Western Caribbean Cruise day 4

We were docking off the coast of Belize City, Belize at 7 am and we had plans to go snorkeling along a reef (the 2nd largest in the world).  I was picturing a nice lazy meandering swim while looking at pretty fish... instead I nearly drowned.. twice! 

After a quick breakfast on ship (fresh fruit and yogurt).

We got our instructions for tendering and how to find our tour group once in Belize City.  We arrived and it seemed like organized chaos. The tour company seemed alarmed by how many of us were signed up and kept trying to divide us into groups and then changing the group make up.  

It took FOREVER for them to get us on a boat.. but eventually we had 92 or 93 of us on a boat and we headed out to snorkel over the 2nd largest reef in the world.  

Our tendering boat; looking back at the ship.  We had a 45 minute tender to shore

There were at least 6 or so guides with us on our snorkel trip and one of them talked a bit about the country,  their languages,  and their history.  Then they gave us a quick briefing about our itinerary.  They handed out masks with snorkels and flippers and life jackets.  

We pull up near the reef to fairly big waves and our boat began rocking wildly.  We're all starting to feel pretty nervous now and eyeing each other and the water.  We had to jump off the side of the boat,  which required us to climb a few steps so the guide suggested we put our gear on in the water. That seemed logical so I stepped up to jump in and was alarmed at how high up we were,  I just took a deep breath and jumped.  

The water was freezing and I was immediately swamped by waves.  I'm trying to swim away from the boat toward the guide waving his arms but I just kept getting closer and closer to the boat.  I actually bent my knees and pushed off the boat like it was the side of a pool and still got nowhere. I finally felt a strong arm grab me and haul me out: it was our guide and I was so grateful. I still had all my stuff in my hands... and there was no way I was getting those flippers on my feet! It was all I could do to stay afloat with my life jacket around my armpits like a floatie. My arms and legs were moving as fast as I could; just to stay in place! 

My husband finally got in (with flippers on!) and even he was struggling.  He offered to help put on my fins. With them out of my hands I was finally able to get my mask and snorkel on.  I could keep up but refused to let the guide out of arms reach. I did see quite a bit of the reef but had to keep emptying my mask from water.  The waves were rather large the whole time and I'm pretty sure I swallowed a lot of sea water that day.  I settled in after a bit and while I was nervous I did start to see actual fish and coral and things.  No real photos though because the water was so cold my phone could not recognize my touch. 

We eventually made our way to the ladder and were told to take off our fins.. even holding on, I was being swamped by waves and started struggling. The force of the waves kept pushing me off the ladder.  Our guide finally reached down himself,  pulled off my fins,  passed them up to the ship,  and pushed me up the ladder.  In case your counting that's twice I felt like he had saved my life.. 

Once everyone was back in the boat everyone near us was commiserating over how awful it had been and speculating that the tour groups should have canceled or modified our trip.  

After the reef they were taking us to an area where nurse sharks and rays like to congregate where we'd get back in the water... I wasn't sure I was getting off the boat again. 

Can you see some of the dark fins of the sharks coming up to the boat? (to the right of the photo)

Honestly I nearly skipped this,  but many people could touch so I went back in.  It was really neat but there were far too many of us in one tiny area.  I felt like I was kicking and bumping into everyone.  There were rays all around near everyone legs and feet and the guides were showing select people how to pick up a nurse shark; because if you flip them over on their backs they fall asleep. 

I'm glad I didn't skip this part... but I had pictured something far more organized where each person would get a turn and it wasn't just one big free for all. 

 

I couldn't touch but my husband could and pulled me back to the ladder when it was time. At this point I just wanted back on the cruise ship and a hot shower but we had one last stop to make in Caye Caulker where most people on our boat had ordered lunch. We were only go to be on island for 1 hour so we elected to skip lunch so that we could walk around and then just planned to eat on the cruise ship when we got back. 

Lunch too was organized chaos with 3 or 4 other boats all trying to get their food too. People were walking around yelling names with large trays of food and then passing them off to anyone who had ordered said dish.  It was crazy.  We found a bathroom, walked around the town, and tried to get away from the business of this one little area.  But when we went to load the boat an hour later we were told the boat was broken. 

We had unexpectedly lost speed on our way to the Caye from the reef and everyone who had been sitting over the engine moved so they could fix it... but I guess they only fixed it enough to limp us to shore.

We were told it was going to take an extra hour (which meant we were all missing the last tender to the ship!-- one reason why I always suck it up and pay for the shore excursions through the cruise line is that I know no matter goes what goes wrong the ship must wait for us or figure out what to do to "rescue" us). 

The guide offered to walk us to an area where we could feed tarpons to keep us entertained until it was time to go. We figured, why not?

I noticed my foot was hurting as I walked and found that I had a few small slices on the bottom of my feet either from the reef or perhaps some barnacles on the side of the boat when I pushed off.  But there wasn't anything I could do about it. 

We came to a dock near a large patch of mangrove trees and found a shack that sells seafood for feeding to the Tarpons. The tour guide bought quite a few trays and showed us how to feed them safely (they'll suck right onto your hands if you don't hold the fish right).

 

My husband and I bought ice cream. And all of that killed about 20 minutes... so we found a spot in the shade and just sat around for another hour (because island time means another hour really turns in to another hour and a half).

One of our guides walked up from the other side of the island holding a part... so we waited while they fixed it.  They got it started and ran it for a few minutes before having us all board. 

We still had an hour until we reached Belize City. Thankfully it was uneventful but seemed twice as long as the ride there.  We docked in Belize City and our ship had a special tender waiting just for us with the engine running.  

As soon as we got back on board we went to our room, showered, and changed for dinner.  I was starving after only having had some fruit and yogurt for breakfast and a small ice cream for lunch. 

We made a quick stop to pick up band-aids for my feet from the medic's office then went back to Normandie to eat.  

I was starving....so no food photos because I just forgot! I didn't like my appetizer but I did enjoy my main course of turkey parmesan. And I loved my tiramisu (my favorite dessert of the whole trip)! 

We nearly skipped the show but figured 7 was too early to go to bed. I think we could have easily slept though.  I am a strong swimmer but all that fighting against the waves all morning made every muscle in my body sore. 

The show was a combination of dancing, singing, acrobatics,  and a lot of screen/ special effects. It was really neat and I did manage to stay awake! (It ended at 8 so this is not a huge feat by any means!). 

And yes, that man is standing with a person on his head after starting off on all 4's in the previous photo

Day 1 here

Day 2 here

Day 3 here

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