Paradise Island

When we crossed the border to Belize we immediately felt that we were in another country. The whole vibe was somehow more relaxed and the people were different. Even though people in Guatemala were friendly, here they somehow seem to be even friendlier, and somehow more genuine. It is hard to explain. Another big difference is the language: they speak English here, and it is really weird, because we’ve gotten so used to ask for everything in our lousy Spanish. The Garífuna people can be found here as well, as can their awesome and energetic music. We hadn’t expected much of Belize, but we noticed right away that we were going love it!

After spending a night in Dangriga we took a boat to Tobacco Caye that lies a bit out from the mainland. We hadn’t met anybody before who had been here, but somehow we felt that it could be a nice place. And oh, how right we were! Tobacco Caye is a small island that sits in the end of a huge coral reef in the Caribbean Sea. And by small I mean small: you can walk around it in like 4 minutes. It is surrounded by crystal clear turquoise water and it is covered by soft white sand, palm trees, a few hotels and restaurants, 2 bars and friendly people. If you want to see underwater life you just put on your mask and snorkel and swim out and you’re almost immediately encountered by colorful fish and coral. Patrick, one of our new friends who is also staying on the island even saw a shark the other day. It came so close that he peed in his speedos.

So what can you do on an island this small? Well nothing much; just relax, have a beer, swim, do some snorkelling, relax, have a beer... And when the evening comes the cute little bar at the beach opens so you can go there and listen to some Caribbean music and relax and have a beer...The other night there was almost like a small party going on at the bar and we got to learn how to dance the Garífuna dance. It is quite a dance, I tell you. If I had to choose one word to describe it, it would be ’sexual’. The thing you do is move your butt in a circle and rub it against the opposite gender. It is all in the hips! And as the music gets faster you move your hips faster and at some point the girl puts her hands against the floor and her butt up in the air while still moving the hips. And you can guess she isn’t dancing alone; of course there is a guy behind her shaking his hips. Well, don’t worry guys, we’ll teach you everything when we get home .

We have enjoyed each day in this fantastically sunny weather relaxing, swimming and mingling with people. We have made new friends from fellow travellers who also have been lucky enough to find this place. Every day we have eaten fresh seafood and drunken cold beers in the sun. You could almost call it paradise.

We got engaged on Tobacco Caye 27.1

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