Belizean Adventure: 1/17/13 - 1/18/13 Day 14-15 Caye Caulker and leaving Caye Caulker

Caye Caulker has been the best part of the trip hands down. The island is GORGEOUS and the water is as clear and as blue as you can possibly imagine. The trip from San Ignacio was a long one, starting by waking up at 4:20 am, finishing packing my backpack, and then went upstairs to give Adma the key, say goodbye, and wait for Catherine to pick us up. It was sad leaving the house for the last time, but at the same time I was really excited to head out to Caye Caulker. It took about 2 hours to actually reach the water taxi (we made it JUST in time; reaching the entrance at 8:01 am with the boat being scheduled to leave at 8, but we made it). The 45 minute water taxi ride was beautiful and the weather was perfect all day. I honestly can’t explain how perfect this day was. After we stopped at the hotel to get our rooms (which is kind of a sketchy hotel but it’s not that bad at the same time), we got to wonder around and get lunch until about 1:30 when we had to meet at Mario’s for the snorkeling excursion. For lunch, we ate at this beautiful restaurant right on the beach overlooking the water. The food wasn’t too bad, but the view was what made the lunch amazing. After that, we just walked up the island and eventually reached the beach (or what they call the beach). It wasn’t what you normally think of as a beach but it was an entrance into the water where you could swim. We didn’t really swim too much, just got our feet wet (we being Vicky, Dani, Hunter, Angie, Katie, Rachel, and I) I honestly can’t believe at how quickly the day has gone by. It feels like I was just doing these things a couple hours ago, when in reality it was about 9 hours ago. After wondering around a little more, we went to snorkeling place to get our goggles and fins. From there, we went to the boat (split into two groups for two different boats) and headed out. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, and the water was crystal clear. The first place we stopped was to swim with sting rays and sharks. They brought food for the animals so they would stay in one area. The sharks weren’t very big and it was really cool to see. Pretty sure they were the kind that only eats small things. After swimming there for a bit, we got to see part of the coral reef where I got to see a puffer fish, a baby shark, and a variety of other fish and coral. The third and final stop was another part of the coral reed where we could just swim on our own and see some schools of fish. In between the snorkeling, they gave us watermelon and pineapple. The pineapple was probably the best pineapple I’ve ever tasted. I could have eaten an entire pineapple all by myself. It was an incredible experience that I would love to have again. The entire snorkeling trip lasted about 3 hours or so, and then we came back to the room (Hunter and I) to shower and get ready for dinner. For dinner Vicky, Dani, Hunter, and I went to this place that was recommended in the Rough Guide book that we had to get for class. I got a banana daiquiri and it happened to be two for one since it was happy hour, and also got the complementary soup (which was cauliflower soup), chicken with veggies and pasta in a white wine sauce, garlic bread, and a salad. It really wasn't that expensive and was probably the best meal I've had outside of Adma’s house. After dinner we walked around for a bit and went shopping, got a couple of drinks with the rest of the group, and just hung out until coming back to the hotel where we’re getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we have to get up around 6:15 to get ready and then Dani, Vicky, Hunter, and I are going out to breakfast before meeting with everyone at the Hotel at 8 to go get the water taxi at 8:30.

I’m pretty excited to go home, as I've probably said a million times in this blog. Its weird how at the beginning of the trip, it felt like we were already there for weeks on end, but now it seems like the trip flew by. I’m extremely happy that I came on this trip and I would love to do something like this again at some point in my life. It was really rewarding to see how we can help people just by simply giving them vitamins, or telling that things that they should be following, or even pointing out things that are extremely serious and that they need to see a doctor right away.

Anyway, I’m going to save most of those kinds of thoughts for another entry. I plan on doing a “after I get home self reflection” about the entire trip.