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Woke up very early- the room was very hot! Had organised with the guy from the restaurant/bar where we had tea to go on a snorkelling tour for $65 Bz which is $33 Australian. Went for a walk around the island- pretty small! Walked around the residential area and past the school etc then up to the more touristy area and to the Split, which is where the island literally split in half a few years back from the big hurricane. It is good swimming there because there's no seaweed. The island is a lot different to isla mujeres bcos this only has a few small sandy beaches but most of it is seaweedy or mangroves. I liked the feeling I got on the island- their motto is 'Caye Caulker - Go Slow'. Something I'm definitely not doing on this trip so far!! Went for a swim then passed the English couple and they informed me the boat trip had been cancelled and was going the next day instead- something that didn't work with my tight schedule! Then had to run like a mad man to find another tour- because most depart at 10:30am- and it was past 10:30! But one not far from the hotel was getting ready to go- it cost me almost $50 AUD but didn't have time to think about it! Had to ride a bike back to the hotel but meanwhile another guy staying where I was did the same thing so we didn't leave till 11 which ended up being plenty of time anyway. Went to three spots and a 'bonus' spot which was first- a place where they dump the conch shells (conch is a big deal here) and all the stingrays hang around. The whole ocean floor was made of 15 years of conch shells! The stingrays were like the ones on the cayman islands- and pretty cool! Also saw a turtle in the same spot. Headed out to Hol Chan reef- the best one in the area which is part of the marine reserve on the second biggest/best reef in the world behind australia! Saw heaps of cool things at the other spots- in shark alley there were tons of nurse sharks, saw a moray eel that looked evil!! A few more big turtles,lots of fish and coral- then two manatees!! They are so cool and chilled!! They slept on the bottom for a bit and looked dead- but I was so glad I got to see them! Headed back to the hostel after and thought I'd check my bank account- found out that about $500 had been taken out of my account on isla mujeres without my knowledge- and after I had left too! My card was missing but I hadn't needed it because I have another card that I'd been using. I panicked a bit but eventually was able to lock the card- luckily!!! Sent Tom a fb msg and he passed it onto Hannah and mum! I really hope I can get it back!!!!
The English guy miles from the boat tour decided to cheer me up- I was okay but just crossing my fingers I can get the money back! So we went and got some ice-cream. Yummm. I then went to use the net for a while and went back to the hostel. Caught up with the guys as I went for a walk to get something to eat and ended up meeting them at the Split - Lizards bar where they watched the sunset - but I missed it. Haha we then went to get some tea and ran away from this fat guy they had promised they would one back to eat at. Found a bar & grill place which looked good but was a bit expensive- I only had $17 Bz but managed to borrow a couple of dollars from Ruud the dutch guy! The guy also gave us a free rum punch and an appetizer was included (which i negotiated and got garlic bread instead of conch!) so was about $12 Australian in the end- had a chicken kebab and mashed potato and salad- was good!! Seafood and chicken are the main specialties on the island with some Mexican and lots of western dishes. Ran into some other familiar faces (the island is very small!) so went to a few different places, including back to lizards. Its mid week and low season so is pretty quiet but ended up staying at a 'nightclub' which is the most un-nightclub like nightclub! Haha but I ended up drinking a few drinks after previously contemplating going to bed at 11 and having a good night so was fun! I had three 'rum punch' which was quite strong I think because I felt a tad tipsy and the only other thing I had was a beer! Got to bed at about 2:30am.....
Waking up after only 4 hours sleep wasn't too fun but had promised Miles I'd wake him up so I got up before my alarm went off. Checked out and bought my boat ticket to Belize City. Didn't leave the boat terminal because Belize City has a pretty bad reputation, booked my ticket direct to Flores in Guatemala from the terminal so was handy. International half decent bus rides are quite expensive- but I certainly wouldn't take any risks on cheap chicken buses!
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