There was no rush to get up. We just enjoyed having air conditioning to sleep well for a change. When we did get up, all we had to do after getting ready was walk two blocks south from our hotel to get to the water taxi for Caye Caulker. Fortunately, we had discovered this boat service last night. It tends to serve more local people and allowed us to avoid the hassles of the hustlers downtown at the main point for water taxis to the islands.
After a rough 45-minute ride, we arrived at Caye Caulker. It's a small island without paved streets. Every street is a sandy, dusty white--probably old shell. We walked to the Ocean Pearle Royale Hotel where we had a reservation, and were already hot by the time we got there. Being hungry, however, we had to go out again. We walked the length of the village--a rather quaint and attractive place that has been popular with backpackers for several years now. During this walk, we saw more tourists than I have seen at any other stop on this trip. Caulker is a nice place with plenty of bars, restaurants, boat trips, etc., and with beautiful green water and white sand.
For lunch, we had local food--rice and beans with chicken. Then walked back to the room where we spent the heat of the afternoon in the room under cool air watching films on TV.
Around 16:30, we went swimming. The water was warm, clean, and clear. The sand was soft. There were crowds of tourists sunbathing on a nearby pier. Wind surfers and kite surfers were a little further out in the water. I imagine that the Europeans think they are in paradise here with the temperatures and the sunshine. It is a nice place to visit. My only complaint is that it is impossible to get away from the sand, since the streets are not paved.
We wandered the village more after swimming and returned to the same restaurant to have a fish burger for dinner. We had seen one that another man had when we were there for lunch. It was grilled and delicious. We also shared half a beef burger to test it, and it, too, was nice with a charcoal taste from grilling.
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