Wednesday, we wake early to yet another lovely, sunny day. This was to be a lazy day, in between adventures. But, per Judy's suggestion, we strolled down the beach to the Innovative Adventures palapa to get suggestions on what our next adventures should be, with a goal of finding some deserted beach time. At Innovative, Lara recommended that we go on the manatee watching tour, which including a stop at one of the outlying cayes on the barrier reef for beach time (with a picnic ashore), as well as stops at Caye Caulker and Shark Ray Alley. Sounded like a no-brainer to us.
After laying on the beach and reading for a while, we took a long walk north, stopping when we hit the mangroves and construction equipment. On the way back, we left the beach to walk through town for a ways, but ultimately returned to the beach. We made a quick lunch of tuna salad wrapped in tortillas before returning to the beach for more sun, reading, dips in the pool and Purple Parrots. By 3 o'clock, we'd had enough lazing around, so we went into town for some shopping.
The San Pedro shopkeepers were uniformly friendly and helpful, as we browsed through wonderful and whimsical artworks. At one gallery, we admired some fantastic handmade pottery featuring lizards climbing over the sides of jars and bowls, but they were WAAAAY out of our price range. After buying some lesser souvenirs and drink fixings, we stopped at the beachfront house of Amy, whose ceramic works I admired at Innovative Watersports. She welcomed us into her home/gallery/studio and showed off her fish, lizards and frogs. Her works were equally captivating, but WAY cheaper than at the other gallery, so after chatting for a few minutes, we promised to return when we had more cash.
When we got back to our suite, Rick and I made our own version of rum punch, featuring smooth Belizean rum, fruit juice concentrate (orange, pineapple, grapefruit, lime), and ginger ale. These were, by far, the best rum punches we'd ever concocted, and we drank a few out on our balcony as the sun set. Dinner on Wednesday night was at Island Cuisine just outside Ramon's gateway. Although we would have preferred to dine in the courtyard, our waiter advised us that we were better off indoors, away from the ravenous mosquitos. Although the floor at Island Cuisine was cracked linoleum (who were we shoeless people to complain?), the tables were laid with lace runners and small lanterns, creating a romantic though rustic atmosphere. The food was excellent as well, featuring local foods at reasonable prices. We feasted on peel-n-eat shrimp with a sauce worthy of the many dips our bread made into it, grilled pork chops, and stone crab, caramel flan for dessert, with Belikin as the accompaniment. The best part of the evening was our shy (but not too shy to sell me a jar of hot sauce) but charming waiter.
Since it was relatively early, we returned to our room for another round of rum punch. Unfortunately, I set mine down on the table, and a wind-driven curtain knocked it down, spilling its sticky sweetness all over our floor. The wind would roar all night, but not enough to blow away the pesky mosquitos.
The wind is still blowing on Thursday, and we woke just in time to stop our beach towels from flying off the balcony. The sky is a bit cloudier than its been all week, but that's probably a good thing, as we will be out on the water all day on a manatee watching excursion. Before heading out this morning, I had the front desk confirm our flights. Apparently, in Central America, confirmed tickets aren't really confirmed unless you re-confirm them 48 hours prior to departure.
We were to rendezvous with our guide at the Innovative Watersports pier at 8:30. Excalibur was a few minutes late, but we were on island time and hardly cared. The next stop was Ramon's dock, where we were to meet a party of four, but they never showed. Ricky, the captain, started muttering angrily in Spanish and called his base on the radio several times, to no avail. So, we returned to his base to find out what happened to the crew at Ramon's. The folks at the base had no idea, so we went on to pick up the other four guests, a couple from Vancouver and a couple from England.
Just as we were starting to head out to the Swallow Cayes to watch for manatees, Excalibur's engine died; this was apparently not Ricky's day. Ricky radioed for help, and within minutes, his brother delivered a smaller, replacement boat and we were off.
Some views of the manatees we spotted at the Swallow Cayes, just east of Belize City.
The most enduring image of Belize's cayes is of their piers, which serve as centers of commerce. This one is at Goff's Caye, on the barrier reef.
While piers may substitute for beaches in the cayes, there is no need to substitute for this lovely beach, at Goff's Caye.
The sandy streets only hint at how laid back Caye Caulker is. Caye Caulker makes San Pedro look like a bustling metropolis.
Booming San Pedro (relatively speaking, that is...)
The Swallow Cayes were about a 45 minute boat ride away and were across from Belize City, which looked, from a distance, to be a fairly substantial town. But our principal interest was in wildlife, not city life, so we drew our attention to the waters, as Ricky turned off the motor and poled us around prime manatee habitats. After a few minutes, a big old male surfaced for air several times, before returning to the cooler depths. He swam playfully back and forth under the boat, coming rather close, and was joined by one or more others. I managed a few decent photos, and Rick took a few shots with the underwater camera under the water near the old beast . (Alas, though we did not know it then, we had forgotten to put film in the underwater camera.) All of us were delighted with our sightings of these lumbering, lovable mammals.
Having had our fill of the manatees (who had evidently had enough of us), we headed next to Goff's Caye, a small island with a beach on the barrier reef. Enroute, Excalibur's bimini top broke (3 strikes and you're out, Ricky!), so we would be without shelter from the sun for the rest of the day. Goff's Caye was picture perfect : swaying palms, a small shelter, a single dock, a protecting reef for snorkeling, and most importantly, a blazing white sand beach. Paradise was marred slightly by one or two other excursion boats, but the island could easily accommodate the dozen others.
We landed on the beach. Rick, the Vancouverites, and the English guy snorkeled; I had a Coke and circled the island on foot (it took all of about 2 minutes), taking photos. I also took a dip in the sea, the first real Caribbean swim we'd had all week since the waters around Ambergris are rather weedy. It was refreshing and salty, just what I needed. Soon the snorkelers returned and Ricky served up a feast he cooked over a coconut husk fire: steamed snapper with tomatos, onions and potatos, baked beans, white bread and chips. Easily the best meal we ate all week.
After having a taste of the beach, we moved on to our next stop, a snorkeling spot Ricky called the "Aquarium" and others call "Shark Ray Alley." The inspiration for the name became quite evident as we dropped anchor and watched nurse sharks and rays circle around us in clear topaz blue waters. Ricky opened the cooler and started tossing in chunks of fish. I was unnerved. Chumming is not something you do when you are about to snorkel in shark-infested waters. But Ricky assured us that attracting sharks was something we wanted to do, as they are friendly (and only bite if you actually put your hand near their mouths, which apparently a lot of people do, as they tend to treat the sharks like puppies).
Just about the bravest thing I've ever done in my life was to jump in the water with the sharks. But my hesitation soon turned to amazement, as we swam around with 4-5 foot long brownish nurse shark and southern stingrays. The water was sparkling clear, though a bit choppy, and after Ricky stopped tossing food in the water, the sharks got bored with us. The guys then headed toward the reef, as did I, but I found the current and the chop less than optimal, so I returned to the boat. I have very strict requirements for what constitute acceptable snorkeling conditions.
Next stop: Caye Caulker. After Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker is just about the most "touristy" of the Belize cayes. Of course, all is relative in this neck of the Caribbean. If Ambergris Caye is sleepy and laid back, then Caye Caulker is blissfully sedated. Though on a much smaller scale, Caye Caulker is oriented similarly to Ambergris Caye. Most activity is focused on the numerous docks sticking out like fingers from the shore to the barrier reef, and there is a main "street" paralleling the water. The street is sand, and bordered by a handful of ramshackle guest houses, dive shops, souvenir stands, and bars. We strolled the street, poked our heads into a few shops, and headed toward The Split, a channel cut crosswise across long, narrow Caulker, where Ricky met us with the boat.
We headed back to Ambergris Caye as the sun dipped towards the horizon, full of sun, sand and salt. After showers and a round of homemade rum punches, we strolled down Barrier Reef Drive to Big Daddy's for dinner, where lobster was the featured specialty. Happy hour featured 2-for-1 drinks, so I ordered a Panty Ripper (recommended by our waiter the night before, and consisting of coconut rum and pineapple juice) and Rick ordered a Coco Loco. I guess we just didn't appreciate the happy hour concept until the waiter brought us TWO of each. The chef's special dinner started with lobster soup, with huge hunks of lobster tail still in the shell. Rick had two lobster tails, and I had what seemed to be a pound of grouper, each with rice, baked potato, a roll and vegetables. The food was so bountiful, I hardly made a dent in mine, but it set us back less than $50 U.S.
I had a hard time staying awake through dinner. After all that sun, salt, food and rum, we fell asleep shortly after returning to our room.
