6-11-09 So we got up at the butt crack of dawn...again....Its crazy how a one hour time difference can change your whole day. For the better of course as we were able to have some yummy breaky early in the morning at a leisurely pace, sign up for a half-day of snorkeling, plus relax for a bit. When time came around we headed to the pier to wait for our instructor with a very nice elementary school principal from Colorado who was treating herself to a week vacation.
Our instructor was featured on the Travel Channel...so he said. "Little Alfonse" was in one of the many Samantha Brown shows helping her snorkel along the barrier reef. Whatever, i'll take his word for it. He took us to he National Park Hol-Chan to snorkel along the reef. The day was so bright and beautiful and I couldn't wait to get in the water. It was so clear and blue waiting for me to jump in. Once we did the round of blah, blah, here's how you put on your mask..blah, blah...flippers we were in. Luckily, he didn't make us wear life vests, which I hate. We had a about a group of 12 for the tour and only one person opted for the vest...they took it off later. We didn't see as many fishies, but we did see a cucumber fish/eel thing, lots of tuna, and nurse sharks. I even got to hold one and pet it like a dog. Seriously! I woulda had a picture but I forgot to buy a water camera. Typical. Alfonse then took us to Sting Ray Alley...at least that's what I call it since they were everywhere! I did get to casually graze one with my hand but to be honest I was a lot more wary over the sting rays than the sharks. Thanks to Steve Erwin of course. They were huge. Picture yourself (if you happen to be 5'4'') standing with your arms and legs spread out wide like an "X" and then draw a circle around you. That's how big the sting rays were. Seriously. After a good four hours of snorkeling we were tired, happy, and ready to eat.
We got dropped off by good ol' Alfonse and realized quite late that well...some of us did not use enough sun screen. Well, I did. But the girls...did not. I'll only say that there are areas that are exposed to the sunlight when you are floating face down in the ocean that aren't normally slathered with sun screen. Poor Kelley. And Jens back was so red I was afraid it was gonna burst into flames. I darkie that I am knew this in advance and wore double sun screen and shirt that covered my rear. But she was a champ...we got some aloe and headed out to go find some lunch and shop for more souvenirs in town. We went to the Jade Museum and learned there were some pretty interesting sites on the island. We then headed to Fido's (Feed Doze) which was Miss Nancy's pub. Actually it looked like an awesome beach bar...open with a huge bar, lots of seating, and just on the beach. She recognized us from giving us a ride and sat and chat with us. We grabbed a few beers from Mike the bartender and laughed at Kelley. She was trying to find a good way to sit down comfortably. Ha, ha. She was trying to find a gift for her boyfriend related to fishing. Luckily the GM told us about this local fishing guide that makes his own lures. He told us where it was and we decided to get a taxi since it was on the other end of the island. We hailed a taxi..which is usually a mini-van and a guy stopped and we got in...we then realized he had a passenger. They were both young and they were laughing, and then we had the feeling, "Is this even a taxi?" We told them where to go and they knew what we were talking about...so we were relieved...a bit. The place "GO FISH" had just closed and the lady was leaving. But Belize, being Belize, she reopened the shop for us. Super nice and sweet. All the lures were really cool and then her husband the fishing guide came in and was helping Kelley pick out some homemade-lures. We lucked out really cuz right as we got of the shop, our two "maybe-a-taxi" guys were just outside. They gave us another ride back to the hotel and we paid them. Never did we find out if they were really a taxi. Whatev.
So at this point we were exhausted and Miss Kelley and Jenn in sunburn pain....But troopers they are, we all got dolled up for dinner for our last night in Belize. We ate at a great restaurant and I got some yummy sushi. After dinner, we were gonna go back to Fido's but it was too long of a walk and Kelley was hurtin'. So instead we went to this really cool beach lounge called Playa. It was a bar and sofas in the sand. We had a few drinks and lounged around. It was little sad to know it was our last night...we totally could've done another full week. Bummed as we were we headed back to the hotel walking along the beach as the full moon began to rise from the ocean. Perfect setting for our last night. Once we got back to our hotel we got into our jammies then headed back to the beach and watch the moon for a bit more. But we weren't too sad, though. Cuz we were already making plans for the next trip.
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