Day 11 - Caye Caulker

LISA & GREG: Today was, by design, a pretty uneventful day. Our plan was to just take it easy without any activities or excursions -- really for the first time since our trip began. We thought maybe we'd just take a walk and then relax and perhaps watch a movie in our air-conditioned room. But right as the hottest part of the day was beginning, the power went out on half of the island -- our half. The thought of staying in a hot room wasn't very appealing, so we decided to take a walk -- a very long, sweaty, unshaded walk. The power was still out when we got back so we walked up to "the split" (where Caye Caulker is literally split in two by the ocean) and swam a little, but mostly watched a group of small kids play in the water. It was cool to see the many different shades of kids -- black, Creole, Latino, Chinese -- playing together and having a ball. (Sorry, no camera to capture this moment.) The power was finally restored about 5 hours later, and we are sitting here writing this in a nice, cool room. Here's a shot of us on the dock right outside where we're staying.


GREG: Mike Baer, here's a shot just for you. Thought you'd appreciate this full-length basketball court on Caye Caulker just a few feet from the ocean. Two interesting things about this serious pick-up game we watched: one, most of the kids were playing bare-footed, and two, it was a co-ed game, which is pretty rare for kids this age, at least in Chicago.


GREG: Last item for today: Just wanted to say that I think Lisa set a new world's record in packing for this trip. I was determined (Lisa might say obsessed) that we would travel light for this vacation -- carry-ons only, no checked baggage. Considering that we'd be gone for 14 days, that's not such an easy task. Here are the bags we took -- Lisa's is the red one, mine is the grey one.


I thought I had done well to fit everything I needed (minus a couple items that went in a small backpack) in my bag -- a total of 32 items. But when I watched Lisa unpack her bag the first time, I couldn't believe how much she pulled out of there. It was like a magic trick or something -- the clothes just kept coming. She somehow managed to fit 65 items into her bag, including 21 blouses or t-shirts, 4 long skirts, 3 summer dresses, 4 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of long pants, 2 bathing suits, 2 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of sandals, and a whole lot more. So if you ever need advice on how to pack light and still take a lot with you, call Lisa.