Advertisement
Published: April 7th 2006
Hello again! I must go ahead and warn everyone that this entry could be very slack. I believe I have been affected by the local laided back atmosphere, way too much sun, and an abundance of Cuban cigars. Let me just put it this way; my brain and body are fried. On the mini-bus ride from Flores to Belize City and the cigar boat over to Caye Caulker, Dad and I met a group of 5 Swedish girls travelling the coast. We spent the next three days in Caye Caulker snorkeling, scuba diving, and having nightly dinners and entertainment with the group; but I will discuss that in more depth later.
Just off the coast of Belize, is the world's second-largest barrier reef after Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The waters are very shallow west of the reef (no more than 15ft), which allows for numerous islands called cayes (pronounced keys). The two most popular of these are
Caye Caulker and
Ambergris Caye . We chose to spend most of our time in Caye Caulker because it has fewer tourists and is more for your low budget travelers. The island is about 4 miles long and only around 650 yards at its widest
Set Sail w/ the Ladies
Lisa, Linea, Caroline, and Mepoint. The section that everyone hangs out in is really less than a one-mile stretch. We resided at the Miramar, a centrally located hotel sitting Oceanside with a low price of $22.50 per night for two beds and a private bath. It's lower points were that the room was infested with ants (if you dropped a piece of food it was gone in seconds) and the low hanging ceiling fan, which I stuck my hand in while changing clothes numerous times (I now have a nub). Although, the views made up for it all. Dad and I took a walk around the island to orient ourselves with our surroundings. Later that night, I met the Swedish girls (Lisa, Caroline, Linea, Emily, and Victoria) out at a local reggae bar and watched Bob Marley in concert on the big screen. Three of the girls (Lisa, Caroline, and Linea) just graduated college (all with a Master in Industrial Engineering) and are travelling together to celebrate. The other two (Emily and Victoria) just graduated from high school and are getting some travel in before college. They are all very sweet and each one brings a very unique personality to the group.
The
following day, the three college grads and I took a 6-hour snorkeling tour (
Raggamuffin Tours) by sailboat to three different dive locations (Coral Garden, Shark Ray Alley, and Hol Chan Marine Reserve). Dad didn't go because he had busted his eardrum snorkeling in the past and he just wanted to relax. The snorkeling tour was great! We all four sprawled out across the front of the boat to catch rays as we cruised out to sea. The first stop was unguided, so I went out on my own to explore the reef. It was nice, but not deep enough for me and there were no sharks or deadly marine life. Although, the second stop was just what I was looking for; Sharks!! Right after dropping anchor, the captain began throwing chum (fish parts) into the water to draw in the beasts. Soon we had three Nurse sharks and tons of Horse-eyed Jacks (Silver meat eating fish about 1.5ft in length) surrounding the boat. The captain asked if anyone wanted to get in the water, and with in seconds I was out in the middle of the fish. No one else got in, but eagerly watched to see if I was eaten.
The sharks and Horse-eyed Jacks were all around me and the captain kept throwing chum causing quite the ruckus. I swam between two of the sharks and ran my hands across them; their skin was like sand paper. Don't worry ladies, Nurse sharks are harmless. Soon more people got in, but by this time the sharks had fled; I think my massive goatee intimidated them. Although, a huge Manta Ray came out to play. I dove down and rubbed my hands across it back as it glided through the water; it had much smoother skin than the sharks. Next, the captain got in to take us for a tour of the area, but first we all got to play with a giant grouper that was hanging out under the boat. The Cap dangled chum above it's headed while we took turns giving it a bear hug. I could barely get my arms around the sucker. The area had beautiful fish, but the last spot (Hol Chan) was my favorite. I got to do some free diving down about 30ft into the channel that cuts its way through the reef. We saw a Moray eel, a Spotted Sting Ray, and various
The Mother Manta Ray
It looks small in this picture, but up close, it was as big as me...which is huuuuge! fish ranging in color and size. The marine life in the reserve is especially large because fishing is prohibited. The Cap dove down and retrieved two Conch shells which he pulled meat from and mixed into a ceviche (mix of fish, onions, tomatoes, peppers, and salsa). We enjoyed the snack, fish sandwiches and some rum punch as we sailed back to the island.
That night, Dad and I joined the girls for a roof top dinner overlooking the ocean. We learned more about their country and shared stories of ours. Dad was his usual self; acting 21 and being unpredictable in his comedy act. After dinner, Dad retired, being exhausted from his performance, and I followed the girls to a local karaoke bar. Caroline performed a few songs for us and even tried to pull me up there for a duet, but you all know I'm a big chicken. Soon, I too had to retire being spent from a day in the draining sun.
Sun freaking burn! The one thing I had forgotten to do was reapply sunscreen to my back. I had to sleep on my stomach all night because my back was well done. But this
Fellow Sailers
Raggamuffin Tours didn’t stop me from signing up for a 3-dive scuba tour. I ran by and woke up Lisa, who was the only trooper who would brave the depths we me. Now for everyone’s information, I am certified to dive but I have only been down one day, and that was 6 years ago in a quarry in Kentucky (never in the ocean). So, I kind of stretched the truth a bit in order to avoid a boring refresher course. Lisa, on the other hand, had never been scuba diving, so she had to do the introduction dive with an instructor. On the way out to the Turneffe Islands I nearly got seasick, so I popped a motion sickness pill (I nearly hurled). There were 15 divers on board, so we split into groups of five. On the first dive, we made our way down a reef wall to a depth of 80 feet. I was loving every minute of it; I have found a new sport that I love! The feeling was amazing. I would float upside down and look up at the surface which was far, far above. The water was so clear I could see the other groups
way off in the distance. The next two dives were both around 60ft and just as exciting. We saw giant lobsters, two huge Moray eels, stingrays, a sea turtle, barracuda, Nurse sharks and many more fish of different size, shape, and color. At one point, we found a Nurse shark resting under a coral arch on the sea floor. I went around in front of it and my dive master snuck around behind and tapped its tail. The shark shot out of its hole and passed underneath me. It was so quick and powerful as it darted off and out of our site. What an experience! Returning to the island, Lisa and I were plum worn out. She went to crash, while I found Dad and hunted down some food. Dad and I enjoyed some grilled barracuda in garlic sauce and sucked down some fish bowl size lemonades. Being too tired to go out, I just kicked back in the room with Dad, burned down some Cuban cigars, and listened to some soothing music. Just as I was dosing off, the girls came by to bid us farewell because they were off to Mexico early the next morning.
Having
seen everything on the island and no Swedish girls to goof off with, Dad and I decided to checkout Ambergris Caye. This island was the most popular of the cayes and the congestion reflected it. The streets were full of cars, golf carts, and tourists. We sure missed Caye Caulker. San Pedro, which is the main town on Ambergris Caye, was totally Americanized and more expensive. Although we did find a cozy little hotel (Ruby's) with a great view. Over dinner, Dad and I discussed our options seeing that we had a week till we were due in Antigua. I had checked on scuba tours going to the Blue Hole (a 400ft deep crater in the ocean), but there were no trips until Friday and it was very expensive. So, we came up with a better plan. Visit the Bay Islands of Honduras and see some Mayan ruins (Copán) on the way back to Guatemala. This was a great plan, but there was a logistical puzzle to be solved. The ferry to Honduras only leaves on Friday (too late) and taking a bus was also too long. After giving it some thought, drawing up diagrams, taking measurements, working some equations,
and finally checking the flight schedules; we figured out the puzzle. But so sorry! You are all going to have to wait for the next entry to find out our plans! Till then; take care and we're outta here!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.431s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 33; qc: 116; dbt: 0.1021s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
Deano
non-member comment
Belize-ee-mo
Many thanks for the journal entry. I found your entry through a search on belize sounds fantastic. I am defineitely going to enjoy my stay. Any places that stood out as a must see? Any good places to stay?