The Omaha Rainbow Sets Sail

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Morning in Placencia
Yesterday at the Moorings Base in Placencia, I woke up in time to catch the sunrise--it was so peaceful, and for the first hour of the day, the temperature was just right. I sat at the front of the boat with my camera, watching the sunrise and listening to Placencia waking up. As soon as the sun was up there was activity, and heat. By 6:30am, my poor white skin needed sunscreen.

When I went to get a shower at the Moorings Base, there was a spotted eagle ray swimming around the docks, feeding. It was graceful and amazing, and of course it disappeared when I went to get my camera.

At 8am, we girls headed off to the markets for produce. The vegetable market we were at had lots of produce, but picking through it to find the ones that weren't bug infested or rotting was a bit tricky. Then we went over to the supermarket, which was like a haven, with its air conditioning.

Setting Sail
After a busy morning getting organized and waiting for all of our groceries and water to be delivered to the "Omaha Rainbow", we set sail. Being out on the water felt great, and we saw dolphins not long after we got out into the channel. They didn't stay with us for long, but it was a great way to start the sailing trip.

When we moored at South Long Cocoa Cay, we went for a snorkel. It was very different from my only other snorkeling experience, in Fiji Snorkelling Virgin, with less of a current to fight against, more coral varieties (especially the fan corals), but not as many different types of fish. I'll post the snorkeling photos separately.


Morning at South Long Cocoa Cay
I was up for the sunrise again this morning. There is a lot of life on this cay--last night we could hear birds and frogs as we sat out watching the stars after dinner.

After the sunrise, I made some coffee, and sat outside enjoying the first hour of the day when I didn't need to worry about getting a sunburn.

While we were waiting for two more friends to come on a speedboat from Placencia (they arrived in Belize a day later than the rest of us), a couple of us took the dinghy for a tour around the cay. We saw a tree with half a dozen white birds sitting in it, an osprey nest with both of the pair at home, a pelican perched on a tree. There are lots of pelicans around, and seeing them dive is amazing. They are actually beautiful birds, which is contrary to how I imagine them: as smelly birds with their pouches full of rotting fish.

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Photos

White Birds
possibly egrets.