Escape from Mexico

It's too hot here in Caye Caulker right now to be outside so we've escaped into the
Cybercafe to give an update (every internet cafe in Central America seems to be called Cyberspace or Cybercafe).

Well, Mexico is behind us thank God, people are really freaking out about this Swine Flu apparently, although we had no idea until the frantic calls to our family at home in Canada. On their urging, we cut our trip short and booked it down the Yucatan Peninsula, skipping Cozumel, Tulum, and Chetumal to get to Belize City. The first bus ran from Cancun to Chetumal (border city to Belize) and it was almost snowing in there. Apryl had to get her sweater from below because the air conditioning on the ADO buses is cranked! Then after missing the first bus to Belize City by 20 minutes, we sat in a packed Chetumal bus station as everyone donned their health masks around us. After getting rid of our remaining pesos, we boarded the bus to Belize City which was straight out of the 1970s judging by the brown and tan seats, no air conditioning, and cracked windows. The drive was rather harrowing, with the driver staying in the middle of the road until oncoming traffic came, when he would swerve to the sides. Driving through rural Belize was an eye-opener, everyone was in thatched roof huts, dogs or chickens running rampant, but everyone with a smile on their face.

Arriving in Belize City at 5:20, we were shocked to learn that the last water taxi to Caye Caulker leaves at 5:30 and we hired a taxi to take us there ASAP, though we needed to hit a bank first to get some local currency. Of course it was the rush hour before Belize's labour day and we missed the water taxi, forcing us to spend a night in the dodgy caribbean town of Belize City. As guidebooks say, the city feels dodgy. We made a quick trip to the grocery store to get some beer and snacks and rushed back to our guesthouse before the sunset, as was suggested to us by the taxi driver and employee of the guesthouse. She also told me to make sure my wallet wasn't visible when we left, charming. The taxi driver took us to the Seaside Guesthouse which is a funky little backpacker house owned by a corn-rowed ex-pat hippie from California. We met some cool people (who we met up with again on the Caye) and the house had a decent view, although it was pretty expensive. Needless to say we got the hell out of there on the first water taxi to Caye Caulker.

On arrival to Caye Caulker, it was all worth the hype. This place is paradise, home to less than 1000 chilled-out locals, it's the backpacker paradise. Reggae and barefoot acoustic tunes accompany the pristine ocean views, amazing seafood, and cheap hotels. We decided we'd spend an extra couple of days here after our long trip to Belize and we're glad we did. The weather's been amazing and we haven't done much besides soak up the sun, drink cold Belikins (the local beer, and pretty much the only one available here), and meet tons of cool travelers from all over the world. Many have been abroad for over a year with no plans to go back home except for the occasional family visit every year.

Our plans have changed slightly for the upcoming weeks, on advice from other travelers and also the loaned version of Lonely Planet's Central America on a shoestring Guidebook. We plan to head into Guatemala in a couple of days, to Tikal (a favourite among backpackers doing this trip), then Panajuchel on the coast of Lago D'Atitlan where we might get our PADI scuba diving certification for $200, and then the colonial city of Antigua. From there it will be into El Salvador to attempt to learn to surf in the funky surf and fishing village of Playa El Tunco and then to the mountain village of Perquin where the FLMN held headquarters during the revolution of El Salvador. That's all we're sure of for now, and our timelines haven't really changed much.

Hope to update soon with some pictures, but the internet time on the island is fairly expensive.