Laughing Bird Cay National Park and Lime Cay
It was definitely a 45 Sunblock day as the sun rose while we scouted the approach to Laughing Bird Caye. After the rivers we explored yesterday, today was our day for the islands or cays, as they are locally called, in the Mayan World. We had set today aside for some exploration, and to our pleasant surprise, we were greeted by the park ranger, whose name was Elvis, upon our arrival at this new destination. Could this be where Elvis has been hiding all these years?
He welcomed us warmly and gave us a briefing where the best diving and snorkeling could be found. The morning passed all too quickly as we lounged in the chairs and hammocks under the coconut trees and enjoyed the swimming and snorkeling off the beach.
During lunch we headed further south looking for another new cay to explore and finally landed on Lime Cay where we again set up our beach chairs for some swimming off the nearby beach. While exploring the island we found some orchids growing on the coconut trees, which we determined were a species of Brassivola orchid (see photo). Orchids are one of the most widespread members of the flowering plant family and are found widely in the tropics. Their minute seeds are transported on the wind and thus they are able to reach even the most remote destinations throughout the world including many habitats outside the tropical zone.
Reluctantly we returned to the ship after a day of warm sun and hardly any wind. An attempt to view the green flash at sunset was unsuccessful but the green flash cocktails provided by the hotel manager proved to be a fitting reward for our efforts.
It was definitely a 45 Sunblock day as the sun rose while we scouted the approach to Laughing Bird Caye. After the rivers we explored yesterday, today was our day for the islands or cays, as they are locally called, in the Mayan World. We had set today aside for some exploration, and to our pleasant surprise, we were greeted by the park ranger, whose name was Elvis, upon our arrival at this new destination. Could this be where Elvis has been hiding all these years?
He welcomed us warmly and gave us a briefing where the best diving and snorkeling could be found. The morning passed all too quickly as we lounged in the chairs and hammocks under the coconut trees and enjoyed the swimming and snorkeling off the beach.
During lunch we headed further south looking for another new cay to explore and finally landed on Lime Cay where we again set up our beach chairs for some swimming off the nearby beach. While exploring the island we found some orchids growing on the coconut trees, which we determined were a species of Brassivola orchid (see photo). Orchids are one of the most widespread members of the flowering plant family and are found widely in the tropics. Their minute seeds are transported on the wind and thus they are able to reach even the most remote destinations throughout the world including many habitats outside the tropical zone.
Reluctantly we returned to the ship after a day of warm sun and hardly any wind. An attempt to view the green flash at sunset was unsuccessful but the green flash cocktails provided by the hotel manager proved to be a fitting reward for our efforts.
