Our Surf and Turf Christmas

CARE's office closed at noon on December 20th and I went home and packed my rucksack ready for meeting Joe and setting off on our Christmas vacation the next day.

I took the bus up to Corozal in the the north of Belize, almost at the border with Mexico, while Joe made the much longer trip down from Cancun.

After his eleven hour flight from England, followed by a night in a fleapit hotel in Cancun and a bus journey to Corozal that took nine hours, Joe wasn't sure whether he was coming or going by the time we met up.

We squeaked in to Tropic Air's reception at the Corozal airstrip twenty minutes before our internal flight to San Pedro (Madonna's Isla Bonita - "last night I dreamed of San Pedro" - remember it?) on Ambergris Caye. The twenty minute flight on the tiny ten seater Cessna was brilliant; the plane never seemed as if it was more than 100 metres above the ground, so we had a bids-eye view of the pretty houses, the mangroves, the sea and finally the cayes and the reef. The turquoise sea was so clear we could see the bottom of the ocean from the plane. At San Pedro we transferred to an even smaller aircraft (really a Reliant Robin with wings) for the ten minute flight to Caye Caulker. At Caye Caulker we took a golf-cart taxi to our apartment and felt as if we'd arrived in Paradise at last.

We wasted no time finding a bar and celebrating happy hour before dining sumptuously on lobster at the Rainbow Restaurant.

Caye Caulker's twin philosophies "No shoes. no shirt, no problem" and "Go slow" suited us just fine and we had no problem adapting to the leisurely Cairbbean pace.

Our first activity next day was a snorkelling trip to three different sites near the reef. The snorkelling experience in the South Channel was wonderful, like swimming in all the tropical fish tanks you've ever seen. Unfortunately for me I managed to get stung viciously by fire coral and limped back to the boat with agonising burning pains on my leg, in particular my upper thigh. We moved on to Shark Ray Alley, where Joe loved swimming with the enormous sting rays that surrounded the boat. I stayed on board this time, licking my wounds and balancing ice from the drinks cool box on the angry looking red welts that had appeared on my skin. Our next stop was the Coral Gardens. Joe reported that the fish and coral here were even more amazing and brightly coloured than the ones we'd seen earlier. Not surprisingly, I found I'd developed an aversion to coral and didn't feel inclined to get within a mile of it ever again. I ditched the snorkel and contented myself with swimming in a leisurely fashion in the crystal clear turquoise water around the boat.

We spent the evening chilling in the bars of Caye Caulker. After looking a barracuda in the eye under water in the afternoon Joe couldn't resist eating one for dinner. Delish.

We were sorry to leave Caye Caulker and head up to San Ignacio for the jungle the following day, but our plans were made so off we went.

Again, happy hour featured strongly in our activities, and we enjoyed getting to know the local characters, even if most of them were rogues and vagabonds.

We learned about ancient alternative remedies on the Rain Forest Medicine Trail the next day (Christmas Eve), and spent a leisurely afternoon being paddled up the beautiful Macal River by our trusty guide Eddie. Dozens of big fat male iguanas, resplendent in their bright orange and black striped mating skins, basked in the trees on the river bank, and we spotted kingfishers, jays, bats and even a vulture as we idled along.

That evening we tried our luck downtown for a drink, and quickly fell into conversation with a local man who told Joe he always carried two weapons; his bible and his .38 revolver. A likely story we thought, and then tried not to look gobsmacked when he reached into his bag and pulled them both out on to the bar! We were even more astonished when he flicked a catch and emptied the live bullets out of the gun into his hand. Although he explained that he always used the bible as his first weapon, we decided it was time to make our excuses and leave.

If you've heard of "gaydar" you'll understand me when I say Joe has "weirdgar" - if not, just accept that he attracts weirdos like nobody you've ever met.

We chose Christmas Day to indulge in a spot of culture, and visited the Mayan sites of Xunantunich and Cahal Pech. El Castillo, the most impressive temple at Xunantunich, is 40 metres high. Joe climbed up it while I made the sacrifice of staying at the bottom to take his picture when he got to the top. Any mother would do the same.It was slightly disturbing to see members of the Belize Defence Force, armed to the teeth, patrolling these peaceful ruins ready to repel Guatemalan guerillas who seem to be making a habit of sneaking over the nearby border and robbing tourists at gunpoint.

We were starving when we got back to our hotel, and were almost the first in the restaurant when it opened at 6pm. We chose the Christmas Day special buffet - what else? - and thoroughly enjoyed our roast turkey, baked ham, stuffing, sweet potato medley with toasted marshmallows on top, freshly prepared vegetable salad, cranberry jelly, and sliced carrots.

Our taxi arrived at 8am the next day for Joe to begin his long journey home. I waited with him back in Belize City till his bus to Chetumal arrived, and waved him off before going back alone to my apartment on Racoon Street. I admit to shedding a tear on finding myself alone again after such a happy, hectic five days, and I felt quite forlorn for the rest of the day.