Flying to Caye Caulker on a Mission and 3 Travel Light Taco Tips

I figured since it was Labor Day holiday and I could not get the stuff done that I needed to yesterday, I would travel instead. So I emailed Tropic Air Reservations at 7:48 am to what the availability was to fly San Pedro to Caye Caulker. – Please Note: As of October 2017, the airstrip in Caye Caulker is closed for repairs.

Did I mention I love living so close to the airport? While waiting for a reply I finished what I was doing and packed my travel bag – a black cooler. After I found out they had space, I sent a fast book me please reply as I was walking out the door for the airport. In the 7 minutes it took me to reach the airport from my house, they had already confirmed my booking and I was in the system – now that’s fast service!

Full flight to Municipal Airport stopping on Caye Caulker

Food First

Knowing I was considering the trip, my friend Kendall gave me 4 Caye Caulker restaurant recommendations to try or get a picture of: Mike’s Margaritas, The Fair, Aladdin and Pizza and Gelato Italiano.

Since I was not in the mood for a virgin Margarita, Mikes got a pic and a bit of video – looks like a fun spot. Right next door The Fair happened to be closed so that put my plans for a corn dog on hold. Instantly I became a homing pigeon for pizza, as I made my way to the split area to find the pizza place.

My eggplant and basil combo was delicious – $14.50 bz including a water. I am not usually a fan of thick crust but they got it right substance without being heavy and a good sized slice served in a nice silver pan. For a sweet treat, After Eight Gelato – $6 BZD 1 scoop cup. They even let me charge my phone and offered useful tech help when the outlet was not working – when electronic things are not working correctly remember to reboot.

I did pass Aladdin after and it is one of those side street gems that is easy to miss.

On my way back through town, The Fair was open so I got my $4 corn dog and liked it a lot. That is until the thought of how nutritionally bad hot dogs are popped in my head, but I ate it anyways. It was good and I would do it again 🙂 I opted to keep it plain and enjoy the memory of the old school flavor – not had one since I was a kid.

Lunch at Pizza and Gelato Italiano. Notice the size of the pan it gets served on no small paper plate.

After Eight gelato for dessert.

My lunch view could not be beat.

More of my lunchtime award winning live TV view.

Heading back towards The Fair and Mikes Margaritas

Corn dog straight up

Perfect seaside drink stop on the way to the split

Expanded beach looks great

My Mission

Onto my real reason for flying to Caye Caulker, it was twofold. Thanks to my friend Jack, I discovered I should bump up my reading glasses and was hoping to find a different selection one island over. As it turns out I found one pair of decent 175 strength and only Quan sold them of all the stores I checked on the island. Everyone else was sunglasses only.

First stop Quan for reading glasses

More important, the second part of my mission was to get pictures of lobster traps for my next Belize Tourism Board article in the reporter. As I walked along the back roads and beach side of the island, I found no shortage of slat box style lobster traps and piles of zinc shades. On my second pass to get pictures at different lighting, I ran into Lloyd. He was really nice and took the time to explain to me about the various traps I was taking pictures of. The box kind (also known as a pot) had a funnel entry to them he explained ;bait was not required. Then he showed me how fresh stacks of frames will become the ends of new traps and old metal drums will get used to catch lobster. He even had an interesting recycling pile, his future shades were all hoods of vehicles.

Lloyd showing me lobster traps and lobster shades

Funnel mouth lobster trap – no bait needed

Lloyd showing me how the traps get built

Top gets cut off sides pinched together and holes drilled in drums to make an easily sinkable trap

Don’t forget to like the three main Belize lobster festival Facebook pages to keep informed of upcoming events.

• San Pedro Lobster Festival: June 15th – June 25th
• Placencia LobsterFest Belize: June 24th, 25th and 26th
• Caye Caulker Lobster Fest: July 1st, 2nd and 3rd

Last Minute Adventures

Soon was time to head back to San Pedro, I was booked on the 3:45 flight. Since I knew it was not far, I decided to walk back to catch my plane and explore more around that area and beyond. Where else could you experience the views in the pictures below while walking back to an airport to catch a flight home?

I took a short wander inside the mini reserve on the way to the airport

Long crooked dock

Dockside couch and pink Adirondack chair. I was tempted to go sit but continued exploration won.

Exploring further south than the airport a bit and saw some cool houses

Property for sale and a worker let me come in and enjoy their sprinkler on the grass to cool off a few min.

Want More Caye Caulker?

Check out Bound for Belize Blog. Robert and Rose were there yesterday too but I never ran into them.

A bit of Caye Caulker video I took while there.

I know many of you are missing San Pedro, so I filmed a San Pedro Airport landing for you too.

taco Tip #1 – for Traveling Light

Three small but powerful items to pack in your carry on:

• Health: Especially in hot places like Belize, flavored re-hydration salts sold in single use packages. Most of us do not get enough liquids while traveling. Add these to your bottle of water and boost your hydration any point during your trip.
• Beauty: Burt Bee’s chap stick with peppermint essential oils in them. Not only will you keep from getting chapped lips, the mint freshens you up and makes your lips tingle 🙂
• Halo: A credit card size USB powered phone charger. Perfect for times you can get by with one charge and want a light charging option.

Apple re-hydration salts from Costa Rica 75 cents BZD at my local store