Un-Belize-able!
Okay I know its a cheesy title but just go with me.
Last night was pretty rough. All through dinner the boat was swaying and it only got worse. I woke up around 3am and it was crazy. The boat was really rocking. I looked out the window and it sort of liked like we were passing through a storm. I didn’t feel bad but I took a few more draminine and went back to sleep. This morning at breakfast the captain came on the speaker to let us know the weather was awful and at one point we were running 2 hours behind. The crew had managed to make up some time and by like 8am we were only half an hour behind schedule. We finally arrived in Belize around 8:30ish and in the process I’m pretty sure we ran aground.
Around 8:30 we headed to the theater to wait for our catamaran. It was close to an hour before we were able to get off the boat to head out for our snorkeling distination. Before we got off the boat you could tell the water looked amazing but omg! I never imagined just how beautiful everything would be.
It took about 20 minutes for us to get to the reef for snorkeling. We passed through a channel lined with mangroves. There were even some houses scattered around. Unfortunately the waters were pretty rough at the reef and the water was cloudy. Matt and I snorkeled for maybe 20 minutes before heading back to the boat. While we were in the water I managed to kick some coral, on accident of course, but owie. It definitely did not feel good. We saw some pretty fish, a few barracuda, and a large string ray.
Back on the boat we drank some rum punch and waited for the rest of the family to return. I also took like a million pictures. You just can’t even imagine how gorgeous the waters were. They were beautiful shades of turquoise. From the top of the catamaran you could see this neon blue strip of water snaking through all the way to the horizon.
When everyone was back on board we headed to our second stop at banister island. On the way we had a couple of dolphins come up beside the boat and play in the wake. I had a perfect shot of one but I missed it. Matt handed me the small camera but I couldn’t get the strap on my arm in time. 🙁
We pulled up to banister island and it was like heaven on earth. There were little thatched roofed huts, beach chairs, a gift shop, restrooms and a restaurant. Of course this the island had been reenforced but it was perfect. We grabbed a few beach chairs, set our stuff down and went off to take pictures. I feel like I could have taken pics for days. Every where you looked liked like it should be on a post card. There was even talk of missing the boat and staying forever. 😉 After about an hour or so we had to leave to head back to the port.
Once we were in the port city of Belize City we went to the Wet Lizard for lunch. The food was really good. Then we headed to the shops. Yay! The first thing I noticed was the rows and rows of fake handbags! Score! I think I walked in every store looking for the perfect bag. Finally at the last store I knew I had to pick one if I was going to get one because we were running out of time. I managed to find an amazing Prada bag. I probably overpaid a little but thats okay. I love it. 🙂 After I bargained for my bag we hoped on the tender and headed back to the boat. Everyone was pretty exhausted so we all headed back to our rooms for a nap.
As Matt and I were laying down we heard this really loud noise. It was the boat trying to back up. I think it took almost half an hour for the boat to finally start moving hence the I think we ran aground. When I finally woke from my nap we were back at sea.
Tomorrow we will stop in Roatan.
~k