Belize 2015 - Winding Down

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I hate this part...................the end of a trip, so I'll recount the last couple of days and maybe have one more post after tonight's sunset cruise. One of the best parts of any trip are the people you meet from around the world who just like you, have decided to enjoy life by visiting other countries and sampling other cultures. This trip was no exception. Let me start with the people of Placencia Village. They are kind, helpful and very grateful you chose their village to visit. The vendors we have met and traded with on the beach are courteous and friendly, and are not that person in the U.S. you try not to look at when you pull up to a stop sign or stop light holding a sign asking you if you can spare some cash. The vendors in Belize have handmade what they are selling, they aren't looking for a handout, they are trying to make an honest living. If my suitcase wasn't already 5# over the max, I probably would have bought a lot more.

Then there are other travelers like ourselves. This trip we met a very nice couple named Tim and Diane who summer in Maine and winter in St. Thomas. If we are ever in Maine, we will make a trip to Bob's Seafood, which is now owned by their children. We enjoyed hunting lion fish for Tim and Diane yesterday, and will enjoy even more the lobster tail stuffed with lion fish they gave us, that was left over from the meal they made for visiting friends last night. While enjoying gelato at Tutti Frutti the local ice cream shop, we also met a nice gentlemen named Rick, who is also from Maine Rick retired this year, flew to Cancun and then has been hopping buses to get where he "thinks" might be fun places to visit. He said it's been easy and fun, and he has experienced absolutely no problems at all along the way. In fact, he decided to get scuba certified while in Placencia as it's something he "thought" he might like to try. Where is he going next? Even he doesn't know the answer to that question. He know's he is returning to Maine in April for the summer, and will be heading out next September when the fall weather descends on Maine. Monday while enjoying dinner at the Pickled Parrot we met two sisters from Wyoming who were there to celebrate the older sister's birthday. The visit was a birthday surprise from the younger sister, and nothing about the trip had been disclosed to the birthday girl. In fact, when the birthday girl left her seat to go to the restroom, the younger sister asked if we had "seen anyone from Wyoming wandering about." I asked her, "what exactly would identify people from Wyoming" and she explained that 6 more family members were supposed to have arrived 5 hours earlier and she hadn't seen them yet, and that even more people were arriving later in the evening. Again all a surprise for her older sister. We wished her luck and as we were walking up the sidewalk to the street, saw six people pulling suitcases down the sidewalk. We said, "you wouldn't happen to be the contingency from Wyoming", and they replied "yes we are, we are from Oregon and Wyoming." I said, "your party is right over there waiting anxiously for you." Well we had to go back and see the reunion and it was amazing. Not a dry eye in the house, ours included. So turning strangers into friends has been a very enjoyable part of our trip.

Tuesday Jim and I tried our hand at stand up paddle boarding. We rented a board for two hours optimistically thinking that would give us an hour each to try what always appears to be such a relaxing form of exercise. After an hour, we returned the board because we were both worn out from hauling our butts out of the water and getting back on the board. Never think this is an easy form of exercise. You use ever muscle in your body starting at shoulders working down through your feet. Jim was MUCH better than me, and managed to paddle out and back in several times. I was able to paddle while on my knees, and did manage to stand up and paddle a few times, but would find myself running backwards off the board unceremoniously landing like an anchor in the water. It's now two days later and I'm still sore. To our defense, the ocean was not flat, there were 1-1.5' waves, and what a new paddle boarder does not need is any form of choppy water. Okay enough whining.............

Yesterday it was back out to the reef for more diving and spearing Lion Fish. I think I have turned Jim and Dave into lion hunting junkies like myself. It is amazing how many fish you see while looking for the nefarious lion fish. Our first dive we saw 3 huge green moray eels, a dozen lobsters, spotted drums, parrot fish, porcupine fish, and the list goes on and on. I speared the first lion fish 2 minutes into the dive, and for the next 30 minutes a Nassau grouper followed the group like a puppy hoping he was going to get a taste. Since we were planning to bring them home, the lion fish went in the bucket. Grouper, eels and sharks will eat the lion fish but only after they are dead, hence the reason lion fish are so plentiful, they have no natural predators. Our first dive only netted us 7 lion fish, but the second was dive was much better. We found coral vases that had 3-4 fish inside, just"like shooting ducks in a barrel". The catch for the day totaled 28, better than our previous trip. On the way back there was pod of dolphins that played in the wake of the dive boat for several miles. Unfortunately, we only have video's and no stills so you'll have to take my word for it when I say it was beautiful to watch these creatures, swim and jump in front of and alongside the boat.

Today is Thursday and tonight we are going on a sunset cruise around Placencia harbor and lagoon to enjoy the sunset. After which we are planning to go to Habanero's for a Mexican buffet. Great, just what I need another buffet. Friday will be a packing day, figuring out how to get everything I brought down plus what I have bought back home. Saturday morning we will catch Maya Island Air back to Belize City for the trip back to Arizona. It has been an amazing trip, one week would not have been enough, and two weeks is almost enough. We miss our little dog Abby, and are anxious to get home to finish up the sale of our home in Chandler. Thanks to all of you who have followed my ramblings, I hope you have enjoyed sharing our visit. Hopefully when I get too old to remember all the things I did when I was younger, I will at least remember the link to my blog site and will be able to go back and relive great memories.

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Photos

Breakfast at The Shak
Great smoothies!

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Sunshine
We long to go diving in Belize. Looks like you are having a wonderful time.

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