We got up at 6am and started packing. Once we were ready to leave the room we realized our voucher for the Water Taxi was nowhere to be found. We searched the room high and low. Last time we had seen it was before dinner, it was sitting on the computer desk. At this point its 6:50am so we rush down to the lobby to talk to the Concierge as well as check out.
The Concierge wasn't there, she starts at 7am but today she's 10 minutes late. Once she does arrive we find out that the voucher book is locked in a room that she doesn't have a key for. The gal that sold us the voucher has the key and is even later. So, no way to get a copy of the voucher or for us to buy another voucher. She tries calling the folks at the Water Taxi, they say without the voucher, they can't help us either.
Our concern is that today is the culmination of Lobster fest (no, not at Red Lobster) on Caye Caulker, so the Concierge has told us the Water Taxi is going to be a nightmare and that without the voucher we may have to stand in very long queue to get a ticket. The Water Taxi wants you to arrive 30 minutes prior to departure...we are hoping to get on the first boat that leaves at 7:45. Its now 7:25...at 7:30 we go outside and Linc whistles for a car taxi (just a local man in his Toyota car) who for USD$5 will take us the couple blocks to the Water Taxi terminal. We've decided our only option is to go stand in the queue and buy new tickets.
Though its close by, we have a lot of bags (5) - one weighs more than 60 lbs. For those of you who know me, this comes as no surprise. Yes, we brought stuff we probably won't end up using. We also have 1.5 bags that are full of fins, masks, snorkels and dive equipment. For a change, I didn't bring too many shoes, 2 pair of flip flops and my Teva's. Not overkill! Remember, we are going to be gone for 14 days!
Anyway, we get to the Terminal and a tall young man meets our Taxi and says he'll take care of our bags, just like at the airline. He gives Linc a claim ticket and we walk off to the ticket booth. There are people here but not that many. Its 7:30 am on a Sunday! We later find out that a lot of partying happened on Saturday night...and that the festivities really don't start until later in the day so its not as crowded as the Concierge thought it would be.
The gal at the window asks if we are from the Radisson. Linc says yes, she said her boss had told her that if we could assure her that the Radisson would produce a copy of the voucher later that they would let us board for free. Linc explained that the girl with the key was MIA and that we lost the voucher, it was our fault so we'd just pay for a round trip ticket now. She realized we were being honest and not trying to scam them because she went ahead and gave us the one way ticket for free. As we were waiting to board the Concierge from the hotel arrived with the copy of our voucher...so in the end, it all worked out --- as it always does!
The ride to CC took about 1 hour (they say 45 minutes, that's Belizean minutes ;^)). We sat outside on the very back because I typically get sea sick (though I didn't on this ride!). It was fun and the boat flew...probably about 40 MPH. I got SOAKED with spray off the sea. It felt good because it was pretty hot. We passed lots of small and medium sized islands. Miles had told us that John Travolta, Leonardo DiCaprio & Tiger Woods among others own islands off the coast. We got fairly close to one medium sized island with a large mansion and golf course on it. We assumed it was probably Tiger's but have since been told its another Multi-Millionaire's.
Caye Caulker (CC) is a beautiful island peppered with large coconut palm trees and docks sprouting out from the island. We docked and they pulled our luggage out from the hold in the bow. They took it to the shore on a large wagon. Once there, there were Golf Cart Taxis awaiting the tourists arrival. For BZE$10 or USD$5 we got a ride to our hotel www.treetopsbelize.com (check out the video here http://youtu.be/wMqMdUc9Nu4)
The Tree Tops Guesthouse has 6 rooms. 4 on the first floor. The owner Doris and her 4 Jack Russell's live on the second floor. We are staying in one of the two "penthouse" suites located on the 3rd floor which have private verandas. We are spending the first ten nights in the Sunrise Suite and the last two nights in the Sunset Suite. The suites have private access to the roof-top deck. There is a section that is covered and has seating and two hammocks. There is also a sun deck (too hot for me, thank you!) The entire front of the house is the veranda that belongs to the Sunrise suite. Its very private which is nice.
View from the Roof Top of Tree Tops
Check-in time wasn't until 2pm but Doris let us drop our luggage off and thought our room would probably be ready at about noon. We went off looking for food. There are no cars on the island, just bicycles and golf carts. We decided to walk and explore. We chose to eat brunch at Amor Y Cafe. We each had an iced coffee (the ice cubes were also made out of coffee) and shared a Grilled Ham, Cheese & Pineapple Sandwich on thick homemade bread. It was really good. It wasn't a lot of food but because of the heat we weren't that hungry.
We walked out on the small pier by the hotel to check out the possibility of swimming there. I noticed something dark in the water swim by...it was a Ray (like a Stingray). Pretty cool! We came back to the hotel and since our room still wasn't ready, we went up on the roof and laid in the hammocks and napped. Lincoln taught me the correct way to lie in a hammock...at an angle. It was relaxing and much cooler because of the breeze and the shade.
Eventually our room was ready and while I was napping Lincoln carried all 5 heavy bags up 3 flights of stairs...gotta love him!! We closed all the windows and turned on the A/C. While I unpacked, Lincoln went snorkeling off the small pier to cool off. After about an hour it wasn't getting any cooler in the room, in fact it was getting hotter. We went down to talk to Doris, thinking maybe we didn't have the unit switched properly (its not the type of A/C we are used to). She decided that there was an issue and she needed to get a repairman. Luckily for us, the Sunset room would not be occupied until Monday, so we would be sleeping in it tonight. We had run of the entire 3rd floor. FUN!
After ice cold showers (all we will be taking here - *Side note one item I brought that I will NOT be using is my hair dryer. Blowing hot air on myself is a crazy thought. I've actually have been putting my hair up while its wet...within a very short time it is dry!) we headed down "main street" (not paved, no street on CC is paved) in search of the Lobster fest Party. All the restaurants on our way into "town" had Lobster as their special of the day, but we wanted to go to Lobster fest itself. As we got into the 'center of town' we found lots of 55 gallon drums cut in half and then turned into BBQs, covered with large lobsters split down the middle coated in garlic butter just waiting to be eaten. They
were selling them for BZE$20 or a whopping USD$10 and this included rice & beans. Think Spring Break...that's what it was like. Booze and food was flowing and the people were happy and having a good time.
We decided to continue walking down the main drag to the Split...this is an area where Hurricane Hattie actually split the island in two in 1961. This area was even more like Spring Break! People were all over the place. The vibe was energetic, the music was loud and thumpin'. People everywhere, some drinking, some swimming, some dancing. There was a tree sticking out over the water that people of all ages were lined up to balance/walk out on and fall/dive into the water. We ordered a drink at the Lazy Lizard, the bar at the Split. In addition to the official bar, there was a make shift bar under a tent that served beer, I guess for the over flow.
We only hung out for a little bit and then headed back into the main part of Lobster fest to eat. We bought a lobster from one of the street vendors and sat down at a picnic table wit a young English couple, now living in Australia. I had a fork but actually this germa-phobe ate with her fingers (shocking but true!). Oh BTW, ice cold beers & Belizean Rum Drinks were BZE$4/USD $2. When we were done with our first one, Lincoln picked out another vendor and got a second one. We probably should have had a few more but because of the heat we still don't have much of an appetite.
Eventually the sun went down and the temperature also went down. The wind picked up a bit and we were finally cooled off. We wandered into the Rainbow bar, that straddles the sea. We watched the sunset over the water. As it gets darker we are glad we thought to bring a small flashlight as we walk along the water's edge back to the Guesthouse.
Our first day on CC was fantastic! We are looking forward to the rest!
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