Just a few quick thoughts about our trip this past week...
Belize is wonderful! We're already planning a return trip back next year, because there's so much we didn't see.
We had a late-ish flight when we got in, and didn't want to risk having flight delays and being stuck in Belize City after the last water taxi with no place to stay, so we chose to stay our first night at D'Nest Inn. It's in a quiet residential neighborhood in the northern part of Belize City, and the owners (Gaby and Oti) are the type of people who feel like friends after you've been there for just one night. It was Good Friday when we got there and not many restaurants were open, so they invited us to have a traditional Good Friday meal with them: a stew called serre (sp?) that's made with coconut broth, plantain dumplings, and fish. It was delicious, and we enjoyed some wonderful conversation with Gaby, Oti, and another guest. Highly recommended... you don't get that kind of experience at the Best Western! The rooms are small, clean, affordable, and have everything you need, including A/C.
We had heard there was a big annual cross-country bike race coming through town, so the next day we walked to where Gaby and Oti told us the race would be coming through. The people-watching was great... listening to all the people around us speaking Belizean English (we couldn't understand a word) and just observing while we waited. We felt on guard and wary, but not unsafe. It was fun seeing the racers come through -- the road is incredibly rough, and I can only imagine how many flats they must get.
The next day we took the water taxi to Caye Caulker, and stayed there (at Barefoot Beach) for three nights. We loved Caye Caulker. We did a lot of wandering around town and sitting in the hammocks at the end of Barefoot Beach's dock and just generally unwinding. We also went on a full-day snorkeling expedition with Carlos Tours. We had heard rave reviews about this particular company and Carlos' focus on reef conservation... the tour was good and we saw a lot of great fish, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I was a bit surprised that he didn't do any orientation on how to snorkel, adjust the equipment, etc... there were a few people who were new to snorkeling and struggling a bit, and Carlos and the other guide had sort of a frustrated attitude towards these people (who weren't being pains... they just couldn't get the adjustments quite right). But we had a great day on the water -- a highlight was seeing eagle rays, which are beautiful creatures. To be clear, I wouldn't NOT recommend this company... it's just that they're probably about the same as all the other tour companies from our experience, not anything wildly better.
While on our snorkeling tour, we spent an hour in San Pedro for lunch, which was plenty for us. It helped us see the contrast between San Pedro and Caye Caulker, and we were so glad we chose the latter. Nothing wrong with San Pedro, it's just that the more local, laid-back pace of Caye Caulker is more our style. It didn't hit us until we'd spent an hour on San Pedro saying "no thank you" to people trying to sell us trinkets, boat trips, taxi rides, etc. that we never experienced that on Caye Caulker -- there was one guy wandering around the restaurants trying to get you to give him money for some dubious-sounding record deal, but in general we never felt like "tourist targets" on Caye Caulker... we just went about our business and everyone left us alone. It's a very mellow, relaxing place in that sense.
The best dining experience we had there was Glenda's. which is a bit off the beaten path on Back Street -- she serves cheap, delicious breakfasts in a porch on her home. Amor y Cafe had the best coffee.
We liked Barefoot Beach a lot, especially the location south of the main "action" (such as it is) in town. We didn't mind the walk at all... it never took us more than about 5 minutes to get to restaurants etc., and it was an endlessly interesting and beautiful walk along the water's edge.
The "pie lady" (whose name I can't remember) was another highlight -- she has a bike cart from which she sells the most amazing chocolate coconut pie we've ever had, and brownies to die for. We only saw her once, and spent the other two days searching in vain for her so we could feed our chocolate coconut pie addiction... probably better for our waistlines that we didn't find her!
One day we took a walk south through the little nature preserve and past the airstrip. There's a rough trail that winds around through the forest, and a few houses... really pretty walk.
That's it for now... I'm sure I'll think of more later. Thanks to everyone for all your tips that helped make this a good trip! San Ignacio report coming later.
