Sailing Adventure down the Belizian Coast

The other day someone asked me how long it took Laura and I to plan our trip. I wasn't exactly sure how to answer this. We had been talking about it since January, discussing which countries we were planning to hit up and figuring out which flights we needed to buy. But besides that we didn't really do much planning. Our style of traveling pretty much involves a plan-as-we-go method. We work one country at a time - only looking ahead one country as we go. So when we were in Honduras we began making our plans for Belize. The only thing we knew for sure we would do was Caye Caulker. While reading her trusty Lonely Planet Laura came upon an incredible sounding 3 day/2 night sailing trip down the coast of Belize.  The tour company operating the trip is called Raggamuffin, which just happens to be what Laura's mom called her when she was a little girl. We took this to be an obvious sign that we needed to book this trip!

 The night before departure we met at the office for a quick briefing. We found the "alcohol lecture" the funniest part of the briefing notes. One would think that maybe they would ask you to watch your consumption, etc.... Nope. In fact it was quite the opposite. Verbatim from the sheet, "From our experience half the crowd will be the alcoholics and half the non-alcoholics and at this stage it doesn't matter who is who. However, when you get to the camp sites those who could identify themselves as the party animals can quickly see who is not indulging as much as yourselves. We request that you take note and remember to respect those persons with regard to not harassing them whilst you enjoy yourselves...don't try to 'tempt' them to get as drunk as you!!" Haha. Well the Rum Punch was flowing heavily throughout the trip and while no one was harassing the non-drinkers, it did take some encouragement to get even the party animals to drink too much of this sugary cocktail!

Ragga King

The trip was incredible! We rode on a 40ft sail boat called the Ragga King.  Designed as an island hopping adventure for people who wanted to experience an uninhabited Caribbean paradise, we spent our days sailing for two hours at a time and taking several breaks to fish, snorkel and swim. We could not have asked for better weather! There was not a cloud int he sky for most days! This was both good and bad... When we were in Greece and Croatia Laura was all about the sun. She doesn't believe in SPF over 15 and never laid in the shade. When we went to London and Honduras with my fam, I was glad to have a break from the sun as I felt my body couldn't handle any more sun (even with regular applications of SPF 30). Laura on the other hand was sad to leave the beach and could not wait to return! Well, on this trip I also learned that even Laura has a sun limit! After the first day in the sun - we were all exhausted! We spent the next day maneuvering our bodies to get into the shade of the sails.

Tobacco Caye - look how small it is!!

After a day full on the sea we spent each night camping on the beach. The first night we slept in the most beautiful location! Our own private island, Rendezvous Caye, was literally so small that our 7 tents took up the entire thing! The second night we slept on a slightly more inhabited island, Tobacco Caye, but that's not really saying much as the first island had a population of 0 (17 when we were docked).

standing on the dock of the island

our new travel buddies Chole and Gail

Rendezvous Caye

 Our group consisted of 6 single ladies, 4 couples and 3 crew. We met some really amazing people and got a lot of advice for the rest of our trip! In additional we gained two new traveling buddies, Chole and Gail from South Africa, who will be joining us for the rest of our Central American journey!!

our group

going out in Placencia with the single ladies from the trip

Attack of the Killer Eel!

After some time on the mainland, Laura and I decided it was time to return to our island living life style. So we headed to the Caye (pronounced key) Caulker - a small coral island off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea. The island has all sand roads and measures about 5 miles (north to south) by less than 1 mile (east to west). In recent years the island has become a popular destination for backpackers and other tourists. There are over 30 tiny hotels, and a number of restaurants and shops along 3 main parallel streets: Front Street (on the beach), Mid Street, and Back Street.

As I just got my scuba certification in Roatan I was eager to get back in the water! A main attraction of diving in Belize is the opportunity to explore the famed Blue Hole. It lies in the middle of the Lighthouse Reef a small atoll 70 kilometres (43 mi) from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 metres (984 ft) across and 124 metres (407 ft) deep (which gives the hole its deep blue color). The dive trips were def out of our backpacker budget but we decided go by Laura and her friend Parker's moto of YOLO (You Only Live Once). Plus I decided if this was something we HAD to do in Belize, it would be cheaper to do it now than it would be to return to Belize.

The walls are sheer from the surface until a depth of approximately 110 feet where you encounter stalactite formations which was to me the coolest part of the dive as we got to weave in and out of the massive overhangs. At 150 feet below both Laura and I felt it was SUPER cold - but later our dive master told us it was really 75 degrees Fahrenheit. haha! That just tells you how warm the water is here! After the Blue Hold we went to two other dive sites. The second dice at Half Moon Caye Wall was our favorite of the 3 dive day as we saw the most animals.

Today we went on a half day snorkel tour. As I am running out of time at our Internet cafe I must be quick but here are two stories of the day worth mentioning:

The first is how this entry got its name. So I decided to innocently dive down to have Laura take the following picture of me under water. Next thing I know everyone was screaming at me.... Having NO clue why they were yelling I turn to the side and am face to face with a HUGE Green Moray Eel. It was literally less than 3 inches away from me bearing its BIG teeth. I immediately began to join in the screaming and shot to the surface faster than I have EVER swum before. At the top the lady leading the tour first asked if I was bit (bc everyone thought I was for sure a goner) and then later told me eels are very territorial and if you head down in their area they will attack. Good to know!

Our second site was called Sting Ray Alley and was SOOOO INCREDIBLE!! As soon as our boat arrived at the site, we were swarmed by stingrays and nurse sharks just coming right too you! Here are some pics.

Tomorrow we leave Caye Caulker to go on a 3-day sailing trip down the coast of Belize to Placencia. We will be snorkeling, fishing, and relaxing by day and camping at little islands along the way at night. It should be a LOT of fun and I can't wait to report back.