Caye Caulker Part 1

Day 8
5/8/13
After our last breakfast by Angie, we all said our goodbyes and boarded the bus to Belize City.  Estimated to be five hours drive, which mean we all expected about six and a half hours, the bus ride started violently on the windy dirt roads.  I was exhausted, so I ended up sleeping for quite a while before we came to a stop at a small Mayan gift shop on the side of the road for bathroom breaks.  I purchased a small woven wallet (I'm a sucker for woven goods) and other people purchased Mayan-themed necklaces, art, and figurines.  The bathroom was a pit latrine, which was ... interesting.  Almost as soon as we got back on the bus, I went back to sleep.  I woke up and we were in Belize City.  I'm always watching shows with traveling, so to see the interesting traffic interactions and narrow roads not designed for cars in person was pretty great.  It was nice to see a city, but I missed the quiet solace of the Chiquibul.  We exited the bus at the water terminal for Caye Caulker.  It was very strange to go from forest researcher to tourist in 3.5 seconds.  Culture shock.  I purchased some things from the gift shop and then joined the group in waiting for the water taxi, aka boat.  Once on-board the boat, I looked around to see more than 50 people sitting in the seats, looking utterly bored, except for our group, all chattering and happy to see the ocean.  It took an hour to get to Caye Caulker and once we arrived, we all headed straight to our lodging.  The Barefoot Caribe.  What an insane contrast to Las Cuevas.  Full beds, hot water, air conditioning, fans, constant internet access, and the lights turn on whenever you flip the switch - it's all very fancy.  In my spare time, I walked around, looking for board-shorts and enjoying the touristy atmosphere.  The aqua blue water and the white sand makes this place the epitome of the perfect Carribean vacation spot.  While everyone went exploring, I decided to stay behind and enjoy the quiet personal time on the hammock outside our hotel room.  It was wonderful.  You can find no greater difference than the one between the Chiquibul National Forest and the shores of Caye Caulker.

Day 9
5/9/13
A week in the rain-forest  trekking through over-sized plants, vines, spiderwebs, caves, and pine forests and I kept my journal completely intact and undamaged.  One day in Caye Caulker and the top half gets soaked in the 'dry' storage in the hull of the boat.  Darn.  So today we went out and snorkeled around the coral reefs!  The second largest barrier reef, actually.  We saw tons of fish and coral species.  We got to identify as many as we could while we followed Ali around in the water.  A lot of the fish were the same as at home, so we all collectively knew a good chunk of what we were seeing   We got to see a moray eel, a flounder fish, queen parrot fish, barracuda  yellow tail snapper, and tons more.  The coral was so neat!  Avoiding the fire coral carefully, with only eight inches of water below us, we finned around and saw many different species of coral: brain, elk horn, boulder, finger, scarlet, - it was awesome.  After that expedition, we were taken out to deeper water (~50ft, I believe) to see the difference in comparison to the shallows.  It was pretty great.  I almost didn't go in because that depth is foreign to me and, thus, makes me slightly wary, but I sucked it up and jumped right in with both flippered-feet.  We gathered on the boat to head in for lunch, and after a bit of time for digestion, we went out to shark and ray alley.  What a sight!  Sardine-baited conch shells were tossed out of the boat and swarms of rays came to feast around our ankles.  All around me was a cacophony of playful yelps whenever a ray glided against someone's leg or foot.  It was really fun.  We stayed and watched for about thirty minutes before going to our conch transect sight.  About eleven feet deep, we set our transects up and collected all the queen conchs we could via free diving.  Once gathered, we had to measure the length of each specimen and, if it was an adult, use a caliper to measure the lip thickness in millimeters   After we were finished with them, they were [gently, as per Alex's request] dropped [released] into the water.  Ending our day on a high note, we all went in for dinner and enjoyed the island's sights, sounds, and smells before heading to bed.

Day 10
5/10/13
Mangrove and sea-grasses day, today.  We learned about the mangrove and littoral forest restoration efforts today.  Our efforts were put into adaptive measurements within mangrove transects, including measuring young plants with our hands and estimating their height.  Our measuring instruments were our hands and a 10ft PVC pipe, so we all had to learn to agree on estimations from each other.  The other task for the day was survey of sea grasses.  We needed to estimate the percent coverage within a quadrant underwater.  80% coverage, for example, would mean that most of the quadrant was filled, but the sediment underneath was still visible.  Then the ratio between manatee grass and turtle grass needed to be determined.  60% manatee, 20% turltle, for example.  This was tricky because the turtle grass takes up more room, but there could be more manatee grass within the quadrant.  We stopped in for lunch before heading out to sea again to find and measure lobsters.  We all jumped (or dropped, in some cases) into the water and started our search for the ever-elusive lobster.  We saw a handful, but couldn't catch any in our net, even after an hour and forty five minutes, or so.  During that time, we saw a couple of lion-fish  which was always something I wanted to see, a nurse shark wandering around, and tons of fish and corals.  We gave up on our quest and ended our day.  I joined a portion of our group at the end of the island to see the sunset and enjoy the water.  It was beautiful.  This island is so small that you can walk three blocks and be on the other side.  The third story of the hotel gives you a beautiful panoramic view of both horizons.