At 7:30, I put my things together and hiked up towards the north end of Caye Caulker, to the Raggamuffin Tours office. There I met up with the rest of my tour group as we loaded up the boat. After a quick breakfast and the last minute preparations by the crew (two Creole guys, Captain Patrick and Leon), we were off to sea.
I got to meet the rest of the people on the trip during the first few hours at sea. Aside from the Hyacinth and Andre, the NY Frenchies, there was Amy, Kate, Louise, Suzie and Chris a group of friends from all over the world (though mostly currently living in Sydney) travelling together. The funny thing about them is that they all did what I did: quit their jobs and decided to travel. But they all did it together. Amazing.
Our first stop was a spot along the giant coral reef (the second largest in the world) that lies a few miles off the coast of Belize. I had never snorkeled before, so I got a quick primer course from Patrick and was set off to figure it out on my own. I soon realized I had a big problem: my moustache. The snorkel mask wasn’t able to form a tight seal on my face and tons of salty sea water went straight up my nose. Fortunately Patrick solved it with a bit of Vaseline. Yeah, a little glop of that goo on my ‘stache and the mask sealed nicely.
The reef was amazing! It was so full of color and different shapes and a wide variety of life (among the spotted creatures: lobster, stingray, jellyfish, whatever Dori from Finding Nemo is). Snorkeling itself felt very unnatural to me and not just because I needed a bunch of goop under my nose to do it right. It was just so strange to be able to breathe while looking at all this underwater life. But it’s nothing short of amazing to get so close to a world that should be hidden from us.
The downside to snorkeling is that you have your back up to the sun for an extended period of time, and are very prone to sunburn. Of course I applied sunblock and was protected… execept right around the perfect handprint splotch on my mid back, at the very end of my reach.
Some of the others spotted a lobster among the coral and Patrick speared it. Part of this trip is catching dinner. In fact, as soon as we started sailing after the snorkeling, we caught a nice baracuda. As we continued on, we caught two more baracuda (all pretty decent sized) and a grouper.
We stopped for a brief rest on English Caye, home to two families and a lighthouse. Another few hours and we made it to our home for the night, Rendezvous Caye. The island is maybe 100 feet from end to end, and is home to just one man and his loud, hyperactive puppy. There was just enough room to set up a few tents and have a spot for a fire. Patrick and Leon were hard at work, turning our catch into dinner. The lobster became a delicious civiche and the baracuda steaks in coconut sauce were terrific.
We all sat out by the fire for the evening, enjoying the stars, the cool sea breeze and each other’s company.