Another Paradise

Well I trust everyone had a good Christmas. We spent our Christmas on the Belizean island of Caye Caulker. This island has no cars - everyone gets around on golf buggies and bicycles. There are no paved roads, just sandy walkways. Unfortunately there is a distinct lack of a proper beach, but everyone gathers at the Lazy Lizard by 'the split.' The split came about following hurricane Hattie which split the island in two. This is now the place to go and swim and drink cocktails (Rosie and I even treated ourselves to a massage yesterday on the beach!) It took a bit of getting used to speaking English again as Belize speaks English, took a while to stop saying gracias!
We had a lovely Christmas on the beach with a lot of rum, snacks and even a cheese board! We met up with a few people we had met during our travels, so it was kind of like getting together to meet up with family. It was the best possible Christmas I could have had away from home. We are still on this little island, and I'm afraid we don't have much to show for it apart from hangovers and injuries. We moved hostels yesterday as our beautiful and clean, albeit militant, hostel didn't have enough space for us. So we moved to the more party hostel on the island. We went out for dinner and came back to a couple leaving due to a bed bug infestation and puddles of blood all over the hostel from a guy who was so drunk he couldn't remember what had happened. Fair enough, you can't control the drunkards, but the owner sat there smoking weed all night and the blood still wasn't cleaned until 9 am this morning. So we have moved. We had an attic room which had an amazing view, but Rosie and I literally had to climb through a hole to get to it. We are now paying 10 BZD less for a cleaner accommodation. Go us!
One thing we do have to show for it actually is 2 snorkeling tours. The first one took us on an adventure through snake infested mangroves to see Manatees, which we actually saw. The second one was more noteworthy with a company called Raggamuffin. Surely the name says it all. We went to 3 separate snorkel spots, one called shark and stingray alley. Not quite as good as Stingray City though... but the snorkeling was the best we have had. The fed us heartily between snorkels and once the snorkeling was all done we struggled to finish off the vat of rum punch they had brought for the trip. We walked off that boat sozzled at sunset. What happened for the rest of the night is a bit of a mystery to all. (I left early, but still managed to be rather inebriated). Well, the next time I write hopefully it won't just be of lounging in the sun, as much fun as it is, I want to be traveling again. Stay irie!