Belize is just so different to Guatemala. The roads are mostly litter-free, the gardens around local homes are neat and tended, the majority of the population is African, people are mostly honest and no one wants to cheat you just because you are a foreigner.From Belize City it is an hour’s boat ride to Caye Caulker. The cayes are small islands sprawled along the barrier reef, the second largest in the world, from the coast of Mexico all the way to Nicaragua. Between the reef and the mainland the water is shallow and turquoise, with white sandbars and limestone shelves jutting up here and there: a real tropical paradise. On Caye Caulker we rent a boat to visit the manatee sanctuary; these huge mammals are a bit boring since they only stick their noses out of the water every 15 minutes or so, to take a breath while munching away at seaweed underwater. After this we do some snorkeling and stingray-watching, and later that night we prepare shellfish, barracuda and conch over an open fire, the catch of the day.