Heather, Sam, Abbey and Mike upon our arrival |
Day 10: May 10, 2013
Coconut tree |
After breakfast at Wish Willy’s everyone headed to the pier
to hop on the boat yet again today. Instead of spending most of our time in the
water we dedicated the day to visiting an island which used to be an old
coconut plantation which was deserted. Now the island houses a building for
FAMRACC, or the Forest and Marine Reserves Association of Caye Caulker.
The
people who work for this association have been studying the mangroves on the
island for years and are working to help restore the damage that was done in
2002 by a strong hurricane. I was completely in awe at how overgrown the coconut
trees had become on the island and learned that coconut trees literally grow
out of a coconut on the ground.
We also got a chance to hop in the boat and relocate
to the seagrasses to acquire some practice at counting seagrass species in
plots.
Day 11: May 11, 2013
Today turned out to be a bit disorganized and slightly
disappointing. I was looking forward to observing the local tour guides and
watching to see how the overlook a group of snorkelers. However, because we
returned our snorkel gear the day before we weren’t able to watch the
snorkelers as well as we’d have liked. We basically had to just look out to see
if the guides were supplying the guests with life vests, making sure too many
weren’t on the boat as well as in the water, and also to make sure they weren’t
doing anything illegal.
The other portion of the day was supposed to be
centered around food management within the hotels and the fisheries department.
Unfortunately, when my group was out in the water the other group was
inspecting the restaurant and when we switched the restaurant refused to let
our second group return to the hotel as planned. Instead we headed to the
fishing pier, which was also closed. From there we met up with a local
fisherman who was cutting up some live Conch. Ali spoke with us about fishing
regulations and the legalities and how lax the whole system is. We all then
took a bite out of the freshly cut raw Conch and it was surprisingly good.
Lindsay and Mike braved to eat a tendon and although they said it wasn’t too
bad I have pictures of their faces to indicate otherwise. J
Day 12: May 12, 2013
Today was Abbey’s birthday and since we didn’t have any
plans until the evening a small group of us decided to relax on the beach for
the afternoon. There was a lot of laughs and some great friends that I met on
this trip and today just made it that much better.
Sam, Lindsay, Me and Abbey striking our "Sorority" poses |
After dinner at Wish Willy’s our class met up with the Vice
President and office manager in charge of Friends of Swallow Caye. They are a
non-profit organization designed to help out the manatees that reside in the
waters around Swallow Caye. We watched a presentation and asked several
questions about what they do and what they need to improve. It is nice to see
that local schools are contributing by sending students out to help post signs
and spread the word about the friendly manatees.
Day 13: May 13, 2013
Sam, Lina and Alex relaxing |
Today is our free day and since I didn’t really get a free
day at Las Cuevas I am taking full advantage of mine in Caye Caulker. Lindsay
and I walked down the street and signed up for an all day snorkel trip. We went
to four locations: Hol-Chan Park, Shark Ray Alley, Coral Gardens and a special
bonus location. As we trailed the northern coast of the barrier reef we saw
Nurse sharks, Sea turtles, humungous stingrays, a ton of large adult fish such
as Black Grouper, Snapper, Jacks which would not stop following us, Parrotfish,
a manatee and tons more fish that I don’t think I could finish listing. It was
the day that made my whole vacation.
Only Lindsay and I wanted to go out that
day but I was so floored by the beauty of the reef and couldn’t imagine
spending my last day in Belize doing anything other than swimming in the
Caribbean Sea.
Day 14: May 14, 2013
Lindsay, Me and Abbey (my twin) |
Sunset at Caye Caulker |
I intend to keep in touch with
everyone I met and maybe some more than others, but these memories will be ones
that I will never forget. I know I said it before but I couldn’t have asked for
a better group of people to go to another country with. I plan to use the
skills I’ve learned, as well as the lessons. I know now that if I needed to
relocate to a country for work, there is something that can be done anywhere.
The people who work these jobs are in this for the passion, that much is clear.
The amount of care and dedication that Boris for instance, puts into his work
is extremely inspirational and I hope someday to dedicate myself that much to
something I love dearly. And who knows, maybe I’ll return to Belize someday.
Now it’s time for a boat ride, bus ride, and two plane rides before I can use
my cell phone again to tell my family and friends about all of my adventures. J