Close your eyes and imagine this...... A slight sea breeze ruffles the tops of coconut trees as the hammock your resting in sways slightly. The hammock is so well worn that you know that countless people before you have experienced this same sensation. You glance up to catch the last of the suns rays reflecting off the still turquise waters, put down your book and lift another glass of rum and coke (on the rocks) to your lips.....ahhhh Belize really is just one big sandy beach with incredibly warm turquise waters. We entered Belize from Guatemala (just after Tikal) and had a couple of nights at a place called 'San Ignacio'. Not a bad place to get used to speaking english again......Belize is part of the Commonwealth and they speak english, which is great as you can actually communicate and listen in on conversations on the buses. Our first impressions were "wow, this is a pretty friendly place". Belize only has 250,000 people so there's heaps of lush green land everywhere. They are commonly known as 'Garifunian', as the majority of people are descendants from african slaves. They have also developed a language called 'Creole' which is pretty cool as it is based on english, but shortend. ie, to say "gidday hows it going", you say "ur allright!". Quite good fun to actually talk this way as i normally shorten and abbreviate my sentences anyway....so i was talking slang kiwi to them (and getting lotsa blank stares) and they would talk Creole back to us (and then i gave them blank stares).....not really a good way to communicate, so English it was. Anyway, we then headed to Belize City and then on a boat up to Caye Caulker which we stayed for about 10 days. Caye Caulker is so chilled out and we managed to get a wooden cabana right on the beach front (albiet it was about to topple over from the numerous hurricanes that have hit the island). Julz and I also did our PADI Open Water Diving Licence which was great fun (although Julz wasn't to keen at first) and saw some awesome stingrays and fish etc. Caye Caulker doesn't have any cars, only golf carts so the islands quiet.....apart from the nightlife which we saw alot off. We ate most nights at open beach BBQ's where you sit down on benchs and get served fresh lobster, fish, shrimps etc with garlic bread and mashed potatoes......ohhh, and also a couple of rum and cokes. Belizians love rum and their No.1 rum (One Barrel) has won countless awards over the years as the best Carribean rum........quite an accolade really. We then left Caye Caulker (almost looking like the colour of coconuts by the endless sunny days....sorry to rub that in!!!) and headed south to a little place called 'Dangriga' and then out to a little Caye called "Tobacco Caye". This is a really small Caye (you walk around the Caye in 5 mins) and we stayed in a cabana just over the waters edge. As part of the accommodation you get 3 meals a day, so i was happy. We weren't so happy when one night a big storm hit the island and wind and rain howled about the cabana...its times like this you wished you were on the mainland. Anyway, we survived that and decided to leave the island (3 days was enough) and get back to the mainland..... Our next stop was "Placencia" which is quoted as having the best beaches in Belize, and boy they weren't wrong. White sand, sparkling water and lotsa coconut trees made this place pretty tranquil. The favorite pastime for this place is relaxing, drinking rum, relaxing, drinking rum, relaxing.. etc etc. We celebrated 'Garifuna Day' in Placencia (settlement day for africans in Belize) and danced and drunk the night away in a bar called "The Barefoot Bar". This was a ton of fun and got better and better as the night went on. Anyplace that has drinks called "Panty Ripper" (coconut rum & pineapple), "Muddy Water" (Coconut water & rum) and "Cuba Libre" (rum & coke) is definately a winner in my books. Mind you, its a little embarrasing for a guy to walk up to the bar and ask for a "panty ripper"......it doesn't seem right, but definately gets easy as the night wears on........Needless to say the next morning was just recovering and relaxing.. Anyway, a week in Placencia was enough and we headed further south to a little place called "Punta Gorda" where we boarded a boat back to Guatemala (with our destination to be Hondurus). Julz and I had an awesome time in Belize, we meet some great people and had some awesome experiences. Getting the PADI Open Water Licences was definately a highlight, and also just watching all the local fishermen preparing the fresh catches to sell to all the resturants. Sitting at the end of some of the wooden jetties and watching the eagle rays and southern stingrays feeding on lobster heads is something we will always remember...ohh, and all the stunning sunsets. Ciao and take care, and follow our travels in Hondurus... Post note. I've just completed my PADI Advanced Course in Roatan (Hondurus) and Julz is finally enjoying diving, having just today been down to 80 ft (26/11/07) | 