Shipwrecked in Belize

This past weekend was my most interesting, terrifying, and adventurous one spent in Belize thus far. Let's begin at the beginning, when my friend Adam sent me a text Saturday night asking if I would like to have a free trip to the Blue Hole/Half Moon Caye on Sunday.

Pretty stunning if I do say so myself. Naturally, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit such an amazing site for FREE (the trip is normally $300). Plus, once again I got to travel outside Belmopan. All I had to do was get myself to the Princess Hotel in Belize City by 7a.m. and then assist my friend with a community educational event being put on by his counterpart agency, the Belize Audubon Society.

So, I did what I always do when presented with an amazing advenuture...I said I'd go. I got ridiculously excited, to the point that I couldn't sleep much which made getting up at 4:40 a bit tough. However, I sucked it up and my gracious host dad, Marlon, had me dropped off at the bus terminal so I could catch the 5:30a.m. bus. Turns out, on Sundays the buses run a bit later so I didn't leave Belmopan until 5:45. At this point I'm nothing but excited and I arrive in Belize City right at 7a.m., take my taxi to the hotel and meet Adam and his counterpart. Apparently, no one else that Adam invited took him up on the offer (in hindsight, I should have taken this as a sign) and I couldn't wait to come back with an experience to brag about.

The locals from Chunox village arrived shortly after I did via their charter bus and we boarded our boat bound for Half Moon Caye. The trip out was relatively uneventful, aside from having to scream above the boat engine to converse. The weather was beautiful: clear skys, brilliant blue waters that changed shade depending on the depth of the ocean. After about two hours on the sea, we reached Half Moon Caye. It's absolutely beautiful - sandy beaches, palm trees, and a cool Carribbean breeze that will make you forget any trouble you thought you had.

We rested for about 20 min. and let people stretch their legs, use the restroom and change to head to Blue Hole. My excitement at this point was at top level...like a kid on Christmas Eve. We piled back into the boat and ventured out to the Blue Hole. It is absolutely stunning and I completely recommend this adventure to everyone that has an affinity for snorkeling and/or diving. Our group jumped in and snorkeled for about an hour, navigating through the coral reef (the Belizean reef is the second largest in the world, following the Great Barrier Reef in Australia).

On the way back we had a bit of trouble. Our engine had started smoking the last leg of the trip out to the Blue Hole, so it took us an hour to get back to Half Moon Caye instead of 20min. However, lunch was waiting for us on the island and a new part was being sent from Belize City to repair our boat. We ate and swam in the ocean off the Caye and then had a tour of the island. Half Moon Caye is a reserve and plays host to the Red-footed Boobie (I believe it is the only place in the world where they nest). Part of our tour was allowing the locals to express their ideas on how they could use the resources offered in the reserve without resorting to illegal fishing (a huge and growing problem for the protected areas).

The discussion went well and we timed it so that our boat could be repaired...or so we thought. Turns out there was a bit more of a problem than we thought and for a while, we assumed that we would be stuck on the island for the night (it is offered for camping occasionally so this wasn't too bad an option). I was also loving the fact that not only did I get to snorkel and swim the cayes, but now I would also be fortunate to watch the sunset on the island! What could be luckier?! But, the boat was repaired and just before sunset we all (about 50 of us) piled onto the boat to attempt our long journey home.

The boat moved at a much slower pace then when we were heading to Half Moon Caye. I'm not sure if this was because the engine still wasn't 100% or because it was night on the ocean. I didn't much care...I was exhausted from the day and was more concerned with star gazing on the ocean than anything else. The sky is beautiful here, in the clear night we could see the milky way and it felt like over a million stars.

I had almost drifted to sleep when the trouble, sorry, *adventure* started. The boat had all of the sudden slammed into something hard and immediately stopped. Bear in mind, I have no idea where we are (its pitch black on the ocean) and I immediately think, "sh*&"...this cannot be good. Apparently our boat had navigated its way right into the reef. Apparently this is what happens when your boat has no running lights (so safe). No worries says our captain, we can attempt to navigate out of the mess. WRONG.

In about 10 min. of crashing into the reef, we're told we must move to the front of the boat (all 50 of us crammed into a small, small space and we were issued life jackets- the lovely orange ones that no one ever assumes they'll actually have to wear. For the next couple of hours, we were stuck, helpless, bouncing on the waves and smashing into the reef we were stuck on. It was obvious the boat, and us, would not be making it off the reef. To make it a little more nerve wracking, along with the non existent boat lights, our fair maiden also did not have a radio. PERFECT. How many of you think that cell phone reception works 60 miles off coast? Exactly.

Luckily, a boat that was following us (the one that had repaired our engine) was able to navigate to a local island and radio the coast guard and get another boat to assist us. The two boats were then tied together in deeper water and a long rope was tethered between ours and theirs. We were then told to hop off the boat, one by one wearing tennis shoes...hold the line, and navigate our way over the reef we were stuck on to our rescue boats. Easier said than done. In total, it took about an hour or better to get all of us (men, women, and children) to the boats, which made a couple trips to the island to drop us onto land.

I was among the last trip to the island, known as Blackbird Caye. After wading through the ocean at 10pm, I have never been happier to see dry land in my life! Soaking wet, we made our way to a resort that is non-operational at the moment. We were ushered into a huge space with a thatch roof where I changed out of wet clothes and into some semi-dry ones that had made it through the water in my backpack (which is referred to as my Mary Poppins bag).

Let's reflect on this bag for a minute...all day I had been getting grief for packing so much stuff for a day trip...HOWEVER, thanks to the ordeal we found ourselves in..I must say that I was the most prepared, with the most useful things out of us all. I had tooth paste, deodorant, change of clothes, pajamas, towel, wind-up flashlight, and a first aid kit (I had packed enough in case I missed the last bus to Belmopan and had to stay the night in Belize City). No one made fun of me by the end of the day, thank you very much.

So, once changed, we made a make-shift bed out of our life jackets and my towel. This was not comfortable by any means and we took to calling ourselves, refugees. I admit, I was frazzled and honestly the whole situation made me want to cry...but instead all I could do was laugh each time I thought about the situation I found myself in. Adam decided to see some of the staff and attempt to get us better sleeping accomodations. They graciously offered us a seaside cabin for whatever we could afford. We gave $40BZ for a room that costs $200US a night.

The cabin, while in disrepair (the resort is under renovation) had a shower and a bed with sheets. SO EXCITING. I hung my clothes out in the breeze, and found myself enjoying watching the spectacle of attempting to dislodge our boat from the reef - you could see it from where our room was). Our day finally ended around midnight....with the relief of a bed and dry land.

We were awoken at dawn to hop back onto boats that took us the rest of the 60miles into Belize City. While I'm not impressed with Belize City, it was amazing to finally be back to a land mass that was bigger than a few football fields. Traversing back to Belmopan was the most exhausting leg of the ordeal...but I did it. I promplty showered, threw in a load of laundry, and napped for most of the afternoon.

Retrospectively, this is exactly the adventure that I always stated I wanted. At the time, I was a little less graceful in appreciating the experience. Aside from a few cuts and bruises, i took a way a few things:

• The Blue Hole is completely worth your money!
• Snorkeling is still my favorite sea activity
• I am cursed with unbelievably bad luck
• Coral reef cuts your feet horribly- bring wading shoes every where
• Mary Poppins bags may look rediculous, but they can save the day
• Always make sure that your boat has its equipment (lights, a radio, navigational tools, and a competant captain)
• Life jackets are sometimes a necessary fashion ensemble
• Island getaways are more fun when planned, but still enjoyable
• Sunset and sunrise are amazing on the ocean
• Dry land is never more appreciated then when you think you won't be seeing it again

Hopefully, I'll post photos soon (Adam has a waterproof camera, so the whole thing is documented) . I forgot my camera cable in the mess of what today was, but the photos I have of the fun part of the day are astonishing and I can't wait to show you all! I hope you all had a wonderful Columbus Day - and a slightly less adventurous one than I did.