Nurse sharks!
Yes, I really was that close
Me with Jose, my fantastic guide
Nothing like a drinking game to bond with your hostel mates!
Hello again from Caye Caulker, little Wizards. Today is, sadly, my last full day here in Belize. The past few days here on the island have been a perfect balance of busy and relaxing. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I spent most of the day Tuesday out on a snorkeling tour. That tour was so amazing that I pretty much knew that I’d do it again before leaving Belize. However, I got really sunburned out on that first tour, particularly on my back, so I decided to take it easy on Wednesday to give my body a chance to relax and heal up a bit before getting back out under the sun.
I spent pretty much all day Wednesday embracing “island life” here on Caye Caulker- walking around and getting a feel for the little island, going to the beach for a while, trying some local food (of course there’s plenty of great seafood here, but I’m surprised that barbecue chicken is also really popular), and reading in a hammock up on my hostel’s rooftop. At first I felt a little guilty about not spending the day in a more productive day, but then I remembered that hey, I’m on vacation- it’s okay to spend the day just relaxing. By the end of the day Wednesday I was still definitely feeling my sunburn from the day before, but I wanted to book another snorkeling tour for the next day anyway. I knew my back would be feeling sore for the next few days, and if I didn’t do another snorkeling tour out on the reef before leaving, I’d regret it. So I went down and talked to the super helpful hostel staff, who booked me on the day long tour for Thursday and took my deposit and lunch order.
Thursday morning, after making breakfast, getting back into my swimsuit, putting on PLENTY of sunscreen, and putting on a shirt that I could just keep on all day to add a little extra sun coverage, I was picked up again a little after ten and driven down to the waterfront, where we paid our remaining balance and collected our snorkeling gear. I could immediately tell that this tour would have more people than the one I did on Tuesday. That one had only four guests including me, while the one yesterday ended up having eleven. I was super happy, though, when I learned that this tour would have Jose as our guide, who was also my guide on Tuesday. I’d told him on Tuesday that I’d probably come back and do this again before leaving, and I’d been hoping that I’d get him as a guide again since he was so great the first time.
Of course on this tour I already knew what to expect since I’d done it only two days before, but that didn’t detract from the experience in the slightest. If anything, I think my tour yesterday might have been even better than the first one. It seemed like there were even more nurse sharks than on Tuesday’s tour; there were easily twenty of them swimming around us. Some were only about four feet long, others were up to about nine. Some of them even allowed me to touch them! It was definitely one of my all time favorite travel experiences. I brought my underwater camera with me yesterday, and I’m going to look through the pictures and videos when I get back home, so there should be another blog post with more pictures coming after I get back to the states.
Thankfully I was much more conscious of the sun yesterday than on my first tour; I reapplied sunblock several times and left my shirt on the entire time, so I didn’t get nearly as burned as on Tuesday. We got back to the dock at around five o’clock, and, after returning my gear and getting a couple of pictures with Jose, I walked back to my hostel. I’d picked up some food from the local supermarket on Wednesday, so last night I just made dinner up on the rooftop kitchen here at Travelers Palm Hostel. By the time I’d made dinner and sat down to eat, it was dark; the sun sets really early here! We’re not too far from the equator, so it’s usually dark before seven in the evening!
After eating dinner I was sitting up on the rooftop when I heard some people staying here talking about playing Ring Of Fire, a drinking game I played several times with the other WSP volunteers in Gansbaai. They asked if I wanted to play a round with them, and I said sure. I spent the next couple of hours sitting up there with about ten other people from all over the world- Canada, England, Germany, Chile, Australia and more- playing Ring Of Fire, laughing, and chatting. One of the many lessons I’ve learned from traveling is that transient relationships can still be very meaningful. I only spent a couple of hours with those hostel mates, and when I leave tomorrow I’ll probably never see any of them again. But that’s okay, because for that short amount of time we made each other’s experience here in Belize a little bit better.
Today has been another pretty chill day here on the island. It’s consisted mostly of going to breakfast at a little restaurant right by the beach, doing a little more walking around this little town, picking up a few souvenirs, and some more relaxing up on the rooftop. In less than 24 hours, I’ll be on a plane back to Houston, and then another back home to San Antonio. This little vacation was exactly what I needed after the past few months, and I’m pretty sad that it’s almost over. But I think I made the most of my time here on Caye Caulker; that second snorkeling tour would have to be my favorite part of the whole thing. I definitely think I made the right choice by coming to Belize. Snorkeling in that reef was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced! See you tomorrow, San Antonio. This post’s food for thought: “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.”- Isak Dinesen
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