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Published: July 26th 2009
When we last left off, Wes and I were taking a day off so that he could recover from too much white man in the sun time. We did this by going on a night snorkeling adventure at the barrier reef just off of Caye Caulker. As luck would have it, the group of 4 that booked with us were nowhere to be found, and it was just Wes and I and our guide. We took a tiny boat out about 10 minutes, and anchored at a buoy just inside of the breakers. Here we got our warnings: watch out for sea urchins - they're active at night and ultra prickly. Don't shine the light on parrotfish - they sleep against the reef at night, and the light will scare them, often causing them to ram into the reef in confusion and knock themselves out (ouch!). Watch out for blood worms, they like the light of the flashlight and sting (and ewwww....this one gave us both second thoughts!). Then it was into the water to look for life.
We started at sunset so that we could acclimate as it got darker. Soon we saw the urchins making their way out, tons of blue tangs, napping parrot fish, and squirrel fish venturing out of their homes. From there it got better - several octopuses (octopi?), squid (eating a fish!), lobsters, huge crabs (they were hungry, just shoveling algae into its mouth without giving us a second glance), even a 5 foot barracuda. In the realm of things I'm glad the guide didn't tell us until we were back on the boat, the barracuda spent the final half hour following us!
I have to admit to being nervous at first, but eventually wonder and trust take over. It was an incredibly unique experience. And to top it off, we climbed back into the boat to a view of the Milky Way, and sped back to land watching the lightening far off on the horizon. It couldn't have gotten much more perfect. And the best part was the lack of sun - no worries for Wes this time.
On Thursday we headed inland to San Ignacio, near the Guatemala border. This involved a water taxi, taxi, bus to Belmopan and then bus to San Ignacio. I think we made the whole trip in about 3 hours, which is really not so bad. We splurged on a mid-range hotel (air conditioning! it was the first time I was not soaked from sweat/humidity the whole trip). It was really nice to have water in the bathroom that didn't smell like sulfur, encouraging us to bathe more often. :-)
Friday was spent visiting two of the in-town highlights. We first hiked the 20 minutes or so uphill to Cahal Pech (literally Place of the Ticks). This is an old Mayan religious site. We got to watch archaeologists at work, sifting through shovelfuls of sand. We also got to climb all over the old pyramids, which was a lot of fun. Once we finished exploring that sight, we headed down the hill to the San Ignacio Hotel to tour their Green Iguana and Medicinal Trail exhibit. At the hotel, they collect green iguana eggs and breed the existing iguanas, trying to give the reptiles a better chance at making it to adulthood. Iguana was eaten here until about 15 years ago, and the populations are much reduced from hunting and urban development. We got to hang out with iguanas of various size, and really enjoyed hearing about the work they are doing at the iguana center.
Today was one of the most anticipated - a trip across the border into Guatemala to visit the Mayan temples of Tikal. We had one driver to the border, then another in Guatemala, and finally picked up a tour guide as we approached the site. I'll let the pictures do most of the explaining when we get back, but it was just as great as I remembered it to be. To make the experience a little more unique, we were hit with thunderstorms all day, and had to scramble to the tops of the temples in the brief moments between downpours. It was damp, but fun. We also saw a spider monkey and several toucans, adding to the experience.
Now we are exhausted and regrouping for tomorrow's adventure - a trip to ATM Cave to see the tomb of the crystal maiden. From there we're headed back to the coast for more diving, but will keep you all posted on our adventures.
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Kate
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Ew, Place of the Ticks!
Sounds amazing - looking forward to pictures! :) K