Day 3- Caye Caulker, Belize

After a warm night in a small room we felt ready and excited to explore the next thing.  As we read about, Belize City wasn’t really a place we felt we needed more time in.  We decided to head north to the island of Caye Caulker. We loaded our packs and made it to the water taxi port which was about a 7 minute walk from our hotel (we were thankful to ease into walking with our packs slowly). We had a little extra time before the water taxi so we stopped for a beer and a snack before getting onto the boat. 

We took a nice 45 minute boat ride to Caye Caulker.  The colors of the Caribbean sea, the sunshine, and the pleasant breeze had us invigorated and loving life. 

On arrival as we were putting our packs on another traveler approached us and asked what our story was.  He said he knew by the way we packed we were doing something “big and awesome”.  We told him how we quit our jobs and decided to travel and that this was our first full day of our trip.  He was so excited for us and said how he hopes he can do that one day.  As we exchanged smiles and fist bumps it was one more reminder about how fortunate we are to be able to do such a cool and exciting trip! We had a short 2 minute walk to Pause Hostel which we reserved beds in a dorm just that morning.  When we got there the guy gave us the news that “Booking.com” had overbooked his hostel and he did not have any room for us.  Looking around at the surroundings of sand and palm trees right on the water I asked if we could camp.  He immediately said sure and was happy to know we had the flexibility to pitch a tent.  He said we could camp for 25  Belize dollars a night (12.50 USD) for all 3 of us and we could have access to all the facilities (bathrooms, showers, lockers for our valuables, sea kayaks, and clean drinking water). We were excited for the bargain and Brendan happy that there was purpose to him carrying the tent and other camping items. 

We were in a beautiful setting and also a “cat sanctuary” as the hostel Pause was a refuge to cats on the island.  At first we thought it was really cute as all these playful cats were walking around but then we realized they were more of a nuisance as we had to constantly worry about them peeing on our stuff and tent.  We locked our valuables in the lockers and left our big bags closed in the tent and set out to explore the island of Caye Caulker.  It was a beautiful place, very small and very friendly.  Unlike Belize City we felt completely safe strolling the sand streets as this was the “go slow” island and a place for locals, backpackers, and tourists.  You can walk the whole island easily and there are many small shops, bars, and restaurants. We stopped in a store and picked up our first local bottle of rum and some juice.  We headed down to “The Split” which was the beach hangout area of the island.  We sat on the waters edge taking in the beautiful shades of blue, watching kite boarders and swimmers. It was a beautiful day.  Our appetite growing we set out to find cheap lobster that we had heard and read about.  We found a place with swinging chairs at the bar and a $10 lobster dinner.  The whole lobster was big and the local sides of coconut rice and beans and vegetables were amazing.

 Definitely a fantastic meal.  Sun kissed and tummies full we headed back to the hostel and camp.  Taylor and B went across the way to another beach bar for one more Belikin and I nestled in the tent tired from a beautiful day.