Barracudas, Coconuts and Mayan Chocolate

I am sitting in the shade of our blue wooden deck overlooking the glittering Caribbean Sea. It is 8 AM and the temperature is hot and humid. We are on Caye Caulker which is a 45 minute boat ride from Belize City but truly a world apart. The Island has a population of 1300, signs that proclaim "No Shirt, No Shoes…….No Problem" and the only traffic here is that of golf carts and bicycles. With a motto to "go slow", mostly people do walk barefoot as the roads here are only narrow sandy lanes You can often see through to the other side of this skinny Caye. There is a thriving Rastafarian culture on the Caye, which pulses to a Reggae beat. The Caye was cut into two pieces as a result of Hurricane Hattie in 1961, creating the "Split" which separates the southern inhabited part from that of the northern which is mainly swamp. Mail goes out and comes in on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while veggies and fruit are brought in on Tuesday and Friday. Little shacks sell unrefrigerated produce along with freshly squeezed juices that are stored in coolers. The oceanfront rustic cemetery takes up prime real estate with it's rough handmade headstones.

My first experience swimming here was a slight scare. We were swimming in the Split when I realized that I was not a strong enough swimmer to swim back to shore against the current. Yes, I know all about swimming parallel to the current and not to panic but in reality when it happens, sometimes common sense does not prevail. All I could think about was how far I was going despite the fact I was trying harder. James could see me panic and came to my rescue. By the time I reached the concrete pilings near the shore, all I could feel was a terrible stinging sensation like cut glass on both arms. By the time we reached home, my arm was swollen with numerous jelly fish stings. We have since decided that the best beach to snorkel and swim is right next to our house where we snorkel daily! Luckily a bag of ice compress, chilled white wine and grilled fish soothed the pain not to mention the dark Mexican chocolate.

As I sit here, I hear a steady and unbroken chorus of roosters and tropical birds as if they are competing for the airwaves. The neighbours are doing their laundry by hand outdoors on the other side of me, almost as if creating a steady rhythm with their brush. A Rastafarian wearing dreadlocks, sunglasses and a red shirt is sitting on a picnic table in the shade laughing and singing. His songs are punctuated with Creole that I cannot understand but it definitely too has it's own beat. The odd golf cart slowly drives past carrying it's cargo of commodities…..essentials such as five gallon jugs of purified water or coolers of ice. I can hear the foreign sound of a phone ringing. The odd plane flies overhead during the day on a landing strip that seems much too small! There are no boundaries for the airport either as our walk yesterday ended up at the airstrip.

Our residence here is a plain blue three bedroom house, 150 feet away from the sea called Mando House. The house does not have any glass windows but rather levered wooden shutters with a rough screen covering the openings that somehow always manage to allow mosquitoes in every night to dine on Andy with no preference to any specific body part including eye lids! Liz and Enrico Novela rent out two homes on their property along with their own which is nestled in a backdrop of flowering vegetation as well as tropical almond trees. Liz who is gentle and warm, came to Belize from Guatemala as a young teenager on her own trying to make a living. She married Rico and they have been living on Caye Caulker for almost twenty years with two sons. Rico along with is brother operates Anwar Tours that specializes in snorkelling and dive trips. The office is next door where customers congregate on the picnic tables for their orientation before heading off to the Barrier Reef. The deck is where we eat our meals at night and relax during the day.

Locals make their living from fishing and tourism. We have been preparing our dinners with the fresh catch of the day from returning fishermen on the dock. On my daily morning walk yesterday, I encountered Marconi no older than 8 years old, catching barracudas off the dock. Barracudas remind me of miniature sharks and taste almost like halibut. I offered to purchase the fish and he happily agreed. Walking further along, I met Eli and Eugene who were off school for Spring Break, spending the morning climbing to the top of the Coconut trees. I decided that they too may like to make a sale and offered to purchase two coconuts with the agreement that they would crack them open for us. Less than an hour later, the two boys arrived on their bike with the ubiquitous Belizean machete. It was very apparent that the young brothers had done this many times before. Andy saved the coconut water to cook the barracuda in a coconut curry sauce he concocted. Later on in the day we met a Mayan woman from the Toledo District who was in our yard, selling her handmade goods as well as pure cocoa paste from her tree. Liz and Rico were also making cocoa purchases and she told us how labor intensive the process of making chocolate is as she did this in Guatemala while a child. The harvested and fermented beans are stored in southern Belize and sold to Green & Blacks for their renowned Maya Gold chocolate. The vendor, Adeline told us that out of 14 children, only seven were alive.

The majority of travellers to this wondrous Island make a snorkelling or diving trip to the Barrier Reef which is the second largest on the planet. We selected a tour operator called Raggamuffin as they use a fleet of sailboats to tour the Reef. Our Captain Patrick was talented and Jacob made some tasty food for the 18 passengers of the Sailboat Reggae Queen. Patrick made sure we kept hydrated as soon as we embarked on our journey to the Reef. The thought that stayed with me was that of the water looking like glistening Listerine Mouthwash. We had three stops on our day trip which included Coral Gardens, Shark Ray Alley and Hol Chan. I don't really know if I have the ability to describe the experience quite adequately. All I knew was that I would remember the day forever in my mind. We saw everything from huge schools of colourful fish swimming in perfect unison to large stingrays and sharks. We sailed home in the sunset while Patrick made three gallons of rum punch with dark and light Belizean spirits. All day long we munched on tropical fruit. On the way home we were served Shrimp Ceviche that Jacob made on the boat. What a beautiful memory!

I have met so many lovely people in our six days on the Island. Norma who cleans for Liz moved here from El Salvador and has nine children. Ignacio sells the weekly paper that comes in from Belize City on his bike. At 65 years old he reminds me that Caye Caulker is not what it used to be with some large buildings on the Island. Gerald sells us his daily catch of fish and uses the Chinese grocery store to weigh his catch.

At the end of the day we had prepared a local dinner of coconut curry barracuda that Marconi, Eugene and Eli helped make happen while the sea breeze rustled the air and the stars shone all around us. The chocolate was the crowning glory!