Belize - Rastifarian Caribbean - Slow down man you walking too fast.

Belize is what I have always imagined Jamaica to be like. From the moment we crossed no mans land from Mexico everything had changed. It was weird switching back to English again, even found myself trying to speak to the locals in Spanish. The skin colour changes, the scenery, the language and just the way of life. The majority of Belize is from African descent and they have the coolest hairstyles and accents. Every guy has dreads or braids that have been growing for years, possibly all their life. And everything has to be slow! You could be walking down the street at the pace of a two yr old toddling along and people will shout out: "Slooow dwn man, u walkn too fast". Bob Marley and other reggae music is quite popular as is every single person offering us weed. From the moment we left the border there was people wanting to chat to us and tell us where to go, what to see.

We chilled out for a couple of days on an island called Caye Caulker. Small chilled out paradise island in the Caribbean that just moves slow. The police drive around in golf buggy's. Id like to see a high speed police chase in this country. The golf buggy's are about the fastest things that move here. Been a backpacker I'm usually on a budget. I never like to skim on food though. Belize is very very expensive though. Like a sandwich was nearly $10 USD, even pasta and sauce was expensive. So we had to make do with lobster every night which is the cheapest thing on the island!! Three nights in a row there was lobster. And the third night, and I know I sound like a fat greedy slob, but I ended up eating 6 lobster tails that night. This came with chocolate cake, rice, beans, bread etc etc and unlimited rum punch. Youd think they'd have served the whole meal and much more would come out. Then just as we finished two huge plates of unreal chicken wings came out. I could barely move for two days. All of this cost us $12.50 which was about the cheapest thing we could get in Belize where as in other countries this would feed us for a few days!! Don't think Ill ever get to eat that much lobster again!!

We did a really good snorkeling trip from the island. Again picture all these local guys with very dark skin, totally random hairstyles, some of which had never been cut in their lives and then names like Patrick Ahearne. Not sure where the Irish influence came from but they certainly don't look Irish!! During the snorkeling trip we got to swim with turtles, nurse sharks, sting rays and eagle rays. Was def a lot cooler than some scuba diving experiences I have done. We even got to hold and pet the sting rays. Then back on the boat after three stops for more unlimited rum punch which they really do love in this part of the world!!

Photos up at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187720&id=509199014&l=748e78f6cf