There was no rush to get up today, check-out from our hotel wasn't until 11am, however, for some strange reason we were up and out having breakfast at Ice 'n Beans before 8am!

We weren't the only ones from our group there. Nicole, Andrew, Shalia and Jonathon were already there.

Nicole and Andrew weren't leaving Caye Caulker today but they were heading across the split to the Northern island.

Shalia and Evie were travelling to Guatemala City for a night before flying home.

Jonathon was moving on to another job in Baja California.  We were glad we got the chance to see him before he left. Nobody had organised a tip (or at least we hadn't been asked to contribute) so it gave us a chance to slip him a few Belizean dollars for looking after us so well.

Back at the hotel we checked-out and got a golf buggy taxi to Colindas Cabanas, our new home for the next two nights. It wasn't far away, we could have walked it in 10 minutes but with our rucksacks on our backs it was far more pleasant to arrive in style.

The taxi driver dropped us off outside the reception office where we were met by Kari.

She was softly spoken and very welcoming. She then gave us the news that we had been upgraded to their beach front cabin which was such a lovely bonus. Of course it wasn't ready yet, it was only 10:10am and check-in wasn't until 2pm, so we left our bags with her at reception and went for a walk.

Although the first thing we did was check-out our brightly painted beachfront cabana. We were so excited.

We didn't get much further because the next thing we did was walk down the end of Colinda Cabanas very own jetty and sat on their loungers. It was a beautiful peaceful spot. We sat there for a while, just listening to waves lapping aganst the wooden posts.

Half an hour later we got bored and decided to walk back towards the "centre" of town. 

The sandy path, aka Avendida Hicaco, took us past several other hotels and rentals on the Eastern waterfront. It was noticably quieter this side of the island. We hardly met anyone else.

After 5 minutes we reached one of the island's cemetaries which was unexpected. It was only a small patch of land with a few white crosses. It reminded me of a sign we saw that said "Go Slow. We have 2 cemetaries but no hospital"!

A further 5 minutes and we had reached Salty's bar and then more familiar sights. We didn't really have a plan for today which is why we eneded up almost by default, at Sip'n Dip.

We had noticed they served food, and it came from a kitchen over the road. A chicken quesadilla went past and impressed so I ordered myself a plain cheese quesadilla.

It wasn't even midday yet and I was eating my lunch!

The quesadilla was perfect. Comfort food in its simplest form, just plain mild cheese between a large flour tortilla folded over and fried in a dry pan. "We should make these more often at home" said Julie as she watched me polish them off.

Our attention this morning was drawn by several pelicans busy catching fish. Julie launched into "A wonderful bird is a pelican, his beak can hold more than his belly can".  It's a limerick written by an American poet called Dixon Lanier Merrit and one Julie's mother used to say whenever there was a mention of a pelican!

 "... he takes in his beak, enough food for a week,

but I'll be damned if I know how the helican"

An hour later we began the walk back to our beachfront cabin. We stopped along the way at Betty's Go Slow Grill. Julie fancied their barbecued spare rib for her lunch.

It came with a portion of rice and beans which she asked for in a seperate tub so I could eat it.

We sat down at a table, it wasn't something that could be eaten on the go. She sighed as the spare rib was cold, not fresh off the barbecue. The bbq sauce was warm but given Julie's dislike of getting her fingers dirty the whole thing was a struggle to eat.

On the positive side, it was enormous with plenty of meat on the bone but in the end she was left underwhelmed.

When we arrived back at Colinda Cabanas our room was ready for us. We were pleased to learn it was the apartment on the first floor, the one with a balcony, the best in the resort.

The view from the balcony was stunning, looking out to the sea beyond the palm trees. The only downside was there wasn't a hammock or comfortable lounging seats, only a dinning table and chairs.

It was very spacious inside with a kitchen / dinning room. There was a massive water dispenser on a side table from which we could refill our drinking water bottles. It looked a bit out of place but it was very useful.

The bedroom was bright and comfortable with a large flat screen tv on the wall and was the only room to have air-con. "This will do very nicely" I said.

We had pre-ordered some supplies. It was a service they provided. So waiting for us were essentials such as a large jar of tomato salsa, 1 bag of tortilla chips, a bottle of the local rum, 2 diet cokes, 1 bottle of sparkling wine, 1 bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice, 6 bottles of Landshark beer.

We were sorted for an afternoon of sipping and munching on the balcony.

Our thoughts soon turned to where we were going to find supper. After reading reviews online we chose one of the closest ones to us, called Reina's. It wasn't possible to make a reservation, you just turn up and queue. Apparently, it was that popular.

So we walked from Colinda Cabanas arriving at Reina's just before 5:30pm, when it opened for its evening service. There was already a queue forming outside.

After a few minutes, they were ready to let us in, and we got a table straight away. Not everyone was so lucky. Those at the back of the queue didn't make the cut and had to wait for at least an hour before the next table came available.

The menu was written in chalk on a blackboard above the tables. I was glad that Julie could see the board as I was squinting in a desperate attempt at reading it.  I had a choice described as a "Veggie Creole". So I was sorted.

After some deliberation Julie eventually went for the garlic shrimp. When it arrived she was suitably impressed. The shrimps were plump and meaty and certainly what we in the UK would call a prawn.

It also smelt so garlicky even I felt like eating it! 

My veggie creole was a revelation. It was like a ratatouille, a vegetable stew in a tomato base sauce but it was so full of flavour I was shocked as to how delicious it tasted.

We both really enjoyed our meals. Reina's reputation was well deserved.

Time flew. We had been here an hour. We weren't rushed by the staff at all, despite there being a constant queue of people waiting for our tables. 

It was 6:30pm when we paid our bill and left. There was still a dozen or more people waiting in line. It really was a popular place.

On the way back to the cabin we stopped at the China Town Supermarket for some supplies for breakfast. It was surprisingly well-stock. We bought a white loaf, cream cheese and some bacon which was described as "Butt Bacon"! 

Being Chinese they also had some whacky ingredients like pig's trotters and "cow foot" in the freezers.

Back in our cabin we locked ourselves away in our air conditioned cabin and began to watch a Netflix series called Expats, starring Nicole Kidman as an American woman living in Hong Kong and she loses her child. It was excecllent, so much so we watched two episodes before calling it a night.