17 Jan - The Blue Hole--Part 1

17 Jan - The Great Blue Hole

This was a big day ... i'm going to dive The Blue Hole ... !
up at 5:30am and ready to catch the boat and, i was happy to see the early morning SunRise... because it poured hard all night long  ...

Some of you may have heard of The Great Blue Hole, or as it is usually called,  "The Blue Hole".   It is the WORLD's largest natural formation of its kind, and is a World Heritage Site of (UNESCO).   The Blue Hole is a sink hole, circular in shape, almost 1,000 ft across and 400 ft  deep.    It doesn't look any different from any other body of water from the surface ... but from the air ... this is what you see ...  (obviously these photos are from the internet, not me)

pretty awesome, huh?  
it's a very popular Dive Site ... people come from literally all over the world to dive it ... even from Australia !

The Blue Hole is located inside Lighthouse Reef Atoll about 60 miles off the coast of Belize.    The Atoll is 25 miles long and 10-12 miles wide, and encloses a beautiful blue water lagoon, 8-12 ft ... right in the middle of the 'deep blue'

There are 3 Atolls off the coast of Belize:   Lighthouse, Turneffe, and Glovers.

My very first Winter Adventure in 2010 took place at Glovers Atoll.   Most Atolls are formed by a sinking volcano, which leaves a ring of coral around the edges, with a shallow-water-hole in the middle.   the 3 Atolls of Belize are completely different from other Atolls in the rest of the Western Hemisphere; they are unusual in their origin.

These Atolls are a ring of coral that originally grew completely around the shoreline of an island, and which continued to grow upward on top of itself as the island subsided or eroded away.   The coral ring-reef of today outlines the shoreline of an ancient island that once existed at this location.

Many drop-offs surrounding the Atolls are thousands of feet deep, while depths in the shallow lagoons average 10-30 feet.

ok, enough of that .... back to The Blue Hole ...
many millions of years ago, it was once a cave with underground tunnels, whose ceiling collapsed as a result of a massive earthquake, then at the end of the Great Ice Age the glaciers melted and sea levels rose, filling the hole with water, 400' deep.

my trip:
the boat arrived from San Pedro with some divers and snorkelers already on it; they had fruit, juice, cinnamon bread and cheese for us to snack on during the 2hr journey.   we quickly passed over the reef and into the open water, which today was pretty rough because of the storm last night... but our 'able' Boat Captain, Darrel, was experienced and well-qualified to handle the waves

during the trip over open water Darrel pointed out a pod of jumping dolphins  :)
...i have a video but after 2 days of trying to upload it here, i'm giving up :(

then we entered Turneffe Reef, and it was beautiful turquoise and calm

then we were back out in the open water for awhile until we reached Lighthouse Reef ...

beautiful turquoise waters again, and we were 'inside' the circular Blue Hole ... although it didn't look any different than any other body of water  :(

140 ft is deep ... the deepest i'd been before is around 100 ft ... i wasn't concerned about it until the Dive Master gave us our briefing .. then i got a bit concerned about going that deep.   i asked if i had to go to 140, he said there would be a Dive Master at the end and i could stop anywhere along the way.    at 110 ft down is where the stalactites and the overhang starts; i could stop there if i didn't feel comfortable going under the overhang.   he explained because it is so deep, it is quite dark and there are few fish or coral, but we might possibly see a shark.

so we all got in the water, did an extra bouyancy check, gave the 'ok' sign, and we started descending.   we went slow, along side the sheer wall, so as to not disorient ourselves;

 

but it was amazing how quickly we were down to the ledge at 110',

 

it and it felt like any other dive, so i continued under the overhang :)

 

and floated along side of the stalactites

 

it was kinda 'eerie' ... and pretty amazing to think that this was once a massive cave formation high and dry above the surface of the sea, eons ago.

 

we did see a few Reef Sharks, but they were way deeper than we were !   ...

when breathing nitrogen at such depth, some people get what they call nitrogen narcosis, or 'narked' ... a little euphoric-tipsy-drunk ... i felt really relaxed ...

because of the depth, guidelines allow you to stay only 12 minutes from the time the first person arrived at the 130' mark, we would stay 10 minutes to be on the safe side ... so the dive doesn't last long, ...

before you know it, you are going back up along side the 'wall', which is not much more than algae .. i did see this SquirrelFish along the way ...

we did our decompression stop for 10min at 20ft because of the depth; this is usually done for 3min at 15ft  ... and we all returned to the boat safely  :)

back in the boat, we headed to our next dive; a shallower dive around 60' where there were lots of barrel sponges and coral ...

and we got a little closer look at a Reef Shark ...

and we did a 'swim through' ....

after this dive, we went to an island, called Half Moon Caye where we had a great lunch of chicken, rice and beans (of course), macaroni salad, and fruits.

more on the rest of the day in Part 2 ....

12 Jan - 'Lobster Pull' Tour

12 January - 'Lobster Pull' Tour

so you might be wondering ... 'are you having any fun?'  ... actually i really do enjoy fixing things, it is very stimulating, challenging, and rewarding !  

but, for what you might think of as 'fun' ...

around 7am Wilbur, Madi's brother, was preparing his boat to take some customers on a "Lobster Pull" tour that he offers.   he asked me if i wanted to come along.   i felt like i had not 'earned' a day off yet, but decided to go anyway  :)   ...   There were 4 girls from Argentina, only one spoke some English, 3 had never snorkeled before.   It was a fun day.

I helped Wilbur load the boat and we took off at 9am off the back side of the island where he pulled up a lobster trap and released 8-10 small baby lobsters.    explaining how they an get in, but can't get out.    we went a bit further and he gave instruction on snorkeling, fitted equipment, and they jumped in the water.   Wilbur forgot his fins   :(   ...  so he used mine, and i stayed in the boat and took photos of the girls.  he was spearing LionFish for our dinner.... he needed the fins!

i know i've told the 'story' about the LionFish before, so i won't go into detail again.   if anyone wants more info on the LionFish Envasion, email me  :)

After a 1/2 hr or so, we went to another snorkel site, and Wilbur continued to spear fish.... a Grey Snapper, a Red Grouper (which i have never seen), and an Atlantic SpadeFish (which i have never tasted).    i tried to snorkel without fins, but it isn't so easy for me, and almost impossible to dive down and take any photos.   eventually i got to use the fins and we traded back and forth.

Wilbur and the girls on the boat, with Frigate Birds flying overhead ... beautiful day!

here is some of the marine life we saw

Cushion Sea Star 

LionFish

Atlantic SpadeFish

PorkFish

Grey AngelFish

Juvenile Gray AngelFish

Spanish HogFish and many French Grunts

Wilbur cutting the venomous fins off the LionFish... very carefully... just touching the tips of these fins is extremely painful and could be fatal  :(

The Red Grouper ...

We went for a ride around another group of small islands...

...fed a Pelican large fish remains and watched him work it down his throat ...

...also fed the Frigate Birds and watched them catch the fish in mid-air ... they are known as 'pirate birds' because they are famous for stealing other birds food mid-air.

Then we went to Wilbur's Secret Lobster Spot, and he loaded the bucket with 12 lobsters!

...and we headed for our Dinner spot, where we had dropped off the grill in the morning ... and it was still there ... :)

i started cutting up veggies and Wilbur prepared the fish and cleaned the lobster; leaving 6 whole and, 6 tails, and then seasoned them and put them on the grill

we each had a lobster tail for an appetizer  .... this is 'living large'  :)

then we had wonderful veggies, fish fillets, lobster, and a roll ... with a sampling of LionFish to end the meal !

we ended the day with a beautiful Belizean SunSet

now, that was fun  !   
...i think i did a good job and hope i will be invited to assist again  :)

2015 Adventure has begun

My 2015 Adventure has begun

I am back on the island of Caye Caulker, off the coast of Belize

...staying at P.A.W. Animal Sanctuary with Madi, the owner, for my 5th year   :)

6 Jan -- I got out of Kalamazoo with a little less difficulty than last year, thankfully.     I had a delay leaving Kalamazoo, but ran to my connection in Chic, and arrived in Miami around 8pm; my luggage, however, was not as fast as i was.   I eventually collected my luggage and tried to recheck it to Belize, but i was told it wasn't possible; for the same reason? it could not be checked all the way through to Belize from Kalamazoo.  So i found a somewhat comfortable seat to spend the night.    around Midnight, i overheard something about the Auditorium on the 4th Floor.   Making my way there, this is what i found!

Nice surprise, compliments of American Airlines and Miami Airport  :)   I found my cot and tried to get some sleep.     although they gave us a pillow and blanket, and, i had a blanket of my own; i was still very cold for the 4 hours i tried to sleep.    Up at 4am and checked my luggage to Belize, wandered around the airport until the restaurants opened at 7am.   my original plan was to have a nice dinner last night, but since i had to collected my luggage, that became impossible.   so, i had a nice breakfast instead, Eggs Benedict a la Miami, with pineapple and mango salsa...and a Bloody Mary  :)

i arrived in Belize City on schedule, unfortunately, my luggage again was no where to be found.   They were able to track it with the luggage ticket (i actually had it) ... it was STILL sitting in Miami ... another flight had left for Belize and it wasn't on that flight either.   There may be something to be said about checking in TOO early  :(

Madi surprised me and met me at the Airport, it was good to visit and catch up with her on the taxi and water taxi rides out to Caye Caulker, before we arrived at all the 'craziness'.

my luggage was supposed to arrive the next day, but it took another day for some reason.    all of the traveling that i've done, and i don't recall having my luggage not arrive with me.   so i can't complain, and am VERY thankful that it did arrive.

it's hard to believe that i've been here 10 days already and am just starting my Blog ... :(

you might recall that last year while i was here, Madi was having major renovations ... adding a 10-bed dorm and small kitchen, where she and her mom used to live upstairs.    the 10-bed dorm, called the Sunshine Dorm, is now open and we're almost full every night.   She also has 3-bed and 4-bed Cabanas; and a small apartment with a kitchenette.    needless to say it is a LOT more work.   when i arrived she had 2 volunteers, 1 has left and another has arrived, but will be leaving soon.  

i've been doing my normal 'maintenance duties' around the cattery.   let's see, what have i accomplished?

--fixed 2 leaking toilets
--installed a magnetic latch on a door
--designed 4 toilet paper holders out of PVC pipe and a brace (regular ones are $$$)

--painted and installed braces to keep the doors closed (to keep the cats out)

--painted the small hanging shelf and hung a container for soap dispenser, to keep them from falling on the ground

--designed a type of 'splash-board' for the kitchen sink, another hanging soap dispenser, and a wire towel 'bar'

--installed hooks to hang pots and pans in the kitchen

--painting signs for 'trash' ... in English AND Spanish !

--fixed a light pull-chain that broke ... with DENTAL FLOSS !

--installed a light (definitely not up to code), so the stairs were not in total darkness  :)


i know this doesn't sound like a lot ... but everything takes longer here:  from deciding WHAT can be done cheaply; going from store to store attempting to find what i want; trying to find the tools i need in this disorganization;   (organizing this will be one of my projects!)

connecting and disconnecting extension cords from place to place from limited outlets; picking up and running when a downpour develops out of no-where; answering questions from guests; getting new 'requests' from Madi  :)

all in all ... i LOVE it !

26 Apr, Sat

THE LONG JOURNEY HOME

the problem with an afternoon flight is that there is a lot of waiting around .... i was mostly packed so i had little to do ....

i said my goodbyes to Mark, the Manager at Casa del Sol... it was really nice staying there ... and caught a taxi at 11am to the airport ...

the airport at Roatan is not very large, some of the major airlines just started flying in and out of there ... i imagine they will be enlarging their airport at some point to accommodate the extra traffic ... so, it's pretty busy, and the lines are long ... but since i have 'Priority Status' with my American Airlines Credit Card,  i got to go to the front of the line ... that was pretty sweet  :)

but i had a not-so-nice surprise when i got to Immigration.     it seems the 'yellow piece of paper' that was supposed to be attached to my Passport was missing ... i looked everywhere and searched my brain for where i might have put it.   .... i cannot imagine i would have removed a piece of paper that was stapled to my Passport and thrown it away ... but it was not there ... the only thing i can think of is that when i went to the bank (5times) to get money, i had to take my Passport ... at some point it must have fallen out ... the cost to replace this 'yellow piece of paper' ?????????   .... US$170 !!!   ....the nice girl petitioned the 'man in charge' to take pity on me, and got the fee lowered to US$80 ... still a huge unexpected expense  :(    ...do you suppose they split $60 and gave the $20 to the 'authorities'  ?

i also have TSA PreCheck on my records, so i don't have to take my shoes off going through security screening, .... however, that didn't stop them from doing a 'pat-down'  and scan on me ... and ... took my newly-purchased-water from me before i boarded the plane ... even though i purchased it after i went through security .... ack! ... the hassles of traveling ...

fortunately my flights were uneventful,  ....going through Immigration and Customs in Dallas/FtWorth was uneventful, ... they have a new computerized system for Immigration ... you scan your Passport, answer some questions and you're through ... you never even talk to an Immigration Officer .... this kind of made me sad ... i always feel really good when i return from a trip out of the country and the Immigration Officers says,  'Welcome Home' .... but that doesn't happen anymore   :(

my next flight was into Arkansas at 10pm, to an empty airport ... the plan is to sleep here in the airport until my 6am flight ... i've done this before, in fact, every time ... it's impossible to leave Central America in the afternoon and arrive in Chicago in time to catch the last flight to Kzoo ... so i have to spend the night somewhere .... so i search for a flight that gets in late somewhere, and leaves early the next morning ... so i walked through the airport looking for some comfortable chairs or benches to sleep on .... then i saw these ... aren't they cute ??????? ... this is perfect !

Cute People-Chairs

i got situated with my blanket, just as the Maintenance Guy cleaning the floors asked me if i understood that i 'cannot stay here overnight' .... i know i've done this before; but things change. 

long story short ...i could not stay inside the 'secured' area ... i needed to go to the other side and talk to the TSA Officer ... who gave me a cot, a blanket, and a pillow, with a pillow cover ...   so i slept here .......

my alarm clock battery died, so i woke up about every hour, because i was afraid i would miss my flight, and then got up around 3:30am when things started 'happening' in preparation for the first flights ...

my flight into Chicago was uneventful as well ... i had some time to kill, so i visited their Aeroponic Gardens, this is a process similar hydroponics in which the plant's roots are misted with water    ...the lettuce and other vegetables grown are served at airport restaurants ... it's impressive ....

if you find yourself with time in Chicago airport, check it out ... they also have very nice quiet tech stations set up, and a yoga/meditation room available ...

my wonderful sister picked me up in Kzoo and took me to lunch and then home ... where i tackled the chore of cleaning up the limbs, branches, and twigs still in my yard from the December Ice Storm ....  :(

i'm home, safely, from my 2014 Winter Adventure, so ... this is my last post, and i agree, it's pretty boring .... sorry ... :(

thank you all for your notes and emails while i was gone .... it means a lot to me to get them ... and helps to keep me 'connected' to you all ...

until next time ... stay happy and healthy !