Monday, November 23, 2015

Belize Part 2

After three nights in the jungle, we piled into a van to head to Belize City to catch the water taxi to Caye Ambergis. Caye is pronounce Key. The water taxi is a speed boat that makes the trip in 1.5 hours. I confirmed that I enjoy speed boats most when skiing behind them rather than bumping around on them.

Once we arrived on island, we discovered the transportation was mostly golf carts. They were abundant! The other option of vehicles was mini van taxi. I bet you can guess how we chose to get around...walking. We did have to watch out to avoid being run over by the golf carts. We were blessed with a sunny day the first day at the beach. After checking in, we quickly went to the grocery store for some food. Due to it being an island, nothing was cheap. We worked in a brief snorkel at the end of the dock.


Our first evening, we enjoyed a sail. It was supposed to be sunset sail. The sunset was overshadowed by rain clouds. The star gazing while sailing gently over the waves, however, was worth the trip.  The evening finished with dinner by the sea.




We had breakfasts each day by the sea as well. We spent the day times snorkeling, relaxing by the pool, reading, in hammocks, walking around town. Each day we ate a different place for dinner or lunch. The snorkel trips were about 2.5 hours including travel time.


The first and in my opinion best snorkel spot was Hol Chan. We saw trumpet fish, snapper, grouper, angel fish, different types of parrot fish, blue tang, many different rays, Christmas tree worms, coral, green turtle, nurse sharks, and others. Our guide would point out the different fish and then come up to the surface to share the name. We also went to Shark Ray Alley. This location is where many nurse sharks and rays hang out. The boat drivers feed them so they come very close to the people in the water. I will admit, I was uncomfortable. I know they were nurse sharks, but sharks are sharks in my book. On the way back, we saw a loggerhead turtle.

The next morning it was rainy and windy. There was not a snorkel trip going out until the afternoon. In the afternoon, despite the rain coming, we went to Mexico Rocks. It is mostly coral. I did see an eel and a green turtle. The guide was not nearly as helpful or friendly. The water was quite choppy due to the wind and coming rain. Kalinda was brave and went out the next day to Hol Chan again. She enjoyed seeing the variety of fish. I read and napped while the rain came down most of the afternoon.

One day we went to town and found the craft market. It was small, but had beads, headbands, wooden bowls and dolls. Not far from the market, we found an ice cream shop. It had rich, creamy, homemade coconut icecream. It was delicious.


Kalinda and I also explored a local place for dinner that had King Conch Shell for the spout on the bathroom sink. The water handles were also shells. My favorite food was genuine papusas. I have been looking for these and wanting authentic ones since I left Guatemala. Yes, they are originally from El Salvador, but I first had them in Guatemala.

All in all, it was a great time of relaxation, seeing new things, and good food. I, however, would not recommend Ambergis Caye (at least in rainy season) unless you scuba. There are many more scuba divers and sites to go to than snorkelers.

















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