“Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong”- Thomas Jefferson

Day 11 “Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong”- Thomas Jefferson

   Today is more policy concentrated. We split into two groups. My group headed out on the boat with a guy from the fisheries department. We basically were told to be tourists on a snorkel tour. They took us back to shark and ray alley where there were other tour boats already snorkeling. We tagged along with those groups to make sure they didn’t anchor on the coral, that people weren’t touching the animals and coral and the flippers weren’t kicking the reef. Also, we were supposed to make sure there was one guide on each boat for every eight tourists. The boats we were following seemed to be doing everything right. So, we tagged along and saw some more amazing stingrays in the wild. Does that ever get old? Normally, I would say no…but since we had no snorkel gear and it was a windy day with a nasty current, there’s only so long we could keep up. I imagine we looked ridiculous. As in, what “tourist” group goes to ray and shark alley without a mask, snorkel and fins. Haha.

After that, we went to the restaurant portion of the policy enforcement. I am sure that I agree with everyone else where I found this more than a little bit disturbing. Overall, I don’t really believe what we were told. Yes, I am sure there are policies there as guidelines. But it sounds as if those policies are little more than suggestions in Caye Caulker. The fines for having illegal fish are a joke and the health code issues wouldn’t last one minute in the US. Yes, I know we are not in the US. It just seemed like on such a small island where everyone knows everyone else, it is ok to look the other way when something shady is happening. I was really glad to have that end when it did…or I may never have eaten again