Caye Caulker, Belize

May 22-25

Ryoko, Matthias and I crossed the border by foot into Belize. Upon arriving into Belize City, which appears to be rather dodgy, we took a ferry to the island of Caye Caulker. Apparently Caye Caulker used to be just one island, but some years ago a hurricane ripped through it and split it in two! The area where the two island split is, quite logically, called 'The Split!' The northern island doesn't have much on it at all. The southern island, where we stayed, was very touristy! At The Split there was a huge bar, mostly only busy during the day. There were also some very skilled people kite surfing and windsurfing around this area. Tourist hot spot.

We spent our first afternoon walking around the island. It is tiny! You can walk East to West in about one minute and north to south in a bit less than 10. Our hostel is right on the water, with a little private beach and deck area. I stepped in the water and could see that there were lots of fish. And then I noticed  MASSIVE stingray coming my way. Naturally, I screamed and ran out of the water! He was incredibly close and would have probably brushed over my toes had I not screamed and scared him away. Eek. It was then that I decided a kayak was a better option than a swim! We paddled around for a while before we came back to watch the sunset. We managed to see the stingray again - multiple stingrays infact! We reckon they're at least 1.5 - 2m in width. Massive.

The following day we went snorkelling! Having run away screaming from a stingray the previous day, I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea!! It was just the three of us with a guide, a nice small group! The boat took us out to our first stop, the channel, where we swam through the beautiful coral reefs. We saw all kinds of colourful fish, but the most exciting animal by far was the EELS. The guide pointed out the first one, hiding under some coral. He clapped his hands to try and coax him out. Then the eel started swimming straight at him! Eeeeeek. It was so close. Scary. But very cool. We also spotted our first shark! This was equally cool, but less scary because he didn't come too close. He was just chilling down on the ground. Matthias even give him a little pat! We also held star fish, sea eggs, sea urchins and conch (which we had eaten for dinner the previous night without any idea what it actually was)

 

The next stop was 'Shark Ray Alley'....oh god. I was absolutely 100% shitting myself and contemplating not even getting in the water! But I somehow mustered up the courage to hop in (holding Ryoko's hand very tight!) They throw food into the water to attract the sharks, so when we first got in there were TONS of them fighting over the food. Then when the food ran out they spread out a bit more. 

Eventually I got used to them and ended up getting veryyy close to both sharks and stingrays. The sharks were about 2m and the stringrays max 1m- not as big as the ones we spotted the day before! They don't seem to even care that you're in the water, they swam right by us, so close that Matthias touched one of the stringrays! I really didn't know if I'd enjoy this, but I LOVED it.

The third stop was at the Coral Gardens. This was a shallow area with loads of coral. It was good to see all the coral up so close and we saw heaps of amazing fish.

 

  

Last stop before we headed back was to see the tarp. These were huuuge. The guide would throw food into the water and they would immediately snap it up, almost jumping out of the water in the process!

Unfortunately most of the rest of the time we had in Caye Caulker I was sick so I spent a lot of time lying in the hammocks at the hostel, under the shade. Not a bad spot to chill.

On our final morning in Caye Caulker, Ryoko departed early for Mexico. Matthias and I had a bit more time, so we squeezed in a kayak before heading to Placencia.