Page 74 - Globale Traveler

kicking back | BELIZE

Going Slow there are no cars. My husband and I rode one of the many daily water taxis

from Chetumal in Mexico with 50 other young travelers, mostly European,
and a few children lugging backpacks home from school on the mainland.
Stepping from the dock onto the white sand among the palm trees, I took
off my shoes like everyone else as a pelican swiveled off a post and glided away
Indulge in the laid-back pace of Caye Caulker’s over the surf. “Go slow!” signs preached to the choir as I passed a woman I
later came to know as the “Cake Lady” and a smiling man in a banana-leaf
Caribbean paradise. BY ALLISON VOIGTS hat. Pink conch shell vendors and sizzling grills dotted Front Street all the way
up to the Split, a channel left by Hurricane Hattie decades ago.
The swift current might wobble your kayak, but it’s worth crossing to the
CARIBBEAN COLORS: STARING INTO THE JADE SEA on the way to north side’s 100-acre Forest Reserve full of mangroves, exotic birds and “wish
(Left to right) Caye Caulker Caye Caulker, I thought of The Sea Around Us, willies,” slang for the local iguanas. I skirted the tangled roots as I maneuvered
blue water, signs posting Rachel Carson’s classic biography of the oceans. a standup paddle board from local outfitter Contour Ocean Ventures, count-
the way in front of wooden
houses, vibrant local scene “The deep blue water … far from land is the color ing herons and turtles.
on this easygoing island, of emptiness and barrenness,” writes the great Snorkeling outfits like Caveman Tours and Tsunami Adventures offer
nurse sharks gathering for marine biologist. “The green water of the coastal full- and half-day excursions starting from $35. The price includes a mask and
bait at Shark Alley, and
sea turtle areas, with all its varying hues, is the color of life.” flippers as well as entrance fees to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, where you
On this tiny Caribbean paradise, really more can see coral, tropical fish and the odd manatee. They also serve fresh ceviche
PHOTOS: © MORENO NOVELLO |
DREAMSTIME, © MAREK POPLAWSKI of a sandbar just off the coast of Belize, you can and rum punch en route. Our shirtless guide flashed a gleaming smile as he
| DREAMSTIME, © SOMNIPHOBIAC
| DREAMSTIME, © MILES ASTRAY | walk from main pier to northern tip in less than 20 stretched himself off the boat and flipped a hunk of fish up into the air for a
DREAMSTIME, © DIEGO GRANDI |
DREAMSTIME minutes, and in only a few minutes across, though frigate bird to catch.
nothing ever inspires such urgency. Walking is the “The face of the sea is always changing,” Carson writes. This part of the
only option, other than renting a golf cart, since Caribbean can flicker from vivid sapphire to the carved greenstone mask of a

74 globaltravelerusa.com FEBRUARY 2018