The day dawned bright with a fierce wind making even the water inside the reef ripple and form foamy white caps as they rolled over themselves. We had no plans to going diving today, a decision we felt good about as we watched in the distance small dive boats rocking furiously as they made their way through the rough water leading them beyond the reef.

We sat in lounge chairs overlooking the beach for a while until our stomachs told us it was time for a late breakfast. We ate at the hotel’s open air restaurant while keeping the lush greenery and ocean in view. After we ate we decided to go riding around the southern end of the island. We rode down the bumpy rides in our golf cart and stopped at a few local places. When we passed a lagoon connected to the marina and Christian saw a sign prohibiting the feeding of crocodiles, he swung the golf cart around. He figured that if they put up a sign like that, there must be crocodiles around. At first we looked near the banks and were disappointed, but as we looked farther out we saw the head and ridges on the tail of a large crocodile. We watched as he glided slowly through the water, satisfied that we had seen a crocodile at last (and I was glad it wasn’t too close to us).

Sudden cool winds and large black clouds off to the east made us hurry back to the hotel. After it blew over, more beach time seemed like a good call. We hadn’t felt like lunch after a late breakfast so by 4:00 we headed out in search of dinner. We found a local restaurant we had passed several times in the golf cart where two men waved people down on the street asking them to come eat. I ordered fajitas and Christian decided to try the whole fried fish (a local favorite). The fajitas were literally the best I’ve ever eaten and Christian’s fish was also delicious. The beady eyes and small sharp teeth protruding from the lower jaw were too funny not to take a picture of. Our waitress watched us out of the corner of her eye, surely wondering why we would be photographing our food.

A trip to an art gallery down the street featuring art from solely Belizean artists entertained us for the next hour and we even found a painting of an angelfish that we purchased and had shipped to the states. We found a small restaurant and bar on a deck stretching out over the water where we sat and talked for a while. Two young Belizean boys were fishing at the end of the pier, one with a pole and the other just using hand line. They’d caught several yellow tailed snappers and a small barracuda and were proud to show off their catch.

We finally headed back to our hotel. Tomorrow we would move to an apartment for the remaining 5 days of our stay here. It’s hard to believe the end is getting so close. I’d forgotten since last year just how comfortable and peaceful I feel here, and this trip definitely won’t be our last.

We woke to the most beautiful weather we’d seen since we’ve been here. A sunny day without any clouds and, more importantly for diving, a day with very little wind was on hand. We couldn’t waste this opportunity. We gathered up our stuff and headed for the dock. We boarded a boat with Turiano and Steve and Barb from New York. Our first dive was at Cypress Canyons. We swam through deep tunnels formed by rock and coral that came out as deep as 90 feet. Visibility was good and we floated effortlessly on the current past a myriad of coral and brightly colored fish. After a surface interval on the dock, we went back for a second dive at Cypress reef. Although it wasn’t far from Cypress canyons, the coral formations were different here. Huge fingers of coral stretched up in formations that were at least 20 feet tall and almost as wide. Fish hid inside for protection and scurried away only when we came near.

Both dives today went well, good visibility and calm water on entry and exit. We were happy with our dives and ready to call it a day (as far as diving was concerned) until we learned there was a night dive scheduled! Christian has done one night dive before and I’ve never done one. We tried to schedule a night dive on Caye Caulker but the weather didn’t cooperate. We’ve heard that the Caribbean marine life is different at night thanks to animals that hunt at night and hide during the day. So we jumped on the opportunity to do the dive in this perfect weather.

The rest of the afternoon was spent finding lunch and visiting the marine supply store to find a replacement strap for my broken underwater noisemaker, then back to the room for a little rest before it was time to get ready for the night dive.

We headed to the dock around 5:30. The boat would actually go out just before the sunset to tie off and get ready for nightfall. The currents reportedly can get stronger and stronger underwater after sunset so the best time to go is just as it gets dark to avoid the extremely strong currents. As we sat on the dock and waited while the boat was prepared we saw a spotted eagle ray glide slowly past the dock just beneath the surface of the water. The beauty and grace of the rays never gets old. We boarded the boat as the sun began to dip near the western horizon, and the boat began the short trip to our destination. We tied off to the buoy and Turiano began briefing us on how the dive would go and what we would see. We would enter the water a few minutes before total darkness to ease the transition (especially for me since it was my first night dive). It’s one thing to jump into clear blue water and be able to see for a hundred feet or more in every direction. It’s a completely different experience to jump into black water where your sight is limited by the beam of the flashlight you’re holding.

Once in the water we descended to the sandy bottom. This would be a shallow dive as 25 feet is the maximum depth of the channel in the area with coral formations and walls on either side of the wide sandy bottom. I could already feel the current moving me along and I saw there would be nothing effortless about this dive, it took constant movement to maintain your position or to move slowly enough to search for marine life with the flashlight.

The light quickly faded and all we could see was whatever was within our flashlights reach. Very large grouper with beautiful stripes and patterns followed us around. They’ve learned to also follow the flashlight beams of the divers to find small fish they can eat. My problem was that each time I saw a cute little fish I would move my light because I didn’t want to be the cause of the beautifully colored fish getting eaten. Faulty logic maybe, of course I know its the way it works out here, but I couldn’t help it. We looked above us and saw schools of small fish silhouetted in our lights. We also watched as several majestic spotted eagle rays glided by above us.

The furthers we swam we began to see stingrays lying on the sandy floor, they flap their “wings” and cover themselves with sand until you see only their eyes and the outline of their bodies. Further investigation within my limited beam revealed hundred of stingrays on the ocean floor. In some places there didn’t seem to be any spots without sting rays, and I suddenly became very cautious of not getting too near the sand and disturbing them with thoughts of Steve Irwin in my head. We encountered a large green moray eel swimming very quickly around the coral wall, Christian and I were trying to alert Turiano but by the time he noticed it the eel was almost swimming up his leg. Of course I know the eels may be looking for food but we are not on the menu. That doesn’t make it less intimidating to see a 6 foot eel swimming within a few feet. We rounded a corner and Turiano was motioning with his light to come near him. A cuttlefish (squid) was hovering about a small coral formation. As we came closer it didn’t move, it’s body was an elongated sphere that was somewhat translucent so that our flashlight beams penetrated it. It’s eyes were like dark orbs win the small tentacle like protrusions on top and what looked like a tiny spinning propeller on the bottom, I couldn’t take my eyes off this little alien. It just hovered for several minutes until it decided to leave by the exact path I was occupying. I had a little moment of terror as it swam directly at my face. I was suddenly not sure if the eggplant sized creature was of any danger to me and I flapped my arms wildly to move. It came within a few inches of my head and disappeared. I was stunned. That was the most unusual living creature I’ve ever seen so close. We had only a few minutes remaining in the hour long dive and we came to the boat. At some point we had circled around and come back to our boat, of which I had been unaware. There is no way to safely do a dive like this without an experienced divemaster who knows the way. We climbed aboard the boat excited about all we’d seen. As after all good dives, the atmosphere was electric with the thrill of exploration into a foreign world, especially since we’d witnessed the cuttlefish so closely.

We returned to our room and changed. We were hungry and walked down the beach to find a restaurant for dinner. We had signed up for a trip to Turneffe for tomorrow. It would be a long day with 3 dives near the distant islands of Turneffe Atoll. We’ve wanted to dive there ever since we got to Belize but it’s been difficult to find someone going there or at least find a day without so much wind that it makes the trip impossible, so we have high hopes for tomorrow. For now we need to try to get some sleep since our boat leaves the dock at 6 am.

Just another exciting day in paradise….

Today was our first full day on Ambergris Caye. After we woke up, we decided to head down to the dive shop and sign up for a dive today. We got our equipment and headed for our assigned boat. There was one other couple on the dive with us from upstate New York. They had been diving for quite a few years but their last dive was over a year ago.

As we headed out, we noticed the wind had picked up a little bit. Going through the large gap in the reef here is not usually too bad, but today large waves came right at us and we inched through with our small boat rocking violently. The dive site was near the opening and we braced the tossing boat to roll in. The divemaster had chosen a relatively easy dive due to the other couples last dive date having been a while back. Turiano, our divemaster, was thorough in their briefing and always made, sure we were all safe. But honestly, after our last one a couple days ago for the Lionfish Derby, this dive seemed tame (as a nice way to put it.) We saw an array of colorful fish and I will admit I feel kinda bad that I’ve gotten so accustomed to their beauty that I feel a little dismissive of it. After our dive, we went back to the pier. We opted not to do another dive today with the rough conditions and the less than thrilling first dive.

We changed and headed for the golf cart to do some exploring. After being on Caye Caulker, San Pedro feels akin to Manhattan, something we seem to have forgotten since last year. There is still a laid back island vibe here but it absolutely doesn’t apply to driving. Golf carts are the primary mode of transportation here with automobiles (mostly as taxis) being fairly common also. Add to that the scores of people riding bikes and walking (with no sidewalks), and it’s enough to make me hold the side bar of the golf cart with knuckles as white as cotton. The roads are very bumpy and have giant speed bumps as well, it would seem that these certainly serve to keep everyone alert, whether drivers, bikers, or pedestrians. We went across the bridge to the north end and drove until the paved road ended. We stopped at a small beach bar way out at the end of a pier. The view is stunning out there. The food was pretty good with portions so large we couldn’t finish it (which isn’t common here as it is in the states). We passed scores of resorts and condo complexes with even more under construction. The north end of San Pedro is steadily growing and now has its own variety of restaurants and even a few stores, which is a good thing for anyone staying over here since there is a golf cart toll on the bridge each way.

We passed through town again and headed south. The south tip is pretty well developed but not quite as busy or congested as San Pedro Town. There are homes, stores, roadside stands, and a resort here and there. Finally, the road led us back to Ramon’s to spend some time reading and relaxing on the beach. When dinner time came, we decided on a place we’d seen on the north end. After dinner with views of the sunset on the west side, we returned to the hotel to find live music at the open air restaurant. We sat in lounge chairs by the pool and talked with a couple from Lake Charles, Louisiana. We wandered up and down the pier for a while and talked about our day.

We are adjusting to the faster pace and different way of doing things here. I have to remind myself sometimes when I go from one place to another that just because things are done differently, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re done wrong. Ambergris Caye is a beautiful place, and with so much to offer, I’m excited to find out what it holds for us.

As soon as I woke the dreaded reality hit me, I have to pack everything up this morning! I actually enjoy packing before a trip because it’s all a part of the anticipation of a trip, but since we are already here it’s now just a chore. I got up and showered, dressed, ate toast, worked on my blog, pretty much anything to put off packing a little longer. When I finally just did it, I was actually finished pretty quickly. I’m usually not a procrastinator and this helps me remember why, things are rarely as bad as the dread of them.

We spent some time out by the pool visiting with John and Susan, of course hunting Lionfish is always a main topic of conversation. We joke that other people are probably going to get tired of us talking about that, but we never tire of this conversation with each other because we know how outrageously fun it really is.

The time came to call a golf cart taxi and load up. John and Susan met us at the water taxi pier to see us off. Even though we are only changing locations and we have lots of fun in store on Ambergris Caye, I’m feeling sad to be leaving Caye Caulker and all the fun we’ve had here.

The water taxi ride was pretty smooth today and we arrived without incident in San Pedro. We waited on the busting beach with all its colorful buildings for the luggage cart and found our ride from Ramon’s Village, where we are staying. Ramon’s village is a network of cottages with tall thatched roofs with immaculately landscaped grounds. They’ve given the impression when you walk through the talk arched entryway onto the grounds that right here in town you’ve entered the rainforest and you are staying in a traditional wood and thatch cabin in the midst of it. The execution and beauty of this place make me think of Disney. If they had a resort on a tropical island, it would look just like this. The main building has a fantastic winding pool with lush greenery and palms as if it a small stream in the jungle. The restaurant is open air and looks over the ocean. On the beach you reach a pier with a palapa on either side that serves as the dive shop. A long dock with multiple pristine boats of all different sizes stretches a long way out over the sea.

After we were settled in our quaint room, we walked down the street to rent a golf cart. These streets are much too narrow and crowded for me to want to either walk or bike. We explored the town a little and ate at a favorite restaurant for dinner. After returning to our hotel we walked down the beach in front of hotels, restaurants, bars, and piers with dive shops or tour operators on them. The beachfront in this part of town resembles the beachfront of a tourist town in Florida, only on a smaller scale with a decidedly Caribbean flair. And although the beaches in Florida are more expansive and well groomed, the water here is infinitely more blue than the gulf. And being able to look out and see the waves breaking over the reef just offshore is just a bonus.

The sadness of earlier in the day is gone and I’m thinking we are going to have a lot of fun on this island, that although close to Cay Caulker, really couldn’t be more different.

We woke up early today after we fell into bed exhausted last night. We had no plans for today, we had not been able to think past the Lionfish Derby, so after we got dressed we headed out in search of breakfast. Many restaurants are closed on Sunday so we checked several places before we found one open. Amore y Cafe is a quaint wood frame restaurant on front street with brightly colored tables and mismatched chairs and stools. We sat on the front porch to take advantage of the breeze and to people watch while we ate delicious homemade waffles with fresh fruit.

After breakfast we returned home and spent some time talking with John and Susan. We had hoped to do a night dive today but the gusting wind and scattered clouds were going to make that an impossibility. At midday, we all four rode our bikes through town and stopped at a little Mediterranean restaurant with an ocean view down near the split. The wind was howling as we ate at one of the outdoor tables and keeping up with my napkin became my main objective at lunch. A few errands after lunch and back home again.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and talking and laughing. We’ve had more fun with John and Susan than I ever could have even expected. They pulled meat out of their freezer they’d gotten when they were inland from one of the cattle farms, and we feasted on steak, pork loin, corn and potatoes for dinner. We’d even made a strawberry cake in celebration of Valentines Day.

As I look back at this blog, I think it looks pretty typical of social media these days- stories of what we are eating. But the real story in every one of these meals is the experience with the culture of the island and with good friends. One of our favorite parts of Belize is the people. Whether old friends, new friends, other tourists we talk to for only a few minutes, or Belizeans we’ve had the pleasure to get to know, every experience for me is framed by the people we were with. There is a different brand of camaraderie here. With people who are vacationing here, expats who live here, or locals who are doing their jobs, there is a more casual atmosphere that puts everyone at ease and makes conversation easier and conflict less conflicting. So while we love the adventure of exploring a cave, or kayaking, or scuba diving- it’s the prevailing attitude of friendliness and the willingness to stop and invest in relationship that draws me in. The 10 minute conversation we had with a young couple from Wisconsin last night to the hours spent this week getting to know the divemasters, to the days visiting with John and Susan- I just can’t get enough of the joy of getting to know the people.

Since our boat was scheduled to leave at 6:30, the day started before dawn. I don’t sleep well anyway when I’m concerned I won’t get up in time for something exciting. We ate some breakfast and dressed and checked and re-checked our backpacks and dry bag to make sure we had everything we would need for the long day ahead.

The sun had just peeked over the water as we rode our bikes along the little bike path through the beach cemetery and along the beach toward the dive shop. I had never seen so many people out and about so early on Caye Caulker, the pier was already full of people. Excitement rippled through the air in anticipation of the day ahead. The government officials everyone calls ‘the fisheries people’ were already checking a boat. They would check our spears and our boat to make sure no one had any Lionfish already aboard in an attempt to boost their count. Bert arrived not long after us (on Belizean time) and Christian helped bring loads of dive gear from the shop to the boat. They use a wheelbarrow to haul thing the 100 yards or so between the beachfront shop and the pier. Diving is a very equipment intensive sport with of course the air tanks, but also BCDs (the vests we wear), regulators (with the mouthpiece), weight belts (so we won’t float to the top), wetsuits, fins, booties (to make the fins fit comfortably), bags of fruit and water for between dives and then of course everyone’s personal collection of towels, dry clothes, cameras, snacks, etc. When we were completely loaded the fisheries people checked our boat and a volunteer was assigned to us. Anna from Indiana would spend the day with us, she’s a young marine biologist who works for Blue Ventures, a part of the organization Oceana, who does research in the Caribbean and works in various ways to promote conservation of the reefs. The volunteers would keep records of where and how many Lionfish we killed to give them valuable information on the health of the reef. They also would make sure we didn’t violate basic rules of the Derby like not killing any other type of marine life during the tournament.

We were finally cleared to head out to sea at 7:27, meaning we had to return to the pier no more than 8 hours later, or by 3:27. Mornings on a dive boat are always fun with an electric atmosphere, but this morning seemed particularly so. We settled in for the hour boat ride to Spanish Bay, where we had had so much luck with Lionfish a few days ago. We passed St. Georges Caye, which was the original capital of the country and the site of battles between the Spanish and English for control of the country several hundred years ago. They still have a few original cannons perched on the beach that we could see as our boat passed closely by the small island. This was the site of the last battle of the English against the Spaniards in 1798 for control of the country. England was victorious and Belize became the only English speaking country in Central America. The area they call Spanish Bay is presumably where the Spanish ships gathered for the fight, just east of St. Georges Caye but inside the reef where the water is calmer.

We wasted no time preparing for the dive. Bert came up front to lay out his plan of attack for the day, basically we would divide and conquer. When we were ready to go, he maneuvered the boat carefully through the reef and we rolled in one at a time. Christian and I had not even descended all the way when we saw Zach below us motioning that he saw two Lionfish and Christian should hurry down.

So the dive began. On one hand we were thrilled to see so many Lionfish, this was a competition and we were removing them from the reef. On the other hand, the invasive presence of the fish never ends. Of course in that moment, getting as many as possible for this collection of very competitive people was all we were focused on.

We swam through beautiful coral canyons with the same colorful fish, various kinds of eels, turtles, lobster, crabs, and sharks as before, but today was different. For the first time since I’ve been diving these beautiful creatures were not the focus, we only had eyes for Lionfish. I will admit, I saw a couple of things I couldn’t help but video along the way, but other than those isolated events, I was on the lookout for Lionfish also. The lovely fish like to hover near coral formations or rock ledges. They don’t swim unless threatened so are pretty easy targets since they typically only swim when touched. As they are approached, they flare out their beautiful but venomous spines, which is where they get their name, but this is the only defense mechanism they usually need since they have no natural predators. Sharks are not prevalent in this area as in some others, so we had no competition from predators that had been taught to eat Lionfish as we had encountered in other places.

The guys were having a ball shooting the Lionfish just as fast as they could. The fact that you have to avoid the venomous spines and carefully store them in the zookeeper (the pvc-like tube with the special opening) was the only thing that slowed them down. Susan and I also got in on the fun looking for Lionsfish and alerting the guys when we saw one. We spent the majority of the dive above 50 feet, which is the only thing that saved our air from running out in just a few minutes since we were all swimming wildly, exerting a lot of energy and so breathing more deeply than usual.

By the time we surfaced we had 45 Lionfish! That was more than on both dives combined the other day. We couldn’t get on the boat fast enough to start talking about the exciting dive. Each person talked louder than the next to be heard and we laughed and talked, hardly taking a breath in between. The cloudy, windy day chilled us to the bone while we were wet, but chattering teeth and shaking shoulders couldn’t even dampen our moods. After they brought the boat carefully back inside the reef for the surface interval (because the water was much calmer) Bert and Christian decided they would just swim on this side of the reef with their spears to see if any Lionfish were hanging out over here. They reported seeing large lobsters walking across the sandy bottoms, but no Lionfish in site. Everyone had brought snacks to share since we weren’t willing to sacrifice any Lionfish for ceviche today. We feasted on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, homemade brownies, trail mix, fruit, and candy bars. And of course the small bags of water made it complete.

We monitored our time closely and returned to the water for our second dive as soon as we safely could. The second dive was much like the first, except we became even more efficient. Susan carried the zookeeper and went quickly to anyone who had a Lionfish on his spear. The second dive ran even smoother than the first. Time seemed to fly as we moved through canyons and along walls of coral looking for Lionfish in their favorite hiding places. Before we knew it, we were back on the boat. Bert had stowed 3 extra air tanks onboard in case time allowed for a third dive. We were using energy (and therefore air) so quickly at a relatively shallow depth that allowable bottom time was not a problem. So it was decided that Bert, Christian, and John would do the third dive alone since they were killing the most fish. We waited out the interval inside the reef and as soon as they could, the guys rolled back into the water. Susan, Jane, and I took the chance to dry off completely and get back into our dry clothes. It was the first time in hours I had been really warm since the clouds overhead were thickening and the wind had not quit. This is normally not weather in which we would even consider diving, but competitive steaks had come out of all of us and we were willing to do whatever it took for the sake of the Lionfish Derby.

When the guys surfaced, they hardly had time to stow the equipment and sit down before Bert took off for Cay Caulker in order to meet our 8 hour deadline. The ride back was pretty rough thanks to the wind whipped waves but we just all sat quietly and endured it. At least I was warm, Christian and John were soaking wet and shivering in the wind of the speeding boat.

We arrived back at the pier with 20 minutes to spare. We could see the enormous (by Caye Caulker standards) crowd on the beach where teams were returning and the fish were being counted, measured, and weighed. Christian and Mike brought our cooler full of fish up to the beach. We were no less excited now than we had been all day. From what we could see initially, most of the teams had not done nearly as well as us. As it turned out, we had the most fish of any boat with our count being 105. But the number of fish was divided by the number of divers to get the average and one other team had a slightly better average putting us into second place. Of course, that didn’t matter to us at all. You’d have thought we had just won the Super Bowl as happy as were with our catch. Our longest fish was just a centimeter shorter than the one that won that category but we did actually have the heaviest fish.

We went home to shower and change and returned to the sport bar (the sponsor of the Derby) where they were having a Lionfish tasting. Our excitement from the day didn’t wear off and we talked about little else all night.

I always say “perfect ending to a perfect day”, but this day may really be hard to top. And no doubt it’s one that none of us will soon forget.

We had “the day off” today from diving. We knew the forecast was for rain so we dove yesterday to “practice ” for tomorrow’s Lionfish Derby. We slept in and had a late breakfast with John and Susan at home. They call their beautiful home here ‘Sandcastle’. The name fits the architecture of the house with its tall, narrow towering main structure and the deck off the main flour with a twisted wood railing and fishing net to fit the island environment. Large, wide winding steps lead from the deck to the tiled area leading in one direction to the pool and in the other direction to our apartment. There is not another home on the island this uniquely beautiful, and the soft greens and browns they’ve chosen blend perfectly with the lush greenery of the landscape. I can’t imagine staying in a more lovely spot, especially when we also have wonderful hosts.

We took some time to ride around town on our bikes as we do everyday. I’m beginning to think more about the fact that we only have a few days left of this since golf carts are the preferred mode of transportation on the bigger island of Ambergris Caye. I love coming here and riding a bike everyday in a town that is friendly to both bikes and pedestrian traffic. With no hills here, the bikes are old style with no gears and high handlebars so that I don’t have to lean over and bear too much weight on my left arm.

In the afternoon John and Christian went to the village council for the meeting concerning the Lionfish Derby tomorrow. There are an unusually large number of rules for Belize, and they want to make sure we are compliant. They also learned a lot about lion fish, some we knew and some we didn’t. But the most important fact is still that they are invasive and harmful to the reef with no natural predators. They are efficient killers of small fish and multiply at an unbelievable rate. So events like this are held to raise awareness and try to get more people interested in hunting Lionfish (which has certainly worked for us).

All that was left to do was to prepare for the next day’s dives. We would leave at 6:30 in the morning so packing up our dive stuff the night before was helpful. Can’t wait till the Derby tomorrow!

The morning was cool but bright. Belize has seen an unusual number of cool days so far this month but we weren’t gonna let that stop us. We put on long sleeves and headed for the dive shop. Bert, Zach, and Mike were all there getting ready for the day. We waited on the dock and Susan and I used the time wisely, we talked and talked.

We were finally ready to go (on Belize time of course) and we headed out to our spot for the day. Today’s dive was about an hour away and we passed several small, beautiful islands (called cayes here) on the way. When we arrived we stopped inside the reef to prepare for the dive. Our divemaster today was Bert, the owner of the shop. We were looking for Lion Fish again today, and John, Susan, Christian, and I were joined by John’s friend Lincoln and Jane (visiting from England). Once we were ready, the boat made its way carefully over, around, and through the reef. Waves breaking on the reef can be huge and it takes a skilled captain to maneuver from one side of the reef to the other. We reached the other side and started rolling in two by two. Bert, John, Lincoln and Christian all had spears and Susan and I were the spotters and videographers (Jane was along for the ride to watch and to see the marine life and coral). By the time Christian and I descended Lincoln had his first Lion Fish! This was going to be a good dive. We saw more Lion Fish than I had ever seen in one location. The guys were having a ball. It was a good thing Bert had brought the zookeeper, which is like a large tube of PVC pipe to store the lion fish in a way that the poisonous spines won’t touch anyone. Along with the lion fish we saw turtles, lobster, eels and even a few types of colorful fish I can’t remember seeing before. What we did not see was sharks, except one sleeping in an indention in the coral.

The first dive yielded around 12 fish and after the dive Mike promptly began to clean and filet them for ceviche. (After least after he cut up the fresh fruit for us to snack on). I don’t usually love ceviche, especially with raw fish, but this is honestly some of the best stuff I’ve ever had. Of course, unlike ceviche in a restaurant this is made up of about 90% fish and the lime, tomatoes, peppers, and spices only make it better. Lion Fish turns out to be a very mild white fish. Even raw I couldn’t taste any hint of the fishy flavor of stronger fish.

After a long surface interval we were ready for the second dive. We repeated the process and were soon underwater in a slightly different location. This dive turned out to be even more thrilling than the first. There were Lion Fish everywhere, so many that Bert even had to use the extension on the zookeeper. Bert fed a few lion fish to eels and even woke the sleeping shark to feed him one. The local divers are trying to get the eels and sharks to hunt the Lion Fish themselves in order to reduce the population, which has worked well so far in areas frequently hunted (and that’s why the sharks took our fish the other day). Christian found one fish in a small hiding place under a rock that a sea turtle was also using. When he shot the fish the turtle didn’t waste any time getting out of there. It’s amazing how fast seemingly docile marine animals can be when they want to.

By the time we came up from the second dive we were all excited about all we’d seen. Even Bert was excited about having been able to feed the eels, and he’s done thousands of dives here. We all talked over each in our excitement and the chatter didn’t die down for quite a while and probably only because it’s hard to talk over the wind with the boat moving rapidly back toward Caye Caulker.

On our return to the dock, we couldn’t miss a chance to get a picture with our catch (even Susan and I got in on the fun as the official spotters). Bert cut the poisonous spines off the fish and we took some home for dinner. Lincoln offered to go the fishing boats on the west side to get some fresh lobster and Susan and I planned the side dishes. When we returned home the guys cleaned and filleted the fish. Carol, who rents a cottage on the property, brought fresh baked bread from the Italian restaurant and we had a feast. More importantly than the food, we had so much fun laughing and talking for hours. It really was the perfect end to a perfect day.

But I think I say that everyday here….

Without planning it out loud, we both agreed today would be kind of a lazy day. When I was a kid we’d get a day now and then that my Mom would call a lazy day, meaning there was absolutely nothing we were required to do and we could choose to lay around all day or do something fun. We did love those days, and they were all the more special because they didn’t seem to come around often. So we started off the day with a big breakfast in our apartment to which we invited our friendly host. John’s wife, Susan, would be arriving by plane today and while always jovial, John was in an extra good mood.

We rode our bikes to town to get some more fresh juice after we depleted our supply at breakfast. On the road we happened to see the man who was stuck in San Ignacio in the fog with us. He was actually staying in San Pedro but had ridden the water taxi over for the day to see the island. We chatted with him for a while before we decided to go in search of one of our favorite restaurants from last year. We found Maggie’s and we also found a spot to feed the tarpon from a pier. We bought a bag of small fish from a local lady. She also handed us a bucket and told us it was to fill with water and throw at the Pelicans. What?! It wouldn’t take us long to understand what she meant by that. We walked out onto the pier and the pelicans wasted no time scooting as close as they could to us. We could see the large tarpon in the water below. Greenish or silver, some of them looked to be at least 5 or 6 feet long. It became a game for Christian to actually try to feed a tarpon without the birds getting the fish first. Christian has fed tarpon before and we loved seeing the huge fish jump out of the water and take the fish out of his hand, but this time the entertainment was the birds.

After we were done with the tarpon we rode around the split some, just to see what’s going on. Then back to our apartment. I spent a little time editing videos and finally it was time to meet Susan’s plane. There happened to be another lady who lived on the island picking up her husband from the same flight. She and her husband are from Mississippi also and now own a lovely boutique inn on the beach called the PuraVida Inn. The plane was a little delayed so stood and chatted for a while. The small plane finally came in and we collected Susan. After she settled in we all headed to the split for lunch at Paradisio Cafe. After lunch we stopped at the local animal shelter run by the guy who also repairs bikes. John and Susan wanted to stop and talk so Christian and I were more than happy to play with the dogs and cats. I even got to bottle feed a 22 day old kitten who’d been abandoned by its mother! The next stop was the sports bar to officially sign up for the Lion Fish Derby on Saturday. We had some questions about the rules so we talked with Scott, the owner, for a while. Last stop was by the little dive shop to apprise Bert, our team captain, of all we had learned. John and Susan headed home while Christian and I couldn’t resist the call of the delicious gelato at the split. We sat on the crumbling sea wall and watched both the view and the mix of people for a while.

We finally headed home. We spent time at the pool relaxing and I worked more on videos. Lunch had ended up mid-afternoon so we didn’t want any supper. So a lazy night ended our lazy day. Tomorrow we are scheduled to go out to Turneffe to dive and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate. Lazy days here are just as fun as busy days – we haven’t seen a really bad day here yet!