Caye Caulker Saturday 11/26/11

Enjoying some Saturday morning cartoons on the PBS Sprout network

In the morning Kris set off again hotel hunting and the boys and I played on the beach right outside our hotel room. We watched a boy catching some fish from the ocean and throwing them up into the air for the seagulls to catch! After a few minutes a large pelican showed up to get in on the breakfast action. After about an hour it started getting really windy and even raining. So we went back into our room. Kris returned saying he’d found a great place for only $25US per night! We packed up checked out and caught a taxi ($2.50 US) to the Ocean Pearl hotel. We met the manager Gretchen and she showed us to our room. The room had one queen bed and one twin bed with a private bathroom. The neat part  was that the room opened into a big lounge area that had a kitchen area with a fridge, microwave, coffee pot and dishes we could use. There was also decent internet and a book exchange too. This worked really well for us because we could put the boys to bed and then sit right outside our room on the couches until we were ready to sleep. 

The beach!

AJ on a log

JJ trying to push said log out of the water

Seashell treasures!

Aaron and some seaweed

Our room at the Ocean Pearl

Lounge Area at the Ocean Pearl

After getting our stuff settled we went to the Rainbow Grill restaurant that sat out over the water. For $25US the boys shared a cheeseburger and fries, I had a bacon cheeseburger (the best burger I’ve had in a long time) and Kris had nachos.  On the way back to the hotel we bought some bananas for snacktime, 5 for $.50US (we get them 10 for $.50US here in San Ignacio). We also saw a person riding a bicycle and texting at the same time! Back at the hotel we changed into our swim clothes and headed for an area known as the “Split “. Caye Caulker is actually two islands, but the northern part past the split isn’t really developed. Kris and Jonathan spent some time snorkeling. Jonathan really liked wearing the fins, “I’m like a big fish Mommy!” Aaron and I played in the sand and water. I pulled out our bag of sand toys and before long a little boy named David was playing with Aaron.  The afternoon was spent napping and then at the playground.

Lunch

Fun way to label the bathrooms

Driving the boat at  the playground

Sliding!

 We ate dinner at a restaurant on the beach called Sobre Las Olas (Above the Waves). Kris had a whole lobster with rice, I had sweet & sour chicken with rice and garlic bread (best garlic bread ever!!), and the boys shared chicken strips with French fries. While waiting for our food the boys played in the sand with their Lightning McQueen cars. Jonathan built a garage for Lightning and then proudly remarked, “Looks like I’m a sand machine today huh?” We met a guy from Portland Oregon who’d spent a few hours with a native boy fishing, by hand. That’s right, no rods, just a hook and a piece of fishing line. The Belizean boy had taught Mr. Oregon and his buddies how to fish, and then how to clean the fish. It was quite comical watching them use knives to remove the scales, exclaiming that they were flying up into their faces- so glad it wasn’t me! Mr. Oregon had actually heard of Angels Camp, because he has an uncle who lives in Twain Harte. Guess the world isn’t that big after all! They showed us two of the interesting fish they caught- one was blue and called a parrot fish, it had small but sharp teeth. The other was quite odd-looking and was called the Old Wife fish. After dinner we enjoyed a leisurely walk back to our hotel, savoring the quietness of the island. The motto for Caye Caulker is “Go Slow” and we were happy to oblige. We all slept well despite the raging wind and rain storm that howled outside for most of the night.

Hibiscus flower at our hotel- it was as big as my hand!

Sobre Las Olas had swing seats too!

Parrot fish and Old Wife fish, caught my Mr. Oregon