My Barefoot Belizean Adventure Day 2
Sadly, my tour to dive the Blue Hole was postponed due to not enough people signing up for it. We needed 8 and only 6 were interested thus far. I was promised, however that I would be able to go on the tour the following day. I tried not to stress about it too much, since I was in paradise after all.
Adrienne was scheduled to go on a tour of the Mayan ruins for the entire day, which left me to entertain myself. I was able at the last minute to get on a 2 tank dive for later in the afternoon, so until then I enjoyed the peace and serenity of our tropical resort.
Our casita.
The glorious beach.
The dives that I went on were found in Hol Chan Marine Park. Off the southern tip of Ambergris Caye, it is Belize's oldest marine reserve. Hol Chan is Mayan for "little channel," and that is exactly where our dives took place, in a little channel. They were shallow dives for me, as the deepest we went was about 30 feet. While I prefer deeper dives, because I find them more challenging, this actually worked out well, since my underwater camera can only go 33 feet.
Hol Chan Marine Park
The current was pretty strong, but the visibility was excellent. The color of the water was just gorgeous and it was warm enough for me to go without a wet suit (though I did get stung by some fire coral--ouch!).
Me at the bottom of the ocean and ready for our 1st dive.
Here is some of the unbelievable marine life I saw under the water.
After the dives, we had the chance to have a quick snorkel at Shark Ray Alley. It was given that moniker, because sharks and rays are found in abundance there. The key was to be the 1st person in the water, because they tend to swim away once people enter. Thankfully though, I was the 1st in and got to see quite a few before they left.
Once I returned to the resort, I still had a few hours to kill before Adrienne returned. So, I decided to savor every second by water. Look at the views I had while sun baking.
Even now as I write this entry and post these pictures, I cannot help but smile at the memory of how beautiful Belize truly was.
After a few hours, my skin was begging for some shade, so I found the most perfect spot with the most perfect view. While I sat there and reflected on my awesome day thus far, I sipped a strawberry daiquiri and silently promised myself that if I was not able to dive the Blue Hole tomorrow that I would not let it ruin the rest of the trip.
Around 6PM Adrienne returned and was very excited to share some news with me. She had made a really good friend, Christian, on her tour and wanted to introduce us, as he and I apparently had a lot in common. She said that he would be in town at a popular nightclub around 11PM and we were to find him there. I was about to pass on going out, since if I was diving I would have to wake up at 4AM, when all of a sudden there was a knock at our door. It was the manager of the dive shop with bad news; they still did not have the requisite 8 divers needed in order for the tour to happen. I took a couple of deep breaths and remembered the promise I made to myself. It is true, I planned the entire trip around this dive, however plans change and that is the simple fact about traveling. And a true traveler is able to adapt to the changes. I decided that the positive side of this disappointment was that now I could spend a day at the beach with Adrienne the next day AND now we could go out and I would not have to worry what time we came home and how much I drank.
Me and Adrienne with our new tans ready for a fun night
out on the town.
We took the taxi ferry into San Pedro, the main town in Ambergris Caye, for some dinner. We were going to try a restaurant that the bartender at our resort had suggested, but we were both starving and picked a closer place. Synchronisticly, Christian happened to be the first person we saw as we walked inside. He had just arrived and invited us to join him. Immediately, I felt a strong connection. He is a fellow nomad like myself and had incredible stories to share regarding his worldly adventures as a professional photographer.
Christian had been in Guatemala previous to this trip and while he was there had fallen in love with a local rum. He happened to find it in the duty free shop in Belize City and bought it to drink during his time in Belize. On the bottle it said, "share with friends," so that is exactly what he wanted to do with us. We went back to his place and sat on the terrace with a view of the ocean until about 2AM.
Me and Christian at dinner.
Honestly I think meeting people is my favorite part about traveling. Of course, the historical sites and crazy adventures and learning about new cultures are all life-changing experiences, but it is the people that I meet that are priceless. They each touch your heart in such strong ways and when I think about past trips the first thoughts in my head are about the friends that came about from those trips.
Before we left on the last taxi ferry back to our resort, we made plans to spend the day with Christian. I realized then that if I had ended up diving the Blue Hole, I would not have been able to meet him. Like I said, making friends is priceless and I would not have changed a thing.
Adrienne was scheduled to go on a tour of the Mayan ruins for the entire day, which left me to entertain myself. I was able at the last minute to get on a 2 tank dive for later in the afternoon, so until then I enjoyed the peace and serenity of our tropical resort.
The dives that I went on were found in Hol Chan Marine Park. Off the southern tip of Ambergris Caye, it is Belize's oldest marine reserve. Hol Chan is Mayan for "little channel," and that is exactly where our dives took place, in a little channel. They were shallow dives for me, as the deepest we went was about 30 feet. While I prefer deeper dives, because I find them more challenging, this actually worked out well, since my underwater camera can only go 33 feet.
Hol Chan Marine Park
The current was pretty strong, but the visibility was excellent. The color of the water was just gorgeous and it was warm enough for me to go without a wet suit (though I did get stung by some fire coral--ouch!).
Me at the bottom of the ocean and ready for our 1st dive.
Here is some of the unbelievable marine life I saw under the water.
After the dives, we had the chance to have a quick snorkel at Shark Ray Alley. It was given that moniker, because sharks and rays are found in abundance there. The key was to be the 1st person in the water, because they tend to swim away once people enter. Thankfully though, I was the 1st in and got to see quite a few before they left.
Once I returned to the resort, I still had a few hours to kill before Adrienne returned. So, I decided to savor every second by water. Look at the views I had while sun baking.
Even now as I write this entry and post these pictures, I cannot help but smile at the memory of how beautiful Belize truly was.
After a few hours, my skin was begging for some shade, so I found the most perfect spot with the most perfect view. While I sat there and reflected on my awesome day thus far, I sipped a strawberry daiquiri and silently promised myself that if I was not able to dive the Blue Hole tomorrow that I would not let it ruin the rest of the trip.
Around 6PM Adrienne returned and was very excited to share some news with me. She had made a really good friend, Christian, on her tour and wanted to introduce us, as he and I apparently had a lot in common. She said that he would be in town at a popular nightclub around 11PM and we were to find him there. I was about to pass on going out, since if I was diving I would have to wake up at 4AM, when all of a sudden there was a knock at our door. It was the manager of the dive shop with bad news; they still did not have the requisite 8 divers needed in order for the tour to happen. I took a couple of deep breaths and remembered the promise I made to myself. It is true, I planned the entire trip around this dive, however plans change and that is the simple fact about traveling. And a true traveler is able to adapt to the changes. I decided that the positive side of this disappointment was that now I could spend a day at the beach with Adrienne the next day AND now we could go out and I would not have to worry what time we came home and how much I drank.
Me and Adrienne with our new tans ready for a fun night
out on the town.
We took the taxi ferry into San Pedro, the main town in Ambergris Caye, for some dinner. We were going to try a restaurant that the bartender at our resort had suggested, but we were both starving and picked a closer place. Synchronisticly, Christian happened to be the first person we saw as we walked inside. He had just arrived and invited us to join him. Immediately, I felt a strong connection. He is a fellow nomad like myself and had incredible stories to share regarding his worldly adventures as a professional photographer.
Christian had been in Guatemala previous to this trip and while he was there had fallen in love with a local rum. He happened to find it in the duty free shop in Belize City and bought it to drink during his time in Belize. On the bottle it said, "share with friends," so that is exactly what he wanted to do with us. We went back to his place and sat on the terrace with a view of the ocean until about 2AM.
Before we left on the last taxi ferry back to our resort, we made plans to spend the day with Christian. I realized then that if I had ended up diving the Blue Hole, I would not have been able to meet him. Like I said, making friends is priceless and I would not have changed a thing.
Girrrrl, you need you a better underwater camera! Especially with all the diving you do. Can you not just get underwater housing for your digital, that way you can take movies, too? I bought the one that fit my Canon point & shoot (because the housing for my DSLR would have been $2,000+!!!), and it goes to 130 feet. Get on that before your next dive adventure! =)
Also, I saw Earth tonight and couldn't help but think of you and how you'd love it. Have you seen it yet??
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