Caye Caulker, Belize

Not much time to post today - the internet on this island is outrageously expensive! So sorry, still no pictures, although I do have a bunch to post.

Today I left Finca Ixobel with Bernadette, my Austrian friend. We had an amazing day-long trek on horseback yesterday. It was about 8 hours long through a really remote area, and it was so lovely and peaceful. For lunch we stopped at a mountain river, and ate our lunch on some rocks in the middle of the river before having a swim in the icy cold water. And we had a really nice guide so I had a whole day to practice my Spanish with him. I think it was the most Spanish I've spoken in one day since leaving Spanish school.

I always seem to have such a hard time leaving places I feel so at home, and today was no exception. But both Bernadette and I were eager to get to Caye Caulker in Belize! We took a series of about 5 buses to get to Belize City, and broke my record from the other day for most people crammed into a minibus. Today there were 34 people in a van meant to seat about 15. But it was an adventure! We were rushing to catch the last ferry to the island, and managed to get to the ferry terminal just in time. Although we took the ferry over here from Belize City in dark, so far it seems really beautiful and relaxed. A really Carribean feel with friendly people, sand and palm trees.

Our first choice of accomodation was full when we arrived, so we're staying at an absolute dive of a hotel a few doors down, and then we'll move over to the other place tomorrow. But never fear, we consoled ourselves with an amazing outdoor supper of freshly grilled lobster tails, right beside the ocean at a picnic table. And at $7 each, I think we'll be having lobster every night.

Caye Caulker is famous for it's diving and snorkling on the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world. There are some amazing diving trips that are WAY out of my budget, but the snorkling is also supposed to be out of this world, so we'll look into that tomorrow. Only a few days of my trip left, and I'm torn between just relaxing and trying to cram in as much activity as possible!