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Belize: Playa del Carmen to Caye Caulker

Our luggage lined up for the sniffer dog on the pier in Chetumal
Our luggage lined up for the sniffer dog on the pier in Chetumal

To be honest, I didn't have a clue how far we were going to get when we set off from Playa del Carmen in the general direction of Belize. I'd promised Peta that eventually we'd end up on the reportedly laid-back paradise island of Caye Caulker (pronounced 'key corker'), but that it might take a few long journeys to get there. I had visions of being trapped in dusty Mexican border towns, or stuck in a fleapit hotel room in Belize's infamously earthy capital city, waiting for a ferry to the northern islands; but I kept these visions to myself as we trudged to the bus station in Playa to catch the 7.20am bus for the border town of Chetumal.

The port in Chetumal
The port in Chetumal
The San Pedro Belize Express
The San Pedro Belize Express
Inside the passenger cabin of the San Pedro Belize Express
Inside the passenger cabin of the San Pedro Belize Express

Out of the Frying Pan

Ambergris Caye
Ambergris Caye

Luckily the rain dried up soon after we'd jumped through all the fiery hoops of Mexican bureaucracy, and at about 2.30pm we were called over to a little 50-seater speedboat that was tucked away at the end of the pier. The crew laid out our luggage in a line on the dock while an army truck pulled up beside us and a group of burly Mexican soldiers jumped out with guns at the ready and casually cordoned us off at the end of the pier, and then they asked us to drop our hand luggage into a second line on the dock while one of the soldiers brought out a sniffer dog to go through everything. Up the line, down the line, back again and in and out went the dog, stopping every now and then to have a good poke around, though the only bit of drama was when an American we'd been chatting to pulled out his camera to snap the dog, and one of the soldiers cut him dead with an authoritative, 'Señor, no!' So, having passed the final test to exit Mexico, we climbed into the bowels of the boat and took our seats for the 90-minute ride to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye.

Ambergris Caye
Ambergris Caye
Ambergris Caye
Ambergris Caye

Adrian to the Rescue

Customs and immigration on Ambergris Caye
Customs and immigration on Ambergris Caye

There aren't any vehicles of note on Caye Caulker, but there are lots of golf buggies that are used for everything from taxis to tours, and within a few minutes of arriving at the main drag, we flagged one down.