Seafood so fresh, they need a new word here for fresh.
The beach is entirely public in Belize; resort properties extend only so far towards the water as to allow a sandy promenade for everyone. The long, narrow Caye consists of twenty-five miles of flat, coral sand running near vertically, north-south. The eastern shore is where you’ll find a cluster of restaurants around town, then a string of resorts, some time-shares, and private condominiums. Wooden docks separate the properties from each other and reach out like fingers towards the barrier reef. The reef is what attracts most tourists, including us. At 186 miles long, the reef is said to be able to reduce the force of a tidal surge by half during the worst storms. Understandably, this is good news for beach businesses in a hurricane-sensitive part of the world. It's also good news for anyone because, based on my travel experience, many people measure their comfort around travel destinations against its potential for natural disasters (whether they admit it or not).
Closer to town, the beach is bustling.
Most docks are given over to commercial enterprises like the water taxi, diving and snorkelling tours, a glass bottom boat operation, and independent fishermen. Antonio has been fishing the Caye for more than half a century, since the time when the Caye was only a village and you either worked on a boat or on a coconut plantation. His son Tony is cutting up a bucket of lobster they collected this morning. He throws the tentacles into the shallow water at his ankles where four stingrays lap them up. Acknowledging my surprise he says, “These guys won’t harm you unless you step on them. Don’t worry.” We watch Tony work on the lobster, squeeze the lime juice and prepare the onion and herbs. He’ll be delivering the platter to one of the beach eateries in a few minutes. This is so fresh, they need a new word here for fresh.
Most docks are given over to commercial enterprises like the water taxi, diving and snorkelling tours, a glass bottom boat operation, and independent fishermen. Antonio has been fishing the Caye for more than half a century, since the time when the Caye was only a village and you either worked on a boat or on a coconut plantation. His son Tony is cutting up a bucket of lobster they collected this morning. He throws the tentacles into the shallow water at his ankles where four stingrays lap them up. Acknowledging my surprise he says, “These guys won’t harm you unless you step on them. Don’t worry.” We watch Tony work on the lobster, squeeze the lime juice and prepare the onion and herbs. He’ll be delivering the platter to one of the beach eateries in a few minutes. This is so fresh, they need a new word here for fresh.
One of the liveliest beach restaurant-bars is Fido’s. It’s pronounced Fee-doze, something that apparently needs explaining, so you’ll find that information on the back of a server’s t-shirt. Throughout the week, you can savour your cerviche there with live music. We have a folk singer tonight who sports a beaded head-band holding back long, wild hair. In a clear, sure voice he’s telling us, “I’ll be what I am, a solitary man”.
Our waiter, Tom, lives two doors down. He’s an expat from the United States and was so taken with the island life four years ago, he just parked here. A golfer cum maturing beach dude, he’s eagerly awaiting the reopening of Caye Chappell’s golf course, a mere water taxi away. Tom’s one-bedroom apartment on the beach costs him about $400 US a month, utilities all-in. I tune into the folk singer once more as he finishes his last song. “I hope you’ve had the time of your life.”
Calientes is another bar on the beach with a Mexican menu and offers half-price Margaritas on Fridays. You can get a good view from Calientes of the adjacent Pier Lounge which hosts the “chicken drop” on Wednesday nights. The chicken drop is a local entertainment where the floor is painted like a large numbered checker-board and you bet on which square a chicken will drop a cookie on. A lesson learned about islanders is that there’s no explaining them. They’ve always made their own entertainments.
Take for example the San Pedro version of mardi gras. Einer Gomez, born and raised in San Pedro and now assistant manager of the Ramon Resort, describes the annual carnival held each year in March (for 2011, it's between March 5 - 8).
“On the mainland, they throw water at you during carnival. But here, you get doused with raw eggs and paint. My wife makes sure she coats herself with petroleum jelly so the paint will come off easier. You walk anywhere and someone will run after you and throw a can of paint at you. It's fun.”
Indeed, Caye culture is different from the mainland. There’s a lot of Spanish spoken here on the street for one thing, more than you hear in Belize City. In fact, Ambergris Caye is part of Belize and not in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo only by way of a small canal, purportedly enlarged, if not dug, by the Mayans. Ambergris Caye is Belizean, but distinct, in the same way that Newfoundland is Canadian.
It’s lunch time and we must try the best fusion restaurant at Wild Mangos. A covered deck spills onto the sand; on the roof sits a curious Chihuahua, peering at us over the edge as we consider all the internationally inspired and delicious ways the chef prepares cerviche.
A couple of streets in from the beach (and there are only a handful of streets between the Atlantic and Bay side of the caye at this point), you find Elvi’s Kitchen, a tasty eatery and an institution in San Pedro. Its floor is entirely beach sand, renewed biannually. Seating is what you’d expect on sand, picnic tables, with and without backs. In the main hall of the spacious wooden building sprouts a gigantic flamboyant tree that reaches up to the rafters of the vaulted, thatched roof. A victim of hurricane Keith in 2001, the tree remains standing thanks to a bed of cement. Without bark, its polished wood gleams like mahogany. It’s an eccentric environment, well suited to Jenny’s Kickin’ Tarter Sauce served with conch fritters.
For our last night on the Caye, we go for something special, seafood with pineapple served on hot lava rocks at Pineapples Seaside Restaurant. The soft amber lighting under gently swaying palms speaks to my romantic side. No flips flops and shorts tonight; the occasion calls for little strappy sandals… and shorts. After all, we’re still at the beach. (by Carolann Moisse for http://www.maturetraveler.blogspot.com/)
ON LOCATION:
The Phoenix Resort is an easy walk into town along the beach. It's a luxurious, modern-styled beachfront condo resort of 26 one, two, and three bedroom suites that includes all the amenities you expect from a top-rated resort. It has its own delicious restaurant, Red Ginger which you'll want put in the mix of dining options on the Caye during your stay. See their website: http://www.thephoenixbelize.com/
About equal distance from town in the other direction is Ramon's Village Resort. This resort is ensconsed in thick, tropical foliage giving the pool the feeling of a lagoon. Sixty-one thatched-roof private cabanas are scattered throughout the property. See: http://www.ramons.com/
A little further from town along the beach, but still walkable, is the Xanadu Island Resort. This resort consists of 18 well appointed suites within six curved hurricane resistent buildings called "domes", all surrounded by jungle. The owners of Xanadu are on a mission with respect to protecting the environment. Fifty percent of its property is maintained as a bird santuary. In 2010, Xanadu was selected to participate in an environment pilot project, supported in part by Canada's Scotia Bank. See http://www.xanaduresort-belize.com/
ON LOCATION:
The Phoenix Resort is an easy walk into town along the beach. It's a luxurious, modern-styled beachfront condo resort of 26 one, two, and three bedroom suites that includes all the amenities you expect from a top-rated resort. It has its own delicious restaurant, Red Ginger which you'll want put in the mix of dining options on the Caye during your stay. See their website: http://www.thephoenixbelize.com/
About equal distance from town in the other direction is Ramon's Village Resort. This resort is ensconsed in thick, tropical foliage giving the pool the feeling of a lagoon. Sixty-one thatched-roof private cabanas are scattered throughout the property. See: http://www.ramons.com/
A little further from town along the beach, but still walkable, is the Xanadu Island Resort. This resort consists of 18 well appointed suites within six curved hurricane resistent buildings called "domes", all surrounded by jungle. The owners of Xanadu are on a mission with respect to protecting the environment. Fifty percent of its property is maintained as a bird santuary. In 2010, Xanadu was selected to participate in an environment pilot project, supported in part by Canada's Scotia Bank. See http://www.xanaduresort-belize.com/
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