Wednesday, 4 December 2013

Belize pt 1 - 'Ah mi gat wahn gud gud taim!!'


Belize pt 1

Onward to Belize! The issues with drugs flowing in and out of Mexico were very apparent when comparing each side of the border. Upon leaving via speedboat at Chetumal, Mexico, some serious looking army guys – with even more serious looking guns, used a sniffer dog to check our bags.

Our destination – Caye Caulker, a small island off the coast of Belize, involved us walking on rickety pier to get our passport stamped. Best immigration point ever. No questions or searches, just some stampy stampy and we are away.

Moving from the hussle and bussle of Mexico to island life on Belize was amazing. The slogan on the island was ‘go slow’ and we really embraced that mentality. Mornings were spent on a hammock where albums were listened to in their entirety (For anyone who has had the experience of listening to Sigur Ros – Taak in full, you’ll know what I mean), and afternoons were spent sitting on a beachside bar listening to regge on a swing. Seafood was in massive supply so we chowed down on fresh lobster (my first lobster ever, mmm) and Snapper most nights.


 
Photos of our hostel - Yumas house. Really cool spot
 
 
Local bar had swings!
 
One of the coolest things about belize is the accents and their take on Creole. Being the only British colonised central American country, communication with the people was a blast. A few of my favourite English Creole phraises:

Greeting someone: English
Belize Kriol
My name is …………
Ah nayhn (or) Mee naym …………
What is your name?
Weh yu nayhn?
What's up? Hello (informal)
Weh di go aan?
Good morning.
Gud maanin.
How are you?
Da how yu di du?
Fine, thank you
Aarait.
How much does this cost?
Humoch dis kaas?
What time is it?
Weh taim yu gat?
I've had a wonderful time.
Ah mi gat wahn gud gud taim.
It doesn't matter.
Ih noh mata.
Is that so?
Fu chroo?

 

A kwik kwik Guide to the Belize Kriol spelling system:
 
 
Kriol
English
'long a' = 'ay'
as in
Layta
later
'long e' = 'ee'
as in
Teech
teach
'long i' = 'ai'
as in
Taim
time
'long o' = 'oa'
as in
Hoam
home
'long u' = 'oo'
as in
Myool
mule
'tr' = 'chr'
as in
Chroo
true
'x' = 'ks'
as in
Aks
ask
'hn' = 'nasalization'
as in
nayhn; wahn
name; will, want, a
'double short a' = 'aa'
as in
Kaas
cost

 

We then enlisted for a sailing trip with Raggamuffin tours – where we jumped on a Catamaran and set out into the Caribbean for some gud taims, snorkelling and regge – and rum, don’t forget the rum. We had a safety briefing the night before the voyage where they stressed that no alcohol will be served until we hit the islands. This lasted until one of the Ragga guys forced their feral rum punch down our throats 2 hours in. Eww.

 
Its Taim t go to tha eyeland mon

 
Belize flag - coolest flag ever

 
Shaz got this shot while we were playing glow in the dark frisby on the first night - awesome
 
 


The tour was amazing, lazing around on the catamaran roof, snorkelling in the barrier reef (second biggest in the world) and spearfishing. We stopped off at two cayes (small sand islands), one of them uninhabited for fresh seafood, camping and all round good times.

The ultimate destination was Placencia, where I found this awesome sign. After two days of camping where we got hit by tropical storms and near 100% humidity we made a B line for a room with AC and hot showers (hadn’t had a hot shower since Playa Del Carmen).
 

After relaxation here for a day we push on inland into Belize.

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