We're on "Island Time," Mon!

Day 9: May 9, 2013

We arrived in Caye Caulker yesterday and it could not be any more different than where we were residing for the last week. Instead of being 4 hours away from civilization we are right in the heart of tourist country. Even though the island of Caye Caulker is a hit tourist destination, I still feel very much so apart of a different lifestyle. I have never been to the Keys before, but a lot of people were comparing the island to that. I assume any island comes with its’ usual daily montage of “Live slowly” and that’s completely fine by me! I feel as if I belong on an island. One of the ship captains who took us out today kept calling me a mermaid because he said I swam so well. It’s interesting because I have always had this affinity towards the ocean and I moved to Florida to embrace that…however, Caye Caulker’s pristine waters are far beyond anything I anticipated seeing. The water is so crystal clear and just the perfect temperature. Our class went out snorkeling today and the marine biologists who were aiding us for the day showed us techniques to quickly estimate sizes of fishes and corals. After we brushed up on our measurements we took out to the water to run the transect line and try and identify as many juvenile fish and corals as we could. We were able to identify Brain Coral, Fire Coral, Fan Coral, Staghorn Coral, and Lettuce Coral; as well as identifying several kinds of juvenile Tang fish, a Barracuda, Butterfly fish, Green Moray Eel and several Damsel fish. I could not get enough of snorkeling this morning, however, I had to sit out the afternoon because I wasn’t feeling well. I can’t wait to check out my underwater videos!

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)

We are finally leaving Belize. It is bittersweet for me. I know everyone is reaching their breaking points and is missing their families, friends and civilization, but this trip has opened my eyes. I got to experience field work which is actually done in the field. I was able to learn from professionals and hear them say how they make mistakes but if you take your time and sometimes re-do what you already did then it will be worth it in the end. All of our hard work paid off in the end. Most of us arrived in Belize as strangers and I know I made 12 new friends.

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