We were really excited to be heading to the seaside, where we would spend the rest of our trip. After leaving Tikal around noon that day, we still had to drive about 230 kms all the way across Belize, back to Belize City. From there, we would get the ferry to the island of Caye Caulker, where we’d spend Christmas.
We drove for about 4h, happy to be back to solid roads. While I was driving by a roundabout, a man dressed as police officer made a sign with his hand: “is he asking me to pull over?”. For a second I got nervous. I was told all about the police stops in latin America and how they can be very shady. Last year in Mexico, a friend of ours was almost taken into custody for peeing at the side of the road. I found it strange that the man was in the middle of the road with no car but I just thought would be better not to ignore the police, and pulled over.
I could see the chubby police officer sprinting towards us through the review mirror, while I wished for the best. As I rolled down the window, his round face with lustrous cheeks excitingly asks: “are you going to Belize City?”, “Yes…”. “Oh, great! Bless your heart. Can you give me a ride then?”. We couldn’t say no at this point, and he jumped to the back seat. After all, the policeman was just asking for a ride to work. He thanked us and complimented us a million times, having no idea of the reason that actually made me stop.
We dropped our passenger at a small yellow building with “Police Station” hand painted in big read letters on top of the front door, and wondered how often this guy hitchhiked to work – and how unreliable this method would be back home. With no shadow of a doubt, individualism is a syndrome of our capitalistic societies.
One of my favorite things in the American continent are the common wildlife encounters. It is so much more likely to cross paths with all types of wildlife here. Even back home in California, my balcony is regularly visited by squirrels and hummingbirds, and sighting coyotes around the property isn’t rare. In Belize, animals often coexists with people without showing any sign of fear. As we were returning the rental car, we spotted a small alligator on a pond just outside the front gate. An alligator, local resident of the rental car parking! Later that day, as we were about to leave the Belize City harbor by boat, BAM, a stingray sprints out of the water and hovers over it for a split of a second in a magnificent flight.
After a long and bumpy boat ride, through the most beautiful turquoise waters, we arrive at a wooden dock partially eaten by the waves. I love that, similarly to the island of Holbox in Mexico, there are no cars in Caye Caulker. All travel was made on foot, bike, or on golf carts. It wouldn’t take even an hour to cross the whole island on foot through white sand streets, busy with locals and tourists alike. We passed by a football field where the whole village seemed to have gathered to watch the kids play, and finally arrived at our stay, right in front of the beach. We spent the following days relaxing in this small and friendly island.
How can I describe Caye Caulker? The vibes are immaculate. Maybe because it is so small, maybe because there are no cars – but it feels like everyone on the island, including the visitors, are all part of the village community, even if just for a few days. People stroll or bike around the island without a care in the world. Tourists and locals relax together at the pubs, streets are populated with music and the smell of lobster being grilled. Here and there you see the local Rastaman chilling and yelling “Merry Christmas!” to the passerby.
Life is so easy in the island. And I think it’s because of the absence of cars. In cities where everyone is isolated in their own little metal capsule, you just don’t interact with the people around you as much. You may always take the same way to work as your neighbor, and never speak to them. The absence of cars makes places more human-centered and enjoyable.
And what about the national dish of Belize? Locals will tell you all about rice and beans. The rice is cooked together with the beans in coconut milk, giving it an incredibly fresh and rich flavor. We were lucky enough to have been there during lobster season, and tried all types of lobster: my favorite (because sometimes less is more) was grilled lobster with butter sauce: di-vi-ne.
The best day we had on the island was December 24. The day before, we had signed up for a snorkeling tour at a local business, located on a pink hut by the beach. The girl at the front-desk was another noteworthy character. When we asked to join the following day trip, she pulls out a notebook, a ruler and a pink pen, and starts drawing a table by hand. Then, at the speed of a snail, she proceeds to write down the names of every single person who register before us. She shared how the “cold” December weather made her sleepy. After 15 minutes, we finally had the chance to add our names to the bottom of the list. As local signs say around here “Go slow, but keep moving“.
We spent Christmas inside the warm, blue waters of Belize. As someone who grew up by the North Atlantic ocean, it amazes me every time that I can just jump inside the water without the need of a whole mental preparation ritual. The sea water was even warmer than the air. We had a pit stop at a floating kiosk in the middle of the sea where we could purchase our entry to the underwater natural reserve and with great excitement, dove head in into this magical world.
We had 100% visibility for about 30 meters radius, making us feel like we were just floating on air, above a garden of coral and colorful schools of fish. I felt like a tiny baby floating in this immense warmth. Do other people feel the same? Maybe we like the warm water because it reminds us of the coziness of our Mothers’ wombs.
The Belize coral reef is the second biggest coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. These waters are home to a plentitude of species, such as marine turtles, stingrays and nurse sharks – and we swam with all of them. In a particular spot, the Shark Ray Alley, a school of about 15 nurse sharks just swam by us, a few centimeters above the sea bed, while we looked from 3 meters above. What a privilege! The water was usually very shallow – about 2 or 3 meters – and when we got to the deepest part, of perhaps 7 meters, we were engulfed by infinite blue.
After hours inside the water, guided by a local guy who seemed to know every fish by their name, we had a last stop to explore a ship reck that was now the home of a bunch of fish, algae and coral. If you ever visit Belize, I can really recommend Salt Life Eco Tours. It is a local-led business and the guides will tell you all about the island, its people, and its marine life.
The sea really is a second world inside our world, and one we rarely experience beyond the surface, or know much about. Is it fear? Does the sea humble us? For making us feel foreign and inadequate? How do we feel more compelled to explore the surface of the moon than the depths of our oceans? I’m not sure, but I like it that the ocean is so full of mystery and still somehow out of our domain.
We spent Christmas eve at a local karaoke bar with another couple of travelers we met that day at the boat. The bar seemed to be hosting the whole entire island that night. People from literally all over the world took turns grabbing the mic, cheered by an enthusiastic and nonjudgmental audience. We shared these hours with all these other people, in absolute joy, in this tiny parallel universe, far, far away from all the news and insanity of society out there. I think it was a beautiful way to spend a Christmas eve.
Carolina Sequeira, January 18th 2025
The Mind of Caro 