Spaying's a Breeze When You're in Belize: New Adventures!

The James bus that I rode from Punta Gorda to Independence.

Saturday May 3, 2014

So the adventure begins… very early this morning! Got up at 4am (after waking up a billion times during the night to avoid oversleeping…) to get ready to leave. The rain had stopped (yahoo!!!) and I walked down the street, around the corner and up one block to one of the main streets to wait for a bus. I had read on Trip Advisor that riding the bus from PG to Placencia (via Independence) was cheap, fun and just added to the adventure. So I decided to do it!

The Hokey Pokey Water Taxi

The bus was to “leave” at 5am…does that mean from the station, then it circles town and leaves or does that mean it circles town then leaves town at 5am. So, dragged my luggage to the corner by 4:40am, of course, it was not light yet (but there are street lights in this area) and started the wait. And what a wonderful wait it was! The birds singing as it gradually dawned were phenomenal! The noise was practically deafening. And the variety of sounds was amazing! One bird has a huge repertoire (maybe related to our mockingbird or mynah bird?) and went through a series of calls that sounded like a car alarm going off! (If the bird had not been sitting in the tree over my head, I might have thought that it was a car alarm!) Anyway, I heard the bus coming about 5:10, as it approaches; you just wave your arm and the bus stops. I did, and it did!

For the next two hours the bus stopped for anyone that waved their arm, single persons, small group or large group. Some were going a short distance, some long. There are no rules about all passengers being seated and at times the seats were all full and the aisle was packed with folks standing the entire length. There were old folks, moms carrying infants, and everything in between. I was the only non native in the bunch.

Going through the water way to Placencia

The bus stops for a short break in Independence which is where I got off. Then a short taxi ride to the Hokey Pokey Water Taxi! Placencia (my final destination… for now) is at the end of a very long peninsula and the road is extremely rough. So most people take the water taxi! Off we went through the waterways, among the cayes (small islands) of mangrove trees, across the lagoon and into Placencia. It takes about 15 minutes. I finally arrived! Total cost: bus was B$9, taxi B$5, water taxi B$10, for a total of B$24 or $12US!! Definitely cheaper and more fun and adventurous than taking the plane!

The Hokey Pokey going back to Independence

Linda, an acquaintance of my pal Alison back home, picked me up at the water taxi. We have emailed and talked on the phone a few times and already felt like best friends. After a quick hug, we loaded my gear and headed into the little town. Linda and her husband, Charlie, own a home as well as a rental house. (in fact, in March World Vets rented their Decked Out House while they were doing a spay/neuter clinic in the area! What a small world!). I am staying at their house in the guest cottage for a couple of days. They are actually from western WA and are heading back in July for a few months.

Linda and their wonderful dog, Buddy. We went for a walk along the beach before going back to town for dinner.

After a quick pit stop, smoothie and gathering of gear, Linda and I went to Seahorse Dive Shop to go for a day of diving! I got certified in diving up in the Puget Sound last October. Got to dive in San Andres last December and signed up to dive for two days here.

Buddy had chased the heron off the dock.

So the heron just went to another dock!

On the boat today were two men that were also divers and four snorkelers. We took the boat out about an hour to Silk Cayes (pronounced “keys”). We stopped on the tiny island to drop off snorkelers then motored out to our first dive spot. We did the North Wall. It is a deep coral bed that goes straight down… and keeps on going! We went to a depth of 80’ and were down for a total of 46 minutes. Not tons of fishes, but we saw plenty of neat sea life! Some of our sightings included: barracuda, moray eels (and one of them came out of its cave and swam around for a while!!), lobsters, huge groupers, lion fish… and others. At the more shallow depths the water was full of tiny jelly fish. They are practically transparent but look just like the giant ones. The water was murkier than I expected, but still a wonderful dive.

Lunch at Silk Cayes

We returned to the little island for lunch. Barbeque chicken, coleslaw and fresh pineapple. There were lots of terns on the beach being very silly, several frigate birds and pelicans. The beach is solid with coral skeletons and shells, especially conch shells. (None of the pretty ones, and it is illegal to take them anyway). Then back on the boat to our next dive spot: The Canyons. Again less fancy fish than I expected but lots of other sightings. We went to a depth of 60” and stayed down for a total of 52 minutes. Two excellent dives, especially for a novice! Linda and the men (whom have been diving for over 30 years) enjoyed it also.

The beach of coral, seaweed and conch shells

Laughing terns

Back to the island to pick up the snorkelers (whom all had a good time) then out to one more snorkel spot. This is a very shallow area where fishermen will clean their catch and dump the entrails so it attracts other water wildlife. We saw a huge Loggerhead turtle, nurse sharks and rays! What an excellent snorkel swim! Great way to end the trip!

Frigate bird

Stacy at Silk Cayes

Linda and Stacy "selfie"

Loggerhead turtle

Decked Out House
Linda and Charlie's rental house

Long boat ride back to the dive shop, unpack, make plans for the next day’s dive, then home to Linda’s for a much needed shower and change of clothes!

Aaaahhhhhh, all refreshed. Lind and I went back into town to get her husband, Charlie. He had been in a horseshoe competition all afternoon, so we met him at the bar where the tournament was being held. He had won second place ($30 worth of drinks!) so we joined him for a wet one! I had a watermelon juice blended. Very yummy and refreshing. The bar was fun but the noise level was way too high for us so we walked down a short distance to a nice quiet restaurant for a tasty meal. We all had a shrimp dish, but we started with a Conch Fritter (it was huge!) and yes, even I ate my share!