TheSammamishWerners: Goin' slow in Caye Caulker

"SAWEEEEEEEEEET!!!!" Aah, the sounds of Caye Caulker Belize!

Belize was everything we hoped it would be. Thanks to our friends Nate & Shelly, we found our chance to exit the rat race and landed on a little pocket of paradise on a secluded island off the coast of Belize.

It's pretty easy to sum up the trip: "Go Slow", the unofficial mantra of Caye Caulker. It is a saying, an attitude, a way of life, and it is infectious. Our pace slowed dramatically as we exited the water taxi from the mainland, and by nightfall of day 1, we were 100% in the slow lane.

The island of Caye Caulker is tiny, has no cars... all travel is by foot, bicycle or the occasional golf cart taxi. The highest point of the island is 8 feet. Many of the locals sing aloud while they walk or bike around. Waiters happily announce that they are hungover while they take your breakfast order, flashing a toothy grin. Another local rides around on his bike up and down the main drag yelling a shrill "Saweeeeeeeeeeet", in hopes of finding customers for his seaweed juice. I'm not sure if it's the economic headwinds, or the fact that nobody drinks seaweed juice, but he never seemed to have any customers... but at least he left us with a fond memory.

For us, this was a chance vacation, which we decided to do almost on a whim (due in no small part to how unbelievably cheap tourism is in Belize), and we are so glad we did. It was a chance to relax, read countless books, drink Belikin beers, nap whenever we felt like it, and just share a great experience with good friends. The "vacation problems" were endless: trying to find a sharp corner in our room to pop the lid off of a Belikin; letting my book dip halfway into the pool while I was daydreaming; having the trivia guy screw us over on a key question that he cancelled when he thought he heard someone shout out the answer; getting lost on my morning "walk" around the island, and running the whole way back in sandals.

With a huge variety of activities to choose from (diving, fishing, tube caving, zip lining, snorkeling, etc) we basically settled on 3 favorites: lay around by pool, walk up and down "main street", and eat lobster. Hey, go with what works, right?

So we've been back for a couple of weeks now, the tans are a distant memory, the sun is elusive again, but the memories are still fresh. We miss Caye Caulker already, but the relaxed state of mind still follows us! We hope to return one day, and would certainly recommend it to anyone looking to just decompress.

Below is a quick photo journal...

Coop

The gang en route from mainland to Caye Caulker via water taxi. This crew is ready for vacation!