Big Creek and Placencia

The day dawned clear and warm again, and with many people hopeful. The rejiggered schedule featured many options: folks could go to Placencia directly and spend the day on their own walking the board walk and being on the beach; they could proceed as planned to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary for one of two different hikes or for bird watching; or they could stay on the ship (always an option). In the afternoon, we would proceed to a different site where folks could snorkel, less than an hour from Placencia which was reachable by tender boats and would allow the Captain to make the repairs needed. It looked like a great day.

Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is a preserve for the big cats. Belize is home to five large cat species, most famously the jaguar, and all five can be found in the park. Of course, folks were very disappointed when I noted that we'd be unlikely to see a jaguar during our visit -- after all, we were going during the day and with twenty people crashing through the understory.... well, let's just say, if I were a jaguar, I'd keep scarce too. Not sure why this didn't occur to any of them.

Those of us headed off for hiking had the early departure. Given my previous day, I was up for the most rigorous day I could cobble, and I hoped to do it all -- hike, snorkel, and hit the town. Cockscomb was a beautiful start.

We were headed for the waterfall on the rigorous hike, so folks could swim and enjoy nature's bounty.

Stunning, no? The twisty vine left-of-center is a water vine, known for being a great repository of water. There are lots of stories of intrepid explorers using these to stay hydrated.

Hot lips! That's really how this plant is known.

This is copál, an aromatic. It's been used for millennia for a variety of needs, from insect repellant to incense.

 Yup, a tarantula! While it was really quite cool to see one in the wild on our path, we gave it a very wide berth. *shiver*  I really don't like spiders, even little, fuzzy orange ones.

 We were warned! The path was in great shape and really wasn't bad, except for the part right by the waterfall. That was steep and rocky, but if you took it slow, there were lots of footholds and it was quite passable. However, I wouldn't want to do it in the rain -- that would be treacherous.

 Stunning palms, no? We were cruising down the path, headed back, but something made me stop and look up, then take literally a minute to grab a couple of quick snaps. The light was just lovely.  

 No dangerous creatures on the way back, but we did spy a crested guan, like a wild turkey, in one of the trees. That was fun.

After the sanctuary, we stopped at the Maya Center, a Maya women's cooperative for textiles and beaded jewelry. Tons of beautiful work -- that was hard.

 On the bus, we passed more banana plantations, and I had the camera ready this time. Most of the bananas produced in Belize for commercial consumption are destined for the European markets and shipped to Antwerp. Fascinating.

 Belikin is the national beer of Belize. I liked the stout, which is dark, but not as heavy as Guiness. 

After lunch, snorkeling! We headed to the Lark Caye Range. Experienced snorkelers went first, followed by the intermediates. Those of us who hadn't been in a while or had never been, we called ourselves novice and took a third boat. We went specifically to Lazy Caye, which is barely visible above the water, but has a seagrass bed below. This proved perfect for folks to learn or to gain a bit of confidence. When we disembarked, we could stand. But we could move off to areas easily where we couldn't stand, but knew that "land" was close by. We had incredible guides with tremendous patience -- ours were from the company of the ship's pilot, and several people praised them to our expedition leader. It was a very comfortable environment, and was an incredibly wonderful experience.

 I was sitting next to one passenger who hadn't been snorkeling in twenty years and was rather afraid. I apparently was very convincing, and she did great! She moved to intermediate after the one experience. I panicked until I got my face in the water, and then all was good. From panic to the last one back on the boat. Yup, that was me. (And yes, I was in intermediate after that too.)

 About the only underwater picture I have! My camera did great in Galápagos, but wouldn't download the pictures when I got back. They replaced the camera, and this one wouldn't write to the card. I cleaned it out once back, but now it won't turn on. :(   I'm very sad. So, unfortunately, I have no snorkeling photos from this trip, so can't prove that I found the giant lobster. It was so cool!

This was our ship, the M/V Yorktown. We had just left on our way to the cayes. She's about twice as big as the ship I was on last summer.

Exhilarated, we motored back to the boat. A bunch of us were hoping to get into Placencia and see the town too. Unfortunately, it took a long time to get onto the boat -- a group was leaving to go ashore as we got there and then they had trouble with the platforms and our tenders. We got the five minute call to the last shore tender as we got out of the showers. Interestingly, we all made the same assessment, as we found out during cocktail hour -- standing there dressed with wet heads and a five minute warning, we all said, well..... So, I missed Placencia, sadly. Guess I'll have to go back. (Turns out, some of the ship's crew were on that tender blocking our way aboard. And apparently they'd been looking for me to get me to go ashore with them. Too bad!)

And even though the part didn't fit, the mood aboard the ship was decidedly happier and more pleasant that evening.