"Rasta, Reggae and Rum" a Caye Caulker Travel Page by daBertl

The boat transfer took some 40 minutes and the island looked as Caribbean as it could get. Caye Caulker is tiny, has only two streets that run parallel in north-south direction, is home to 800 people and during high season it hosts a maximum of 400 tourists. The village on the island itself is about one kilometer long and stretches between the air strip in the south and “The Split” in the north. The split cuts the island into two and was created by a powerful hurricane that devastated the region back in 1961.

Everything that I experienced over the next five days on Caye Caulker seemed like a movie, a comedy with many characters that must be described individually before I can tell some of the adventures.

Main characters:

Popeye: certainly deserves to be named the prime character of this island and most likely as soon a new visitor arrives at Caye Caulker one will run into him. Shortly after, one will be asked to join him on his boat for a sail and fishing trip. The only problem though, he does not remember where his boat is and that made me and a fellow Dutch fisher friend walk through parts of the island that usually are only inhabited by lizards, crocodiles and other tropical creatures. Anyhow, Popeye is a friendly Rastaman that has lost some of his spiky threads over the years under the Caribbean sun and now vegetates in and around The Split supported by travelers and tourists that can definitely see some kind of island attraction in him. Once arrived from southern Belize many years ago he has never left the island ever since and occupies one of the many piers for his daily 5 hours night rest before he starts his day taking a salt water bathe in The Split and heading down to the grocery store for some “Sprite”. He is also known as a musician and if you are lucky and Popeye not too exhausted from drinking Sprite he performs live and sings about everything and anything he sees and feels. He can be quite bossy too and is always ready to invite himself for a drink. A main feature of Popeye is yet that he knows everybody and everything on the Caye and whatever one needs – Popeye helps. An appropriate appreciation is yet not to forget and shall be renewed every day.

Robin “The Rasta Dude”: definitely the king of all Rastamen on the island that does not only look real Rasta, but also lives a Rasta life. Himself, he calls fisherman and security guard for an abandoned unfinished condominium adjacent to The Split where he spends the nights after his daily spiritual activities on the hurricane destroyed concrete pier. Nobody is allowed to pass the imaginary line on the pier once Robin launches his Rasta prayers supported with Bob Marley cigarettes and other Caribbean treats. His threads are salt water bleached, and “The Rasta Dude” also performs great reggae if he feels like and is not too occupied with line fishing and Sprite drinking. Robin is not seen in bars, restaurants, or other facilities aside from the “Lazy Lizard” better know as “The Split Bar” since he lives his Rasta live there and only there.

(continues on next chapter)