First thing’s first, let me answer the question I’ve been asked repeatedly when chatting to friends and family about my most recent holiday.
‘Where’s Belize?’
‘It’s in Central America… just below Mexico.’
I can understand the puzzled looks. After all, Belize isn’t your typical holiday destination. There are no direct flights from the UK, so getting there can be a bit tricky. But if you put in the miles (I took a flight from Gatwick to Cancun, then hopped on an overly-air-conditioned night bus from Cancun to Belize City) the rewards are more than worth it.
Belize boasts almost 250 miles of Caribbean coastline and is home to the second-longest barrier reef in the country, so most trips here involve a heavy dose of beach time. In order to see as much of it as possible, I kicked off my holiday with a three-day sailing trip run by Raggamuffin Tours http://raggamuffintours.com/. I boarded the catamaran in Caye Caulker – a chilled island that’s a favourite with backpackers – and set out to sea with 18 other guests and 4 crew members.
There was a lot of snorkeling, a lot of reggae music, and a lot of rum punch. But the highlight for me was spending two nights camping on the tiny (and I mean tiny) uninhabited islands of Rendezvous Caye and Ragga Caye.
First up was Rendezvous Caye. Nothing more than a strip of sand punctuated with palm trees and a few thatched umbrellas, this place is the stuff of tropical island fantasies. There’s no electricity, no showers and – gasp! – no Wi-Fi. I fell asleep to the sound of the waves lapping the shore, and woke up to a spectacular sunrise.
The second night of the trip was spent on Ragga Caye – another impossibly beautiful island you can circumnavigate in approximately 30 seconds. Here, there’s the option to swap the tent for an over-the-water dormitory or private cabana. Either way, you’re surrounded with views like this. Life could be worse, hey?
The tour ends at the beach port of Dangriga and, from here, I took a local bus to neighboring Placencia. It was time to continue my un-Belize-able adventure…
