Anyway we eventually got underway again, but of course we missed the boat in Caye Caulker in Belize City. But as luck would have it, there was another one there. However before this could leave we had to wait for another group who were running late. This one was on a tour with Kumuka and was late because the tour leader had been arrested for sitting on a police car the night before in Playa del Carmen. It was dark by the time the boat set off for the 45-minute trip to the island, and half way across it started to rain. Tarps were whipped out to cover the luggage and us but of course by then we were already wet.

Checked into the hotel (Tropical Paradise) - not exactly luxury accommodation but not too bad and then went to the Driftwood Tours for a description of the available tours. Then onto dinner at the Happy Lobster and beers at Oceanside and finally I&Is which is a cool bar with swings instead of seats on the second level. Stayed there until they made it very clear that we had to leave.

Didn't do much in the morning. Failed to get up in time for Jessica's walking tour of the town. Had breakfast and then walked to the Split where the island was split into two by a hurricane some years ago. Finally sat around outside the hotel catching what few rays of sun there were.

After lunch however I went off for a snorkeling trip to the barrier reef just off the island. This is, I'm told, the second longest barrier reef in the world but who really cares about that. First stop was the 'Sting Ray and Shark Park' where they feed the foresaid fish to ensure that the tourists get to see them. There were lots of Sting Rays but no sharks so I felt done. Then it was off for two stops swimming along the reef itself where there is a wide variety of fish without having the massive shoals that one imagines should be on the reef. All in all quite a good afternoon for a cost of $20.

Had dinner at the hotel and then back to the swing bar for some more drinking.

Today most of the group included me decided to go on the Manatee excursion - a decision that we would come to regret. It all started off OK with a fairly long boat trip (1½ hours I think) to Goffes Caye.

The boat anchored here while went for some snorkeling which was much the same as the previous days except that the reef was slightly deeper into the water. While in the water it started to rain but I hadn't noticed this and it had stopped again by the time we were back on the boat. Went onto the island where the guides cooked a very nice lunch and it started to rain again. It would be very difficult to describe the ride back as pleasant. The rain and the wind chill caused by the speed of the boat made us all very cold. Nonetheless we decided to visit the manatees at Swallow Caye and managed to see a couple.

The dark patch is a manatee, honest

After the manatees, the trip back to Caye Caulker got colder and colder.

Trying to look happy

Our boat showed no interest in visiting the Sting Ray and Shark park and didn't care much since I had been the previous day - the other boat however did. I think that we all relieved when we were back on dry land and relatively warm. Top tip people - do not do this trip when it is going to rain.

Had dinner in the Oceanside since they wouldn't let us into the place that I wanted to go to (they claimed that they were full) and drank there as well since the rain made the I&I bar which has no walls less inviting.

Fairly slow start today since we weren't due to leave until 11:00 boat. Had breakfast and took a few photos.

No Drugs on Caye Cauker - OK

Front Street Caye Caulker

Of course as soon as we boarded the boat the sky started darkening. However it only rained on us a little bit since the skipper stopped the boat to wait for the rain shower to go by.

All in all Caye Caulker is not such a great place in inclement weather as it might have been had it been glorious sunshine.

Back on the coach we drove to Belize Zoo which is pretty good as far as zoos go. Saw most of the animals endemic to Belize such as Jaguar and ugly smelly pig type things.

Tucan

Return to the coach for the remainder of the journey to San Ignacio. Here we stayed in the Venus Hotel. Not that great but probably no worse than anywhere else that is available. Dined in the Serebdib restaurant for a fine Sri Lankan curry and then onto to Culture Club for some dancing for those who wanted it (not me of course, since real men don't dance).

My selected tour for today was to Actun Tunichil Muknal caves. This was expensive at $65 but well worth it. Other tours offered included cave tubing, cave canoeing or a tour of the Mountain Pine Ridge all of which sounded pretty good. Anyway back to my tour. Took a supposedly 4WD truck for a bout 1 hours drive back towards Belize City until it got stuck in a field because 2 of the 4 wheels in fact had no drive at all. Waited for one of the other trucks to come and take us to the drop off point and then started a 45-minute walk to the entrance to the cave. This involved 3 river crossings (the same river each time of course) during one of which a member of my tour group managed to lose her passport. Another top tip, if you carry your passport on a river crossing do not leave it loose in your bag and your bag undone. Had lunch at the campsite that the tour company uses for its overnight trips and then headed into the cave - not that I was hungry because of the delicious termites that I had eaten on the way in which incidentally taste like carrots. This starts with a short swim across a stream and then continues with wading through the stream - which typically went up to my chest until reaching a breakdown. Here we climbed up over the rocks into a dry part of the cave that was used for Mayan rituals. This part of the cave was only discovered about 10 years ago and all of the Mayan artifacts have been left in place. There are lots of pots - all of which are partially broken to let the spirits out and a number of human skeletons which are thought that to have been human sacrifices.

Pots

Skeleton

After studying all of the relics it was back out the way we came

Swimming across the stream

… and then back along the path, across the river etc. to the trucks which had equally as much difficulty getting out as they had getting in and back to San Ignaico at about 7:00 p.m. Went out to dinner at Hannahs for an Indian curry (cooked by a Zimbabwian chef) and then back to Culture Club for more music and for me a very short dance.

Time to leave Belize for most of us. Toni had to stay behind since she had no passport