Tobacco Caye and Dangriga

The next day we took the chicken bus down to Dangriga, a seaside garifuna town, and then from there the boat to Tobacco Caye, a miniscule little caye on an atoll about 30 minutes from the mainland.

We arrived on this little palm-fringed island- which our guidebook said had a great beach and amazing snorkelling- only to find a plot of sand completely coverd by crumbling little guesthouses. The island was about 30 meters around, or maybe 10 by 10 meters big... and there was no beach left cuz it was all filled up with these hotels. So we found the cheapest one (without running, water, electriciy, or a fan), though after a while, luckily, we got all 3.

The thing about this island was that not only was it overcrowded with these ugly wooden buildings, but there was trash everywhere... we often saw locals finish a bag of chips, or a coke, and just throw it into the sea afterwards. The very sea that brings paying tourists to their island and allows them to eat that bag of chips. Its not only here that this happens, but everywhere in central america, it seems. I mean, how can these people not get that if they keep doing that pretty soon there'll be no tourists left and they'll be, well, screwed.

A fried chicken dinner and a few hours of laying on the peer to stare up at the stars, and down and the manta rays and glow fish got us tired enough to sleep. The next morning we set off, perpared to justify our lavish spending (30 USD just to get to the island and back) by seeing some mindblowing coral. Well, with my extrasmall mask I had to fiddle with it about every 30 seconds, but I was able to see some pretty nice coral (though nothing compared to coral gardens in the Philippines). I then borrowed Charles' mask which he rented, and snorkeled some more to see two HUGE rays, one even bigger than me, suavely making their way accross the ocean floor.

(Actually my photos don't do it justice, because just behind the lense was the overcrowded island and just below the inhabitant´s trash)

We quickly vacated this caye and made our way back to Dangriga, where we heard there was a big soccer match going on- Belize vs Honduras, with the winner progressing to the next stage of the CONCAF cup. So, excitedly, we bought tickets and took our places in the stadium. Well, to use the word 'stadium' is a bit of a stretch. I think 'grass field' would do it justice. It was basically a field, with a fence around it, and four steps of rudimentary bleachers erected on one side... which could hold about 1oo people. And this was a major interational match. But then again, this was Belize.

It was a great game to watch, with much screaming and jumping around from my neighbors, Belize won 2-1. But, since Honduras had won 2-1 as well at home, it went down to penalties, which, unfortunately, Belize lost by 2. So, the public went home slightly disgruntled, many too high or drunk to be really dissapointed.

And we retreated to our guest house, waking up the next morning at 8 am to make our way into Guatemala.