Belize: Caye Caulker

Of course, we went all out and booked a snorkeling tour from Caye Caulker for the second day, which had a good weather forecast. Go big or go home, right?

We took an early morning ferry from Belize to the Cayes and had some time to have breakfast before the tour began.

We took a boat to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. The tour included a total of 5 snorkeling stops. At the first stop, we had to follow our guide along a steep wall of the reef. It was really nice, the reef was still in good condition. There were about 12 people on the tour, but this time we weren't so lucky with the group. There were quite unpleasant and, above all, very inconsiderate people. We constantly had other people's fins in our faces, or people would dive underwater and resurface without looking up, swimming right into someone else, which was annoying.

At the second stop, we stopped near a fishing boat where the fishermen dumped fish remains into the water to attract turtles. As a result, it was crowded, not only with other snorkeling groups but also with all kinds of fish. But there were actually 2 large sea turtles there! Feeding them had a certain awkward touch, as it takes away the experience of seeing such an animal in the wild by chance. But apparently, it has always been common (even before mass tourism arrived here) for the fishermen to throw the remains into the water after gutting the catch, so the animals have apparently been used to being fed for a long time. Jörg was very bothered by this, and thought it was a disgrace that they felt the need to attract the animals through feeding in the second largest barrier reef in the world. What bothered me more was the fact that every idiot had to chase the turtles with his GoPro at a distance of 20 cm and touch them, even though we were told several times and very clearly to keep our hands to ourselves and not touch anything, especially not the turtles. The tour guides were also very angry and rightly put the mentioned idiots in their place. Jörg and I always swam a bit away from the fishing boat to observe the turtles from a distance, and as a result, we had the pole position because they kept swimming directly towards us from the crowd, so we even had to dodge them to avoid being swum over. Majestic animals, absolutely...

The third stop was at Shark Ray Alley, and as the name suggests, there are sharks there. Nurse sharks, to be precise. The animals are also attracted by feeding, and every tour guide has a few dead fish with them. This was really cool to see as well, although personally, I preferred the turtles. 😊

After that, we stopped briefly at a small sunken ship. There were mainly a lot of fish to see.

The last stop was at a coral garden where we could snorkel freely. We saw many beautiful corals, countless fish, and also several stingrays. Unfortunately, we also saw floating plastic debris. I made every effort to collect all the pieces of plastic I saw, knowing full well that it was just a drop in the ocean. But having a few fewer pieces of plastic in the oceans is still something.

On the way back, we stopped at a place along the island where we could see seahorses. We also stopped at a place where huge fish were swimming. Fishermen were fishing for them, but they are not allowed to kill them, they have to release them afterwards. The tour guide handed out dead fish that could be held over the water. The giant fish would then jump out of the water to grab the food. I was one of the first brave ones to hold my hand along with the fish over the water and wait... and of course, I was still shocked when the huge fish flew right into my hand and grabbed the food.

All in all, the snorkeling tour was really entertaining, and we had a really nice day. It is very focused on mass tourism, of course, everyone wants to see a turtle and a shark, especially since the tours here are really expensive. I would have liked to see a turtle in the sea out of pure luck, without it being fed, but I have never succeeded in that so far. But who knows, maybe someday...

The same tour operator with whom we booked the snorkeling trip (and through whom we also found out about Javier's Flight Service), also offers night snorkeling tours. That's cool! Of course, we wanted to do this on the same day, and we inquired about it at the same time as booking the day trip, and it was confirmed to us. However, when we returned from the regular snorkeling tour, we were told that the night tour would not take place because there were not enough participants. We were quite angry because we had only booked a room on this damned island for that reason, otherwise we would have returned to Belize City on the evening ferry right after the day trip. The employee of the tour operator completely ignored our prompt complaint and took a hit from his joint instead of responding to anything. We then contacted the main office of the tour operator by email and complained that we were now stuck on this stupid island, even though the evening program was promised to us. The response was that they did not understand why we didn't like being on the island and that we should instead go to the pier and enjoy Breeze and Stars there. Well, thanks a lot...

Indeed, on Caye Caulker, there is nothing else to do but enjoy the breeze and stars (or rain). There is absolutely nothing else to see there. There are not even sandy beaches where you could swim reasonably well. The coasts are all overgrown with seaweed and are not inviting at all. The only place where you could swim reasonably well is a gap that was created by a hurricane and divides the island into two parts. Accordingly, it is bustling there, just like at the Aarau swimming pool during the summer holidays. No thanks, we'll pass...

The small island is exclusively geared towards tourism, probably the number of tourists far exceeds the number of locals. The hotels, restaurants, and souvenir stands are mainly located in the middle of the island, while the locals' barracks quarters are on the outskirts. But everything looks rather dilapidated and run-down anyway... here too, we get nothing more for our expensive money than a dilapidated shack as accommodation.

An old man comes towards us and shouts, "Welcome to Paradise!"
Next, he offers us (what else) grass. When we point out to him that there is a sign less than 5m away from us that says "No Drugs! Respect Belize's law!" he loudly exclaims, "Fucked up Belize!" Muttering to himself, he walks away.
So, which is it now?
Welcome to fucked up Paradise!

You really can't Belize it!

The next morning, we left Caye Caulker and returned to Belize City. When the ferry docked in the city, we found that the long-awaited cruise ships had finally arrived for the locals. The city was hardly recognizable. There was a carnival atmosphere, it was incomparable to our first days here when the center was practically deserted. Market stalls lined the streets, there were bars everywhere, music blared from every corner, and thousands of tourists flooded the area. It was unbearable...

In general, tourism in Belize is extremely geared towards cruise ships. All tours that can be booked in the country offer pick-up and drop-off services from and to Belize City for the day tourists. The offered day programs are short since the passengers spend only a few hours in the country before the ship moves on to the next destination. Nevertheless, everyone complains that the cruise tourists only spend little money in the country and book the excursions directly on the ships instead of directly with them.
Tourists like us, backpackers and travelers, are not that interesting to the locals. On the contrary, we are rather troublesome because we simply take more time and also have demands. When you only spend a few hours in a country, you don't have time to complain about bad service. If you buy a product that is simply junk (or braids that won't hold properly), you may only notice that the next day when you are already back at sea. That is much more pleasant, no complaining and complaining people around you, always just cheers, hustle, and bustle. And always just for a few hours.
But in the end, travelers like us are the ones who spend their money diligently on hotels, book tours in offices, rent cars, ride buses, eat in restaurants, and shop in stores. But unfortunately, they somehow don't understand that...

Be that as it may, we used our last afternoon to visit the City Museum of Belize. It mainly focuses on slavery (including modern slavery, human trafficking), and on the wood extraction by the English (e.g. mahogany). There is mainly text about it and a video, there are not many exhibits.
The rest of the exhibition is a mixed collection of relics from the Maya sites, paintings, other works of art, dead insects, and old stamps. Not really stunning, but you can escape the cruise masses and spend the afternoon.

The next morning, we left Belize after only 10 days and took the bus towards Flores in Guatemala.