Swimming with manatees

I lost my flip-flops! I loved those flip-flops, now I have some crappy, cheap pair. You'd think on a tropical island off the coast of Belize they'd sell some decent flip-flops. It's not like anyone wears anything else. It's either flip-flops or barefoot. Pretty damn lame if you ask me. I left mine on some deserted stretch of sand about an hour away from town by kayak. Didn't realize I had left them until I was all the way back. Tempted to go get them the next day, but figured the tide would have washed them out to see. So sad. I loved those flip-flops :(

No beaches on the island, nothing but muck and sea grass actually. Even kayaking around the mangrove forests along the northern part of the key there was nothing but sea grass and muck. The kayaking was great fun, the snorkeling... not so much. Plus I lost my flip-flops. The island was slow and relaxed. They have a motto actually, written on store signs and walls around the town, “Go Slow”. They certainly do that. It was the down season, so “slow” was bordering on comatose. Not that I minded, a club person I am not, and there were a few bars around and some others in the hostel to go have a few beers with. So that was good enough for me.

The snorkeling out at the reef was a different experience entirely. It took a boat ride to do it, sailboat actually, but we did finally make it out past the sea grass and muck. And to the most spectacular reef! We swam with manatees, and sharks. Sea turtles, and stingrays. Barracuda and tarpon... The manatees would have fit in well at Caye Caulker. Though I'm told they can swim surprisingly fast, these two sure didn't. Just cruised along, neither particullarly interested nor annoyed by the seven snorkelers that kept following them around. Occasionally they'd get far enough away to disappear into the haze only to turn around and lazily cruise right back. A very memorable experience. Such peaceful animals.

The sharks to didn't seem to mind us either. At least not until our guide grabbed one by the dorsal and pectoral fins for us to touch. That one minded, not enough to bite, but enough to struggle free pretty quickly. Just as well, I know they are fed by the tour guides to keep them around, but actually grabbing them goes a bit too far. Still, it was unhurt and probably just a bit irritated. If it wanted to it could leave the area. But the food is too good, and if that means getting grabbed every now and then, I guess that is the choice it made...

The reef here off the cayes is an actual reef. I was disappointed by the snorkeling in Cozumel, but here... incredible. Brain coral, branching coral, all different colors and inhabited by fish even more varied and colorful. The guide was quick to point out the fire coral. And I successfully fought the urge to see just how painful this “fire” coral is anyway. I mean, I'm a tough guy, I could take it right? Dunno, and not gonna find out. At least not on purpose. Guess I'm getting old, there was a time when I definitely would have tested it. Hell I still can't resist touching an electric fence, just to see how big a shock it is (this varies tremendously from fence to fence by the way.) Meh, I've seen enough national geo's to know better than to touch fire coral.