Reality Check

Today is officially my last day in Belize. The time has flown by faster than ever before and it is extremely hard to believe that it's already time to come home. So many good times and memories that I will never forget have occurred over the last three months. From the time when we took our sailing trip to the remote and beautiful Turneffe atoll to our experience traveling through the Maya Mountains seeing tiny mayan villages and majestic rainforest waterfalls. They have all left me in awe of the true beauty, adventure, and wonder of Belize.

It will definitely not be an easy transition to go from the place where nearly everywhere you may look, it is as if you are looking at a picure perfect postcard or a photo from a magazine to a place where you see merely grey skies, snow, and extremely pale people (no offense to all of my friends back home). I have truly come to love this this "postcard" life, but I will be able to deal with this immense change as I have for every year of my life around this same time of the year.

Although I will miss this place and all of my friends down here, I am looking forward to seeing everyone from back home. It is just once again the stopping and continuation of my two lives; both of which have elements that make me who I am today. Anyway, adios until next year Belize.

Coldfront in Belize

The weather these last few days has changed dramatically. A coldfront has blown in from the north bringing gusting winds and much colder weather than I am used to. Last night going into town I had to put on my jeans and a sweatshirt for the first time since I have been here because it got down to the high 60's!! Although many of you out there suffering in the snow and really cold weather in other places may seem to think that this weather is warm, it's not.

After being in Belize for nearly three months, I have been adapted to weather in the high 80's to the low 90's. I find it amazing how the human body can adapt to it's enviroment and become accustomed to a certain temperature it is living in. I am definitely goning to have a hard time going back to snowy Cleveland in just over a week.

Boa

Last night, while my sister and my father were on a walk down the beach the ran into something very unexpected. My sister was walking a little infront of my dad and she saw a dark line that she thought was just a stick. The darkness inhibited her from seeing that it was actually a Boa Constrictor. My dad's flashlight shone on it and he realized what they had stumbled across. He pinned the snake's head down with a stick and picked it up carefully. Bringing it back to the house, he gave my mom quite a surprise. We measured it and it turned out to be just under five feet long. This just goes to show you that you never know what wildlife you could run into here in Belize.

Boogie In Belize

This is the third year that the Boogie in Belize skydiving trip has been going on here on Ambergris Caye. Groups of people from all over the world come here for nine days to do one thing, skydive. These daredevils seem to enjoy the breathtaking view visible from 13,000 above in which you can see seemingly endless ocean and countless carribean islands.

Although the popularity of the event has spread rapidly over the last few years, there has been a few accidents in which don't seem to bother the skydivers too much. Last year, there were several account of misguided divers landing far away from the landing site, often in the ocean. There was one man whose parachute did not open for some reason and he fell to ocean just infront of my house shattering every bone in his body, killing him upon impact and leaving a tangled mess of bones and flesh.

With the event just beggining a few days ago, there has already been an accident. A man was coming in for his landing right on target when he made a horrible mistake. Coming in way too close to the electric lines he hit them with his lower body. He fell 40 feet down to the ground onto his head and neck causing sparks on the power line and knocking the power out for northen Ambergris. His condition is unknown as of now.

These divers certainly know the risks of their sport and many of them take the necessary precautions to avoid injury or death. I was actually planning on going skydiving with the people from Boogie in Belize before my family witnessed the tradgedy and needless to say, my mom isn't very keen on the idea anymore. There's always next year!

Underwater Pics

I just took some pictures off of my sister's underwater camera and decided to post a few of them for all of you to check out.

- This is me getting a little closer to a spotted eagle ray about 30 feet under the surface

- This is a big Cubera Snapper

- This is a school of Blue-Striped Grunts hovering near some fire coral

Just Visiting

On our trip to the mainland a few weeks ago, we actually met up with an old friend of my sister's who she went to college with. It was just by chance that we stopped to get gas for our ride back home in a small gas station in Belmopan, that we saw him. Both my sister and her old schoolmate, Andrew Metcalfe, were amazed how they bumped into each other in such an odd place and situation.

After talking with Andrew for a while, our family invited him out to stay at our house on Ambergris Caye. He was excited for the chance to get away from the small village where he does some missions work with the children, and go on a weekend full of fun and relaxation.

Yesterday, Andrew arrived at our house in the afternoon. We got him aquainted with our town of San Pedro and took him out to dinner. Today we woke up at about seven, took some pictures of the sunrise (above), and went for a day on the boat. Driving down south a ways to Hol Chan marine reserve gave Andrew the chance to see some of the biggest and most "friendly" fish in the sea. Local guides have taught the fish to come up to snorkelers and be completely unafraid, looking for some food.

After going out to lunch on Caye Caulker, wen headed over to my favorite spearfishing spot, Coral Gardens. After being in the water for about an hour and a half, I had shot four good sized hogfish and a very good sized grouper. Andrew was just learning to spearfish and this was his first time. It felt good being able to teach him some things and show him how it's done. The most fulfilling part came when he shot his first fish. I really appreciated what I have learned over the years since I began spearfishing when I was six, and enjoyed showing my knowledge with Andrew.

My Jungle Adventure

Our trip to the southern part of Belize was one with some new experiences and old encounters. Driving through the Maya Mountains on the Hummingbird Highway was a beautiful way to begin our vacation with breathtaking views of the orange groves and small remote Mayan villages that provides the area with a rustic and quaint atmosphere.

The Lodge at Big Creek was a great resting place for us and the quick transition to the jungle atmosphere proved to be one of interest, curiosity, yet relaxing comfort. Our first day after our day of traveling, consisted of a morning kayak ride on the river surrounding our resort. The wildlife in the area was one thing that shocked me. Seeing so many different kinds of animals, vegetation, and flowers was intriguing.

The main activity of the day was a trip to a cave in the side of a mountain in which our local guide Isadoro knew everything about. He led us through the rainforest into the remote cave. He explained in his broke english thatr there are "wet caves" which have water running through them and "dry caves" which can be maneuvered without getting wet. Our cave was a wet cave. Very wet cave.

He gave us waterproof headlamps so we could have some light inside the cave. We jumped in the cold river water and began to swim. After getting about a quarter-mile in the cave my mom got sort of spooked by the entire surroundings and her and my father stayed behind while me and my sister traveled deeper into the earth. We ended up swimming into the cave about a half-mile encountering a waterfall, pure white blind fish, white caterpillars, and even white crayfish. The lack of light and life through the cave gave it an amazing feeling of solitude. Isadoro explained that the ancient Mayans used this cave for shelter and many artifacts were found inside.

The next day we traveled to a nearby city called Punta Gorda to go to the local market and chek out the town. The fisherman coming in with their catch from that morning and the farmers coming to seel their crops were very interesting sights. The day after this we met up with some people that I met last year. Stopping by to see my friend Jonesy and to visit his "cool spot" brought me back to memories of past years. All in all, I had a great time and experienced a lot of new things.