BELIZE

Chapter 12: Defiantly Different Belize

Most tourists come to Belize to visit one of the islands on the reef – it’s the second largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We went first to Caye Caulker, which was a fun, but busy, touristy island. It is full of restaurants, bars, tour operators, and music, but has a very relaxed vibe. There are no cars, and most people get around by bicycle, so the pace of life is slow. We fed tarpon, saw a seahorse in the wild, and swam in the midst of a nurse shark feeding frenzy, with stingrays rubbing my ankles like house cats.

biking around caye caulker houses on stilts belize — Colorful Caye Caulker

But we want a more wild and remote island experience while in Belize. So, after much searching, we find a reef with simple lodgings that has space for us over Christmas week – Glover’s Atoll “Resort.”

It’s paradise, but definitely Robinson Crusoe style.

glovers reef belize robinson crusoe house — Homeschooling never stops! Even when you’re temporarily living on an almost deserted island. This is the kitchen of our hut on Glover’s Reef, and also where we made Lilly do her schoolwork each day.

glovers reef guitar belize islands — The living room of our hut on Glover’s reef

glovers reef belize — Lilly loved running around the beach and palm trees

Hunting for Food

cleaning fish at glovers belize island — Anders and John cleaning fish after a successful morning out fishing

tuna and barracuda caught at glovers reef belize — The tuna that I described in the book as my first sushi since leaving California. John also caught 2 barracuda that same day, which we shared out with others on the island.

cutting up fresh tuna glovers reef belize — It was wild to see the fish arrive fresh on the boat, get sliced up on the dock, carry it back to our cabin, and then dip it in soy sauce to put directly into my mouth raw!

nurse shark feeding frenzy — Whenever John and Anders, or the local fisherman, cleaned fish on the dock, the nurse sharks and sting rays would swarm in. Lilly loved feeding the fish scraps to them. She wasn’t even squeamish holding an entire fish head!

It was a unique experience to have to catch fish every day. With no refrigeration, we can’t keep fish day to day. So if you catch more fish than you can eat that day, you give it away. Or, if you don’t catch any fish that day then you have none – so we’re eating canned beans that night! It’s an obvious observation, but for someone who’s never lived without a fridge and store nearby, it was a new experience!

coconut hacking — My contribution to our hunting-gathering escapades – coconuts.

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