Onward to Caye Caulker
Belize - March 05, 2006
Once we finally arrived in Belize City, we were dropped off just a block away from the Water Taxi terminal. With only 20 minutes to spare for the next boat departure, I dropped my bags with Lee and sprinted around looking for the grocery store I spotted while on the bus. I was in and out in record time with groceries for a few days and we were on our way to the island.
As it turned out, getting groceries was a rather smart move. Groceries on Caye Caulker are rather expensive. We are carrying an MSR camping stove, but in order to cook our food we need a fuel source. As we learned, gasoline is very difficult to come by here, since no gas-powered vehicles are allowed on the island (golf carts are the standard means of transport). A two-hour search for a flammable liquid to use with our stove proved to be challenging. After checking all the local stores, boat docks, the island's diesel power plant and many homes, we found a lady that had a few cups of diesel in a laundry detergent container that she was willing to give to us. The fuel produced a lot of soot but our MSR stove handled it quite well. It took longer to clean up the pots and pans than it did to cook and eat our "luxurious" meal.
With a population of 800, the island is very, very small. (We could walk anywhere we wanted in less than 10 minutes) The island is supported solely by tourism. However there is a huge disparity from the pretty tourist side of the island and the side where the locals live. Its shocking really, to see the wealth and beauty of the tourist area and the poverty of the locals.
-Patrick