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We made it to Chetumal from Tulum at 12 and got a taxi straight to the pier. We purchased our tickets for $55 usd and got some lunch while we waited for the customs guys to finish their siestas.
John had to pay a lousy $24 exit fee as his flight ticket didn't list the taxes and charges paid with the fare. This is generally included in your fare but the Mexicans require proof and are not willing to budge as one girl found out! She put up too much of a fight and ended up being refused port entry and had to get her bags and make her way to Belize some other way!
We arrived in San Pedro, the main town of Ambergris Caye, after a bumpy 1 hour boat journey. We met a hungover Enda on the pier in Chetumal - he had just arrived the day before and had had a taste of the Cancun nightlife! We were met by Enda's brother at the pier in San Pedro on arrival.
The two lads are bros from Clare who were on a two week holiday and we joined them for beers that night. This included a visit to the Jaguar club - one of the worst night clubs going but worth the entry for the experience.
We stayed 2 nights at Sandbar hostel - prob the best hostel in terms of facilities on the trip so far.
We met a sound American - Trevor, doing his rescue diving course. He was quitting the rat race and moving to Hawaii to work on a dive boat.
With San Pedro being quite expensive, we had a low key two days and we're happy to leave for Caye Caulker on the Subday. The 40 minute boat there cost $15 U.S.
We stayed at Dirty McNastys in Caye Caulker - a hostel that despite its name had decent but basic dorm beds, a free breakfast and some free rum punch each evening.
We met a girl from the states on the boat to Caulker who recommended the snorkel trip with Pops. This proved o be an excellent tip and for the sum of 65 of our finest us dineros, we had the excursion of the trip so far leaving from the back of the hostel at 10am and returning at 1am.
By the end of this trip, I had swam with turtles, petted and swam with sharks and rays and met some great people.
We stopped off to see some manatees and then had 2 or 3 snorkels before heading to catch our supper which consisted of conch and lobster. We caught about 25 lobsters for the 13 of us on the boat so we had quite a "rich" meal as they say in Creole.
After sunset, we went to our own private island where we were shown how to prepare lobster and conch for dinner and then settled into a few well deserved rum and cokes at the bonfire. The Stars were amazing!
We met Matt (Aussie guy via Kansas State), Florence ("Flo") and Fred ("Frederic") (two awesome Quebec girls - French first language), Sophie and Charles at our hostel. Sophie and Charles are as posh as their names sound from boarding school backgrounds but I cannot speak highly enough of them. For 18 year olds, they are very sound and mature and were a pleasure to meet and chat to.
We spent our next two or three days hanging with these guys. Hanging consisted of going to the Split where the island literally split in two following a massive hurricane. Here, there is a bar called the Lazy Lizard where people chill out and swim and sun bathe.
It was Fred's 21st birthday and we celebrated that in style by playing Kings/Ring of Fire and then heading to the I&I (Reggae Bar) (minus Fred who found the going tough during Kings).
A big mention has to be made of the sports bar on Caye Caulker - we watched a lot of Nba games there and it was an all round great bar.
We met John's friend Darren and also a PwC girl from insurance my level, Eimear, for a few drinks.
Caye Caulker is one of the most chilled out places I have been with its Carribean Go Slow vibe emanating from everywhere and everyone.
I did my first ever Yoga class - a rooftop class facing over a Carribean sunset. Myself and John both loved it and felt as loose as a goose after it!
After 5 great nights it was time to jump on the water taxi and head for San Ignacio. We made it to Belize City, jumped in a taxi and headed to Novello's bus terminal. Despite there being no ticket office and the general chaos, we found ourselves on a chicken bus to San Ignacio. 8 Bz dollars was a pleasant surprise after the expense incurred in traveling in Mexico and Belize to date! After 3 hours of an interesting journey through the Belizean jungle, we reached San Ignacio (Cayo).
A guy met us as we disembarked and showed us the way to our hotel. After meeting a few dodgy locals at lunch (one called Dave), we went for a walk and priced the ATM tour which is what we were here to do. The price ranges from $85 to $110 and we ended up booking for $85. The price seems to go up 10% every year and having done the tour, it is right on the edge of now being over valued. It really is an awesome tour wading through jungle Rivers and climbing through cavernous caves to find untouched Mayan offerings about a mile in, but this is a lot of money in comparison to other tours like Pops' snorkel tour without any little trimmings thrown in.
No cameras allowed either unfortunately after a tourist dropped theirs and destroyed a 1000 year old skull. The photos would have been amazing but well just have to make mental pictures.
Other San Ignacio activities included a 20 minute walk to Cahal Pech which we had to ourselves. They charge $90s for a tour there but we walked and paid the entrance of 10 Bz. No need for a guide after all the Mayan sites we have visited to date!
On our last day, we visited Xunantunich just outside town. $1.50Bz on the bus and then $10Bz entry fee.
This place was cool encompassing the second highest Castillo structure in Belize (behind Caracol which we missed out on !
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