Belize
The last day in our fascinating exploratory expedition through the reefs and rivers of the Maya world saw us, for one more day, in the unique country of Belize. This is a small, slender country that sits on the southeast side of the Yucatan Peninsula: at 8866 square miles it is just slightly smaller than New Hampshire. It has a tiny population, just about 250,000 inhabitants, of very varied origins: Maya, Mestizo, African and European. Notwithstanding its size, it has an incredible variety of ecosystems: from tropical rainforests (of which maybe as much as 75% are absolutely pristine) to coastal plains and mangrove marshes.
The jewel in Belize’s crown might just be the system of coral reefs and offshore cays (pronounced keys) – an assortment of tiny, small and mid-sized coralline islands, fringed with mangroves and palms.
Belize is home to the world’s second largest barrier reef; second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and in addition to this has a great many little islands and the offshore atolls, which make up over 550 kilometres of reef. This reef system can be likened to magical, otherworldly gardens, as one is immersed in forests of deep-water gorgonians, large brain and staghorn corals and a great variety of other beautiful plant-like corals. Alongside these fascinating animals is a more primitive one, the sponge. These are particularly spectacular due to their size and colour, which can range from browns and greys to vibrant shades of red, orange, green and purple. The first time I dived amongst these strange creatures I was blown away by their beauty, and thought how blessed I was to have lived to see this! These corals and sponges make up the perfect, protected habitat for a great many colourful reef fish; in fact there are over 500 species in this area. These range from the smaller, shy reef inhabitants such as the graceful butterfly fish, the queen and French angelfish, squirrelfish, surgeonfish, trumpet fish and sergeant majors, to larger fish such as the Jewfish, several ray species and some innocuous (to us at least!) shark species, one of which was spotted by our intrepid snorkelers this afternoon.
We started off the day bright and early with kayak and Zodiac tours along Manatee River, through the dense mangrove forests and swamp forests typical of coastal Belize. The river lived up to its name and offered us several glimpses of this peaceful and odd-looking mermaid of the aquatic world.
During the afternoon we repositioned to Goff’s Cay, a virtual caricature of an islet, made up of coralline sand and palm trees, which offered us spectacular SCUBA diving and snorkelling. The trip was brought to an unforgettable end by beers and sodas in front of a striking sunset – we remained on land, on our very own desert island, until dark compelled us to return to the Sea Voyager for farewell cocktails.
The last day in our fascinating exploratory expedition through the reefs and rivers of the Maya world saw us, for one more day, in the unique country of Belize. This is a small, slender country that sits on the southeast side of the Yucatan Peninsula: at 8866 square miles it is just slightly smaller than New Hampshire. It has a tiny population, just about 250,000 inhabitants, of very varied origins: Maya, Mestizo, African and European. Notwithstanding its size, it has an incredible variety of ecosystems: from tropical rainforests (of which maybe as much as 75% are absolutely pristine) to coastal plains and mangrove marshes.
The jewel in Belize’s crown might just be the system of coral reefs and offshore cays (pronounced keys) – an assortment of tiny, small and mid-sized coralline islands, fringed with mangroves and palms.
Belize is home to the world’s second largest barrier reef; second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and in addition to this has a great many little islands and the offshore atolls, which make up over 550 kilometres of reef. This reef system can be likened to magical, otherworldly gardens, as one is immersed in forests of deep-water gorgonians, large brain and staghorn corals and a great variety of other beautiful plant-like corals. Alongside these fascinating animals is a more primitive one, the sponge. These are particularly spectacular due to their size and colour, which can range from browns and greys to vibrant shades of red, orange, green and purple. The first time I dived amongst these strange creatures I was blown away by their beauty, and thought how blessed I was to have lived to see this! These corals and sponges make up the perfect, protected habitat for a great many colourful reef fish; in fact there are over 500 species in this area. These range from the smaller, shy reef inhabitants such as the graceful butterfly fish, the queen and French angelfish, squirrelfish, surgeonfish, trumpet fish and sergeant majors, to larger fish such as the Jewfish, several ray species and some innocuous (to us at least!) shark species, one of which was spotted by our intrepid snorkelers this afternoon.
We started off the day bright and early with kayak and Zodiac tours along Manatee River, through the dense mangrove forests and swamp forests typical of coastal Belize. The river lived up to its name and offered us several glimpses of this peaceful and odd-looking mermaid of the aquatic world.
During the afternoon we repositioned to Goff’s Cay, a virtual caricature of an islet, made up of coralline sand and palm trees, which offered us spectacular SCUBA diving and snorkelling. The trip was brought to an unforgettable end by beers and sodas in front of a striking sunset – we remained on land, on our very own desert island, until dark compelled us to return to the Sea Voyager for farewell cocktails.
