...and the planets align!

As you know if you've been reading along, we have had a hard time this trip and last getting out to the manatee sanctuary.  A few problems are working against us.  First, it's quite a long ways from Caye Caulker to Swallow Caye - almost 20 miles (which takes nearly 90 minutes by boat).   Because it's so far away, most tour companies require at least 4 or even 6 passengers to make the trip financially feasible for them.  Last - in a place where the reef is king, most people want to dive or snorkel, not go look at big sea cows.  I had pretty much given up hope for a manatee tour on this visit.  At about 8 pm last night I was in the shower and Andrew was in bed reading.  Suddenly there was a very loud banging on our front door.  Strange, since we don't really know anyone here in Caye Caulker.  It's true that we're friendly with some of the local people we see all the time, but it would be unusual for anyone to come visiting.   Andrew looked out the window upstairs to see who it was, and recognized Zach from Scuba Sensations.  He had remembered where we were staying so stopped by to say that they had found 4 other people who wanted to see the manatees tomorrow.  Were we it?  YES, WE ARE IN!  He gave us the lowdown on the cost, the meeting time, and asked us for our lunch order before leaving.  

This morning dawned clear and hot.  A perfect day to spend on a boat!  We met at the dive shop at 9 am, and were loaded in the boat and on our way by 9:30.  Joining us were four kids (early 20's) from the UK and the Netherlands who were traveling together through Mexico, Central and South America.  We weren't 5 minutes off the tip of the island when Zach spotted a trio of dolphins stealing lobster from traps.  He stopped the boat and told us we could snorkel with them, if we wanted.  So fun!  

Quick video of the dolphins

After playing with the dolphins for about 20 minutes, we loaded back in to the boat and were on our way to Swallow Caye.  As I said, it was a gorgeous day with little wind, so the ride was lovely.  Along the way, we met up with a couple of fishermen that Zach knew.  We stopped to see how their traps were doing, and they showed us how the pulled one up.  They told us about lobster fishing, which was fascinating.  They have about 1000 traps down at any given time, and they pull them up every 15-20 days to empty them.  Each fisherman has defined territory that they protect quite fiercely.  Then also showed off their catch. 

This guy's name was Rambo.  Fitting. 

Rambo and his partner open a trap.  It had about 4 keepers and about a half-dozen that were too small.  They are not permitted to keep anything with a tail under 4 ounces. 

 When we finished chatting with the fishermen, we were only about 10 minutes from the sanctuary.  We were met by the ranger (Carl), who followed us over to the "holes" (where the manatees feed & rest) to help us find the manatees.  As it turns out, manatees are elusive creatures.  In about an hour of bobbing around on the water, we only saw noses and a couple of tails.  Still, pretty cool.  

Manatee nose (and back, under the water)

Manatee holding my camera just under the water (we weren't allowed to get in to the water with them)

Manatee back

Jellyfish - there were a lot of these little guys around.  Incentive to stay on the boat!

When it was time to leave the sanctuary, Zach took us back through the mangroves to look for crocodiles.  We didn't see any, but the mangroves themselves are very interesting - trees growing in the middle of the ocean are quite an odd concept to me.  We passed Rambo's house, which is just a shack on a very small island in the middle of nowhere.  He lives there with several members of his extended family.  The kids we were with asked Zach if he knew if Rambo would sell some of his lobsters, so we stopped to ask.  They piled off the boat and soon they were back with 4 large lobsters (probably about 1.5 pounds apiece) that they paid $20 US for (total).  Deal!  

Andrew holding one of the lobster.

Rambo's house.  As raggedy as it was, it struck me as being quite beautiful standing alone in the ocean.  

Last stop (after a quick break to eat a sandwich) was a snorkel stop.  Zach took us to an area of the reef about 10 minutes off of Caye Caulker.  We had the place completely to ourselves and swam and snorkeled for about 90 minutes.  Andrew was in heaven, as he could snorkel all day long.  As usual, he was the last one to the boat.  

By about 3:30 pm we were back on Caye Caulker.  We headed home to shower and then went out in search of food - we were starving!  We ended up at Enjoy, another place on The List.  Andrew had shrimp kebabs and I had seafood coconut curry. AMAZING!  The meals came with coconut rice and some sauteed cabbage.  We also each had two drinks (Andrew - strawberry colodas; me - salted margaritas on the rocks).  Total was $41 US, including tip.  

Now we're back home, tired and extra crispy form a full day on the ocean.  Sadly, tomorrow is our last day on Caye Caulker.  We don't have anything planned - we'll likely just do the Caye Caulker thing and "go slow".