Day 4: Snorkeling (Hideaway Caye)

Today started out around 730. The sun was out, the wind was blowing, and the seas were a little choppy. Kim made us coffee and a delicious breakfast with pancakes, bacon, and pineapple. A boat with four men came by while we were eating breakfast. Apparently, one was another expat that is friends with Dustinand Kim, and the others were some visitors that he had. After breakfast, we got ready for the day and to go snorkeling. Dustin took Barb and I out to a nearby reef that we kayaked to. He went hunting for dinner while Barb and I went snorkeling. Ama also went with us initally, and she was so cute in her wet suit with her pink star shaped sunglasses and yellow brim hat!

At first my mask didn't fit correctly which caused it to leak in one corner and fill half way with water in about a minute. I was freaking out because we're all swimming around, head under water, and over coral - which you can't touch - so I couldn't stop at all to fix my mask! Instead I'm flailing around trying to breath and not touch anything. Plus, I could not get Barb or Dustin's attention since they could not hear me under water. I would dump my mask out every now nd then, but again, it would fill with water within about a minute. Eventually, I got Dustin's attention and we found a shallow spot that was sandy to stand on. Unfortunately, we could not get the mask to fit correctly without a leak, so Dustin kayaked back to the island to get me a different mask. I felt so bad, but the next one fit perfectly! So we were on our way snorkeling again.

The reef is so incredibly beautiful. It is a whole other world down there filled with vibrant colors of various coral and fish. The coral was all different shades of brown, tan, purple, orange, and red. My favorite was the deep magenta bulbous coral and the purple fan coral. There was also a long and spiky coral in a bright purple, a brown round shaped brain coral, there was an orange coral that was fire coral with white tips, and tan sponge coral, among several others. The fish also came in all different sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. There were small ones that were blue and green or purple with yellow, medium sized ones with blue and yellow or white with big eyes. My favorite fish that I saw was the cow fish - because they have horns like a cow. I saw three or four of these, and they can change color! They are medium sized, and the one that I saw was tan with brown spots which blended in with the sandy bottom and currounding coral, and the other was green with a magnificent bright blue. The larger animals that we saw included two sting rays and a barracuda! All three were along the ledge that is right on Hideaway Caye. Right off of their dock is a 60ft drop that they came swimming along.

Dustin caught two 2lb Blue Rimmed Jack's and a half lb Snapper which we ate for dinner. Kim cooked them fried in a bread batter with rice, sautéed zucchini and squash, and garlic bread. We also had a couple from Minnesota join us for dinner at the restaurant. They had the shrimp that we had the night before for dinner. They sail around Belize from Dec. 26 to about June, then go back to Arizona to pickup their RV and drive back to Minnesota, then return to Arizona Oct. 1st when all RV's must be removed from Minnesota. I thought that was a pretty interesting lifestyle to have. Seems busy to me!

It's 8 o'clock and I'm already in bed.  Talk about island life.