Sapodilla Range and Placencia Peninsula, Belize
During the night, we slipped away from our anchorage in Honduras and silently entered the country of Belize. The barrier reef lies almost 40 miles away from the mainland of Belize and is shaped like a great hook as the Caribbean deepens into the bay of Honduras. On the shank of the hook lies six gems – high coral sand cayes, most of which are occupied by fishermen. We were about to experience some of the best snorkeling that Belize has to offer. Bright blue-bell tunicates clung in round balls to the tips of soft corals, and my favorite Caribbean fish, the spotted drum, appeared to be everywhere.
After returning to the ship to happily munch on fresh baked pizza of every flavor, we re-positioned the ship a little to the west and discovered a new snorkeling site. This was undoubtedly the best that I have seen in these waters. The water clarity was outstanding as was the abundance of living corals, other invertebrate life and fish! Iridescent purple sea fans rose up to meet us. Patches of boulder coral intermixed with elkhorn and staghorn coral, went on as far as we could see. Hungry hordes of blue tang descended on the reef to graze on their favorite alga. “Look over here, a yellow stingray!”, followed by “Look, look, a huge barracuda!” We crisscrossed madly from one sighting to the next as we listened to the cries from our fellow snorkelers. It was difficult to leave this magical place.
On the move once more, the Sea Lion pushed on this time towards the southern mainland of Belize to the peninsula of Placencia. By late afternoon, we were anchored off the finest beach that Belize has to offer, and the north end of the village of Seine Bight. The people who live here are also the friendliest. The Garifuna make up about 6.6% of the population of Belize and are a unique racial blend of escaped African slaves and Caribbean Island Indians. Some of the younger members of this settlement under the excellent tutelage of Ms. Maudie graciously invited us to share in an evening of song and dance. It was difficult to resist moving to the ancient rhythm of the drums. Soon, we were shuffling our bare feet in the warm sand while trying to keep up with the sensual sway of our young dancers’ hips. Reluctantly, we pulled ourselves away to continue our sojourn of the reefs and rivers of the Mayan world.
During the night, we slipped away from our anchorage in Honduras and silently entered the country of Belize. The barrier reef lies almost 40 miles away from the mainland of Belize and is shaped like a great hook as the Caribbean deepens into the bay of Honduras. On the shank of the hook lies six gems – high coral sand cayes, most of which are occupied by fishermen. We were about to experience some of the best snorkeling that Belize has to offer. Bright blue-bell tunicates clung in round balls to the tips of soft corals, and my favorite Caribbean fish, the spotted drum, appeared to be everywhere.
After returning to the ship to happily munch on fresh baked pizza of every flavor, we re-positioned the ship a little to the west and discovered a new snorkeling site. This was undoubtedly the best that I have seen in these waters. The water clarity was outstanding as was the abundance of living corals, other invertebrate life and fish! Iridescent purple sea fans rose up to meet us. Patches of boulder coral intermixed with elkhorn and staghorn coral, went on as far as we could see. Hungry hordes of blue tang descended on the reef to graze on their favorite alga. “Look over here, a yellow stingray!”, followed by “Look, look, a huge barracuda!” We crisscrossed madly from one sighting to the next as we listened to the cries from our fellow snorkelers. It was difficult to leave this magical place.
On the move once more, the Sea Lion pushed on this time towards the southern mainland of Belize to the peninsula of Placencia. By late afternoon, we were anchored off the finest beach that Belize has to offer, and the north end of the village of Seine Bight. The people who live here are also the friendliest. The Garifuna make up about 6.6% of the population of Belize and are a unique racial blend of escaped African slaves and Caribbean Island Indians. Some of the younger members of this settlement under the excellent tutelage of Ms. Maudie graciously invited us to share in an evening of song and dance. It was difficult to resist moving to the ancient rhythm of the drums. Soon, we were shuffling our bare feet in the warm sand while trying to keep up with the sensual sway of our young dancers’ hips. Reluctantly, we pulled ourselves away to continue our sojourn of the reefs and rivers of the Mayan world.
