1859 by signing a treaty with Guatemala providing the British built a road from Guatemala to the Caribbean Coast which to this day has never been built (Nothing changes with Britain and road systems) by 1862 Great Britain had declared Belize its colony which accounts for all the present day ethnic diversity. Spanish takes a back seat to the English Language and Creoles which is a very odd and unique dialect of English. I could pick out words when over hearing a conversation but to me it does sound a bit like they are drunk and slurring their words. Belize has such a vast ethnic diversity, from descendants of African slaves and British Pirates to Mayan and even pockets of Chinese it is a right melting pot of people.

On my original plan back in 2005 I had wanted to visit Belize but then after reading the foreign office websites saying they have had a lot of problem with drug gangs and tourists where often the target of kidnappings so i decided against going there. Sure it goes on (Wait for the next blog) but you really shouldn’t take in all that you read, these things only happen once in a blue moon and I found Belizians to be some of the friendliest and happiest people I have met. I’m glad I had the opportunity to go there in the end.

Off we go to Orange Walk driving along the dense jungle roads and occasionally spying the Caribbean coast from the window of our psychedelic hippies bus. With Bob Marley and UB40 blasting out of the ridiculously loud sound system this ride felt like I was on one of the Caribbean Island and not in Central America. The bus rolls in to Beijing at about 7pm…….. hang on, Beijing? The town of Orange Walk had more Chinese Restaurants and Chinese business than anywhere else I had seen out side of china, Even the hotel was owned by a Chinese family and had more Chinese channels on the Cable TV than English or Spanish, I wonder if I will get to see that laughable Chinese version of Sex in the City I saw on the train from Beijing to Xi-an. I will say the two meals I had in the town was possibly some of the worse Chinese food I have ever tasted. One dish I ordered was sweet and sour chicken and I can safely say I have never had Macdonald style chicken nuggets with sweet and sour dipping vinegar, utter rubbish and at over $8 US rather a rip off. That is the major problem with Belize for backpackers is its so expensive compare to most of the Central American countries.
The reason we had come to Beijing Walk was so we could take a trip to the temples of Lamanai ‘Submerged Crocodile’. The best way to get there is down the New River via boat. We booked ourselves on a tour and off we went down the river with our young guide pointing out the abundance of birds, crocodiles and Monkeys which use the river as there home. Getting to Lamanai it was nice to be the only group there as we climb up the steep stairs up to the top of one of the temples. The view of the jungle canopy beneath your feet and knowing you are on the highest spot in Belize was pretty special. Lamanai was one of the most important Mayan cities, the Maya lived here until 16th century making it also one of the longest running of all the Mayan Cities.

On another but this time tamed down chicken bus heading towards to the old capital of Belize City. We were only going here so we could change transportation to a boat to take us to Caya Caulker. Caya Cauker lies 20 miles off the coast of Belize and is shelted by the 180 mile long barrier reef. This makes it one of the top snorkeling and diving places in the world. It took about 1 hour to reach from Belize City and when we got off to the boat it was a mad rush to find accommodation. Chris and I were luckily to get the last two places at Tina’s Backpackers were we hung out with kite surfing diving ‘backpackers’. The days were spent in hammocks, drinking rum and chewing the fat with other backpackers. One of the coolest things I did is take a snorkel tour of the barrier reef, I had never seen live coral reef before so you could tell i was a very excited Random Sam. We took a tour out to the reef with the Ragamuffins and their yacht. We had 3 spots for snorkeling over the day each with there own unique qualities. The coral was more beautiful than i could ever imagine, the colours and diversity of coral was mind blowing, I wish i could have spent days at the reef. Also there were so many different species of colourful fish swarming around us clambering for attention waiting to be fed. We even had inquisitive Rays and nurse sharks swimming up to us wanting to be petted. The coolest animal I saw were two giant sea turtles that swam passed the group taking very little notice of all the rest of the sea life that had come up to greet us. On the way back we let the sails up for the last time for the day and headed back to Caya Cauker jamming out to more reggae and drinking far to much rum punch. In all, it was another day I shall remember forever.

4 days on the the Cauker and it was time to leave the Caya. It was a sad time leaving the Caya as it would be the last time I would swim in the Caribbean Ocean which has been my very good friend for the last two months. My next stop would take be in to the heart of the Mayan and where Jungles meet volcanos. This place would be the volatile country of Guatemala.