Caye Caulker is a popular tourist destination in Belize. It's a small island in the clear blue waters of the Caribbean Sea and the motto of the island is 'Go Slow!'. There are no cars, and the main forms of transportation are golf carts, bicycles, and flip flops. On our property we have 3 houses: our own house and 2 vacation rentals. If we get to an agreement, you will live in our house and off and on there will be guests in the rentals.
Our house is a bit rustic & pretty basic, though comfortable. On the 1st floor is our living, kitchen and bathroom. The second floor is all bedroom with a king size bed (and a bit of storage). Both floors have a spacious veranda, from where you can see the sea on both sides. The living has A/C, the bedroom only fans. As you’re pretty high up and the breeze comes through, we personally think it’s cool enough without A/C, but if you like to sleep in a cold bedroom, this might not be for you.
On the groundfloor is the kitchen of our outdoor restaurant, which will be closed during your stay. We have a dock just footsteps away from the property and the house is located on the smallest part of the island, which means the sea is within a minute walking on either side of the property. There are bikes and kayaks which you can use, and shops and restaurants are mostly within 1-10 minutes bike ride.
We have 3 dogs: Gumbo, Mayzie, and Pixie. The first 2 are medium/large, young dogs: Gumbo (5 yrs. old, 70 lbs) and Mayzie (3 yrs. old, 60 lbs). They're both mix breeds, probbaly a mix of mastiff, boxer & pit bull. They are very friendly, cuddly, and playful. Pixie is a 10 year old poodle/terrier mix (around 30 lbs). He came to live with us 2 years ago after we picked him off the streets. He’s pretty low key, but tends to go back to his street roots when we’re not there. At daytime they're mostly in the yard, at nighttime they're inside the house or on the veranda. They need to be leash walked 2-3 times a day. Mostly short 10–20-minute walks as the 2 big ones have bad hips. Once or twice a week a longer walk (not more than 30 minutes). If you can take them for a swim in the sea, it's a plus. Beware: they're strong dogs and there are a lot of free roaming dogs and cats on the island. The 2 big dogs can sometimes act out when a new dog arrives in ‘their’ neighborhood, and you have to be pretty strong to control them when that happens. Fun fact: I’m the president of the Caye Caulker Humane Society/Animal Clinic, where you can get basic care and advice for the dogs in case something goes wrong.
As a house sitter you can enjoy everything the island has to offer: snorkelling at the second largest barrier reef in the world, fishing, scuba diving, sailing, chatting with the locals or just gaze at the sunset at our dock which is just footsteps away. We require that you sleep on the property every night and that you won't be partying all night long every night. It's slow season on the island, which means that a lot of people have less income than usual and look for 'alternative' means of income, one of the reasons that we need someone around. There is a small chance of hurricanes this time of year and you need to be prepared to take preparations & precautions in case a big storm/hurricane passes. There are always plenty of people to help with that, but if storms are not your thing, this might not be the right fit.
Other things to note:
- The dogs are walked either with a harness and leash or with some kind of gentle leader. If you have no experience with that, I can give you instructions.
- The vacation rentals on the property have guests during your stay. There’s no need to deal with them and our cleaning lady will clean the rentals, but there is a chance they have questions, in which case you can always redirect them to us.
- Belize has similar temperatures as Florida, but some experience it as being hotter as there are not a lot of airconditioned shops, restaurants, and other facilities. Life takes place outside and you must be prepared for that.
Let me know if you're interested and/or have questions and I can provide you with more details.
Preferably we're looking for 2 people to house sit.