Sadly today we leave the island of caye Caulker, nursing 9/10 hangovers.
By 7.30am we were all standing on the jetty terminal waiting for the signal to board the ferry back to Belize city.
Tom & I sat at the rear of the boat & looked back mournfully, at the waves that came off the motor & the disappearing island.
Caye Caulker has been really special, definitely a place we would recommend & visit again.
By 7.30am we were all standing on the jetty terminal waiting for the signal to board the ferry back to Belize city.
Tom & I sat at the rear of the boat & looked back mournfully, at the waves that came off the motor & the disappearing island.
Caye Caulker has been really special, definitely a place we would recommend & visit again.
The ferry ride back to the main land was approximately 1 hour & very uneventful, thankfully! Following this we caught taxis back to the bus terminal. Before we left the ferry terminal, Tom made a singlet purchase & is now rocking some Belize merchandise. It feels like with each country & each washing experience more & more clothes vanish or are ruined. Hopefully this singlet will make it back.
The local bus ride was as sweaty, interesting & crowded as they come. Tom & I found single separate seats next to local's, which changed frequently over the 4 hour trip with people getting on & off.
It was a relief to exit the bus at San Ignacio, shoulder our packs & walk the 1 kilometre to the home stay. Once again Tom & I were in different dorms & in fact different buildings.
We had a few minutes to put down our bags, allocate bunks & hand in our dirty washing before heading off again. G tours work in collaboration with a foundation called Planeterra who provides a link between tourists & indigenous culture by providing work, support, education & assistance to preserve their traditions.
We were going to learn about the traditional Mayan pottery techniques, see a demonstration, have a local meal & have the opportunity to buy something.
By giving tourists this experience, the women in the village are provided with jobs & a reason to continue making pottery the traditional way.
It was very interesting & we learnt a lot about the process of finding clay, refining it & the long process of making something.
The meal was also really nice & consisted of a fresh salsa, a type of plant similar to spinach & kale, tortillas, beans & a boiled plant called plantain, which looks & tastes like a starchy banana had a baby with a potato.
By giving tourists this experience, the women in the village are provided with jobs & a reason to continue making pottery the traditional way.
It was very interesting & we learnt a lot about the process of finding clay, refining it & the long process of making something.
The meal was also really nice & consisted of a fresh salsa, a type of plant similar to spinach & kale, tortillas, beans & a boiled plant called plantain, which looks & tastes like a starchy banana had a baby with a potato.
The village had a really nice feel to it, with modern dwellings & a big primary school in the middle. There was lots of tropical plants & flowers around & we could either see or hear chickens at any point in time.
Once we arrived back at the town, we were all very tired & in desperate need of naps. We have all booked in to do activities tomorrow with cave's in the area, which promises to be a big day.
The only other note of interest today is that Tom & I went for a walk after 7pm along the main road, looking for a dinner place. From up ahead we could see something on the road, it was a weird shape with awkward movement & for a few seconds was very puzzling. As we got closer it revealed itself to be a giant spider! We're guessing a tarantula.
We've got a 20 second video of it walking on the road & onto the grass. It was very cool to see. I have also had victory against the tour company today & we have had our money refunded from the Chichen Itza tour. We never received an apology & I had to write a very long email, involving lots of photographic proof & threaten them with the Mexican tourism board. But finally, we have our money back.
After an average, but cheap dinner, it was straight to bed! Sleep has never felt better, even from the top bunk, lying on a lumpy mattress.
- Alli
Once we arrived back at the town, we were all very tired & in desperate need of naps. We have all booked in to do activities tomorrow with cave's in the area, which promises to be a big day.
The only other note of interest today is that Tom & I went for a walk after 7pm along the main road, looking for a dinner place. From up ahead we could see something on the road, it was a weird shape with awkward movement & for a few seconds was very puzzling. As we got closer it revealed itself to be a giant spider! We're guessing a tarantula.
We've got a 20 second video of it walking on the road & onto the grass. It was very cool to see. I have also had victory against the tour company today & we have had our money refunded from the Chichen Itza tour. We never received an apology & I had to write a very long email, involving lots of photographic proof & threaten them with the Mexican tourism board. But finally, we have our money back.
After an average, but cheap dinner, it was straight to bed! Sleep has never felt better, even from the top bunk, lying on a lumpy mattress.
- Alli
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