Wednesday, April 10th, 2019, Belize

Day 12 of Mayan Discovery by G-adventures tour

Todays G-adventures itinerary:

“Spend the day exploring Caye Caulker and the marine life in the area.

Opt to snorkel with stingrays, nurse sharks and green turtles at Hol Chan Marine Reserve, go diving in Blue Hole National Park, take a flight over the Blue Hole and coral reef, rent a bike, or just chill out, Belizean style.

Your Discover Moment: Caye Caulker; Full Day
There’s plenty to see and do in Caye Caulker, and we wanted to make sure that you had some time to take it all in. Feel free to relax or try optional activities like snorkelling, sea kayaking, and sailing. Your CEO has more ideas if you need them. Just ask!”

Not a lot of discussion. We all want to do a full day snorkelling tour since the beach on Caye Caulker is not so impressive.

Pilot Ben told us, that scuba diving in the blue hole is not cool, you go endless with the boat (3 hrs), then dive, then back for 250 USD. The island we walked or ran already, nobody opts for the sunset sailing.

So Lola organizes, as always without friction, with Raggamaffin tours a boat, the Raggamaffin Queen, to leave at 9:35 am (somehow Lola is developing a x:35 tick), go to 3 different snorkelling spots, have lunch and ceviche onboard and of course rum punsch as much as you can drink. She tries to get a catamaran, but unfortunately this is blocked. Snorkelling equipment is included for 75 USD pP. Strictly forbidden to take the Taiwanese hotel towels out of the room (25 USD fine), of course.

We look for a breakfast place, which serves oatmeal. We walk around the small village until we find a place right next to our hotel (Namaste restaurant). They do smoothies with oatmeal and are flexible enough to just cook it with water. We order oatmeal, fruit bowls, yoghurt with nuts, bread and coconut marmalade, coffee (caffeine, too, nice, they refill), very delicious. The coffee is made of beans. Prices are like in Vienna.

Then we walk to raggamaffin tours at the beach, check out fitting fins and masks/snorkels.The boat guide takes us to the other side of the island to show us a salt water crocodile – the respect of the locals is not the same as in Australia.

Then he shows us some Tarpons (fish) from a boat landing stage. If you rub your fingers 20 cm over the water the Tarpon jump and grab. They are huge. They are many. I try it. They donot bite, just suck a little bit. So, I try with the cell phone. Fabulous idea.

A 5 kgs Tarpon jumps and sucks unexpected vigorously to my telephone – cell phone gone. Fortunately he cannot swallow. I see the cell phone sinking to the ground. The Tarpons circle around and try to eat it. I ask the guide what will happen if I jump in, he smiles and says: “Nothing.”. I donot know if shall believe.

30 people standing around looking at me or my shiny cell phone in the water. The guide smiles. I follow fish & cell phone into the water, fight the fish swarm in a life or death fight and get out of the water with my cell phone again. The guide still smiles and tells me this never happened before and the croc was just around the corner without any other emotion. The cell phone works and detects water in the charging port.

Teaching out of this story:
1. It is always good to have a water proof phone
2. Always be Tarzan
3. If it gets embarrassing, pretend you are German

It would have been a bad situation to loose a cell phone where all your 3 months journeys tickes are on …

Fucking fish, tonight I am gonna order you in the restaurant – slow cooked, stuffed with something disgusting, I donot like at all …

We walk to the boat and leave the harbour. Smaller boat brings us to small boat, lots of people but not to many on the sailing ship. Enough shadow. Captain Slain (Ragga Rasta Style) …

… does a ragga security briefing, dude.

Girls go fry in the sun.

Then Captain Slain brings us to the first coral reef, tells us 20 min before arrival to put on sun screen and we snorkel. Life vests are optional.I go with the group, able to swim. Suoer clear blue water, very little drift and waves, shallow water. Lots of fish, intact corals (unexpected, they put everybody into the water, regardless if the are able to swim or snorkeled before.

We snorkel 30 min or so …

After snorkeling we roast in the sun on the upper deck.

Second snorkelling at shark point.

Lunch and roast in the sun.

Third snorkelling point – Coral gardens.

Roast in the sun with shrimp ceviche and rum punsch (90 % sugar). It is all very unstressed and slow, like everything else on Caye Calker. Donot go there if you are in a hurry.

At 4:30 PM we are back in the Enjoy hotel. Shower in the water fog to get the salt water off (which needs some time with this amount of water, fortunately they built, according to the noise, a 2 horsepower ventilation in the bathroom which activates with the light immediately, which air pressure blows of every humidity, cause by the showers fog or salt from your body as turned on).

Then we go with Laurens watch the sundowner at the split, drink some beer at the crazy lizard, meet the others for dinner.

We go to enjoy restaurant – sit beside the barbecue and get smoked and bitten by the endemic caye caulke monster mosquito. The barracuda filet, whole snapper, chicken is fine. There is not a lot of choice (kingfish and lobster out of season, side dish only coconut rice and cooked mixed veggies), price gets added 10 % tax, we pay 77 belizean dollars = 39 usd. For the fish portion ok. The chicken was not worth the kill.

Nobody serves Tarpon, bloody fish, somewhen I’ll get you anyway.

Christian and I go to a bar for some beer. Then this crazy raggamaffin faoam party starts suddenly. we sing the whole night Take that song in duet karaoke. the raggamuffins go totally crazy. No fotos, buy my record.

Accommodation Enjoy Hotel