Fitting in partying with the locals

A fond farewell to paradise

Just a quick note to wrap up - I was truly shocked at the way Belize City was portrayed to me by guidebooks, tourists, and even locals.  I've lived in NYC for almost eight years now.  I spent my first six months in the city living in Harlem.  So when I read and was told that Belize City was such a "dangerous" place and that I shouldn't go out after dark, I rolled my eyes.  On my way out of the country, I stayed over for a night in a hostel on the outskirts of the downtown area.  When I checked in, I was told that if I needed a ride anywhere, someone from the staff would be happy to drive me.  After the luxury of a(n INDOOR) shower and an air conditioned nap, I put on some clean clothes and ventured back to the front desk to ask for a lift.  I wanted to go downtown, enjoy a beer or two, have a nice dinner at one of the restaurants I had read about, and then call it an early night.  The hostel manager looked absolutely appalled when I told him of my intentions.  Ohnono, you don't want to go out now, not downtown, at this hour?  By yourself?  Despite his protestations, and due to the fact that it was maybe 4:30pm, I told him I would chance it.

I tried the place I had been interested in, but all the seating was outdoors and the AC was just too tempting at that point, so I meandered across the street to one of the big hotels (Hyatt maybe?).  The bar was frosty cold, so I found a spot and got comfortable.  I soon struck up a conversation with two friendly gentlemen who were colleagues, one American, one Belizean.  I eventually asked if they had any suggestions about where in the small downtown area would be the best place to have dinner, and they graciously invited me to join their group at a local restaurant on the water.  We had a delicious and very jovial dinner with the large group, and then proceeded to make our way to a small dance club and bar.  Everyone I encountered was nothing but polite and friendly - certainly more than I can say for most such establishments in my adopted home city.  Needless to say, I had a wonderful night, and I would advise anyone visiting Belize City to of course be aware of your surroundings, but also don't be afraid to explore; you just might enjoy it!

Passing notes. Underwater.

I did not realize that it was possible to revert to the 6th grade without speaking, but that's why they made dive slates, I guess.  Spent quite a bit of my diving time passing notes back & forth with the ever-so-charming divemaster, who also enjoyed practical jokes such as swimming up above me, then suddenly waving his hands in front of my mask, followed by much (mimed) pointing and laughing.   Then there was the empty lobster shell utilized as a finger puppet, which he reached into a giant barrel sponge one day and then SURPRISE popped right in my face.  That was amusing, but I had steeled myself for another such attack a few minutes later.  I was taken aback when the barrel sponge revealed not another lobster head peering at me, but instead the middle finger.  I laughed so hard I spit out my regulator, swallowed about a lungful of seawater, and had half the group approaching me to see why I was attempting to avoid choking to death.  I had a hard time collecting my wits for the rest of the dive.  As soon as we surfaced and made it into the boat, I started cracking up and promptly punched Mr. Funny Guy.

He managed to redeem himself during my last dive at Glover's, though.  Despite the fact that the fishermen's nightly cleaning ritual at the end of the dock attracted nurse sharks & stingrays by the dozen, I had been whining for two weeks that I had yet to see a shark while underwater.  The guys badgered me to try out the shark cage attached to the dock, but the sun was so low in the sky at that point in the day that the underwater lighting was rather dismal, even with the flash on my camera.

So on the penultimate day of my atoll adventure, I scoffed when the divemaster waved excitedly at me and showed the hand signal for shark.  I nodded at him, shrugging it off as more good-natured teasing.  He continued to wave me over in a very perturbed fashion.  I shuddered at what surprise lay in store, but dutifully swam in his direction.  All of a sudden, in a flash of sand and a flip of grey, a nurse shark flounced off, clearly annoyed at having his afternoon nap disturbed.  If it's possible to smile through your reg, I certainly did that day.  Sadly, I wasn't quick enough for photos.

The other remarkable diving event of this week was a big loggerhead turtle swimming near our group who headed up to the surface for air at the same time we did - very cool to watch.

Belize Week 2, AKA Survival Training Camp

Contrary to what the title of this post may lead you to believe, I really did have a good time at Glover's Reef Resort - it was just a very different experience than Off the Wall.  My home for the week was an over-water hut, which was quite picturesque, and even featured a deck out back for sunning.  On the plus side, there was a fantastic breeze, even on those very warm, sweaty tropical afternoons.  Not so great when meal time rolled around, and I sat there attempting to light an open gas burner for a good half hour.  Wind gusted through the hut as I tried in vain to construct a makeshift shelter out of dishes, pans, and whatever else I could find.  Fortunately, there was a separate outdoor kitchen area in a slightly more protected area of the island, to which I ended up resigning my cooking efforts.  In my humble opinion, gnocchi with pesto sauce was a major accomplishment!

Other major differences included a plethora of mosquitoes & "no-see-ums"/sand flies since there was no chemical treatment on the island; well water in the outdoor showers & sinks, which had a distinctive odor; and less overall sense of community among the staff and guests.  I would recommend this particular spot for a family or large group traveling together, or a couple wanting a great deal of privacy; however, the setup was less than ideal for a single (sociable) traveler.  After a week on the island, I was going a little stir-crazy.  This is not to say that the other guests were not friendly - I met two gentlemen from Mexico who were very pleasant and shared several meals with them as we faced a common battle with the kitchen.  Many of the guests simply chose to keep to themselves outside of diving excursions etc.

To give a fair overall picture, meals could be purchased as a package for the week or individually in the island "restaurant," but with a family-style set meal and no other options, I opted to feed myself.  I did supplement my rations with fresh baked bread which could be purchased from the kitchen twice during the week.

Fishing excursions were an option as the resort's boat went out twice daily to catch fish both to sell and for meals in the restaurant.  I decided to join the sunrise outing one morning, which certainly made for an exhilarating start to my day!  As the only guest in the boat, I had the privilege of trawling for barracuda on my own.  While this was an exciting prospect, it was also slightly terrifying once the toothy fish made it into the boat.  My native guide had brought a club resembling a small baseball bat, with which he whacked the flopping, writhing, angry barracuda on the head - several times.  Now covered in barracuda blood splatter, I thought we were in the clear, but the damn thing started moving again, sliding around the boat, those jagged nasty teeth coming a little too near my feet for comfort.  I fought to haul in a total of four of the fearsome fish, including one really big guy, and when we made it back to shore, most were still struggling.  They do not mess around, but I ultimately emerged both unscathed and victorious.

Restraining order, stat!!!

There was some high quality entertainment one afternoon during my stay at Off The Wall when a pair of remoras were stalking me like they were paparazzi!  At the end of my very first dive in Belize, a small remora followed us up to the boat and tried to nibble on a fellow diver's toes, so I was already understandably wary of these unusual fish.

In case you're not familiar with them, remoras have a large flat head with a sucker disc which they use to attach themselves to sharks, turtles, boats, divers...you name it.  Basically, they're lazy bastards looking for a free ride.  They feed off the larger animal's leftovers.  I've heard conflicting accounts as to how painful it can be to remove a remora that has attached to your skin.  I was not particularly interested in finding out firsthand!

I noticed that a pair of remoras seemed to be circling me.  I tried to swim in a different direction - they followed.  I tried ignoring them - they came closer.  I tried kicking water at them with my fins.  Evidently they interpret this as aggressive behavior and want to investigate even more closely.  Needless to say, I was on the verge of a minor (underwater!!!) panic attack at this point, when my divemaster swam up behind me & grabbed the back of my tank.  He motioned that I should calm down.  I frantically pointed at the mean scary fish that were chasing me and got a nice glare in return.  Somehow he managed to convey "just ignore them" with no words, and I tried to focus on keeping my eyes forward for the rest of the dive and just breathe.  

The damn things still ended up trailing me all the way to the boat, which I was promptly teased and laughed at by every single member of our group for the rest of the day.  Even my parents joined in on the mocking - my father suggested that 'it might be the tattoos,' and my mother concurred with 'watch out, they might try to eat them off you.'  Wishful thinking, Mom - I made it to the next island in one piece!!!

On to the gorgeous world of Glover’s Reef!

  After arriving at Off The Wall on Long Key* and getting settled, I had a quick tour of the island and my charming home for the week.  OTW was an amazing experience – as one of three (!) guests for the week, I certainly received plenty of personal attention, and the native Belizean cook, Eileen, was kind enough to cater to my exceedingly picky palate.  There was some type of home-baked bread at every meal, and I couldn’t get enough.  We averaged two dives per day, with one night dive added in.  The island itself was beautiful, tranquil, and oh so relaxing.  The diving was just…WOW.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves!

A complete list of all the amazing creatures I saw during this first week:
On land – hermit crabs & iguanas galore!!!

Underwater –

Sharksucker remoras (more to come on these!)
Nassau grouper

Black Grouper

Tiger grouper
Goliath grouper AKA Jewfish  (scroll to the bottom of the page for best pic)

Southern stingray
Yellow stingray

Flying fish
Barracudas!
Lionfish (danger, danger – both poisonous AND an invasive species!)
Green moray eels
Spotted moray eel
Spotted drum
Grey angelfish
French angelfish
Queen angelfish
Rock beauty
Sharpnose pufferfish
Hawksbill turtles

Loggerhead turtles

Triggerfish
Queen triggerfish

Black durgon
Trumpetfish
Yellowtail snapper
Dog snapper
Mahogany snapper
Blackfin snapper
Mutton snapper
Schoolmaster
Indigo hamlet
Blue hamlet
Yellowtail damselfish
Bicolor damselfish
Longspine squirrelfish
Neon goby
Hogfish
Honeycomb cowfish
Yellowhead jawfish
Spotted scorpionfish (scroll down to see the front fins - typically the best/only way to spot them)
Foureye butterflyfish
Stoplight parrotfish
Redband parrotfish
Midnight parrotfish
Blue parrotfish
Fairy basslet
Creole wrasse
Yellowhead wrasse
Bluehead wrasse

Blue tang
Porkfish
French grunt
Smallmouth grunt
Bluestriped grunt
Scrawled filefish
Caribbean reef octopus
Toadfish
Slipper lobster
Caribbean spiny lobster
Lizardfish

* My review on TripAdvisor:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g291964-d911165-r104827682-Off_The_Wall_Dive_Center_Resort-Glovers_Reef_Atoll_Belize_Cayes.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

Belize, Week 1 - journey to the center of the atoll!

Oh, Belize City – a shiny, modern metropolis you are not.  My first thought upon seeing the bright Belizean sun:  “Holy shit, they still have AIR STAIRS?!?!?  Are we in an 80s movie??”  Not to worry, the rustic charm didn’t wear off in a hurry.  The taxi that took me to the bus station looked like a station wagon  from the 70s, and when I say bus station?  School bus.  Three hours.  No A/C.  Good times!!! 

I was surrounded by locals, drenched in sweat, and transfixed by the gorgeous scenery meandering by my window.  Lush, tropical jungle was everywhere, with hills shrouded in a fog-like haze.  The bus stopped to pick up people along the road (not necessarily at actual bus stops).  At one point, a woman got on with a huge box of homemade bread.  She made her way up & down the center aisle selling bread, then was on her way a few miles down the road.  There were small settlements here & there, but nothing really even large enough to term a village.  We passed through the capital of Belmopan – again, not your average bustling city.  When we finally passed the monument of the three drums signifying the town center of Dangriga, I was ecstatic.  As I trundled my giant suitcase down the sandy dirt (main) road, I garnered a few odd looks when I turned down the offers of a taxi.

I finally arrived at Val's Backpacker Hostel and settled in.  After a nice chilly shower, I decided that it was time to explore Dangriga (which didn’t take long).  I had my first taste of the national drink, Belikin Beer, at the River’s Edge café, which was virtually empty as it was still early.  I meandered my way to the Pelican Beach Hotel on the other end of town and took advantage of the happy hour special on their back patio overlooking the beach.  $3 BZ, or $1.50 US, for a beer.  Score!!  After a tasty dinner of coconut shrimp & a few more beers, I made my way back to the hostel and collapsed in bed.

I woke up refreshed & eager to continue my journey.  I headed out in search of supplies, as I was planning to do my own cooking during the 2^nd week of my trip.  At the store in town, I found a bottle of coconut rum and the weird shelf-stable canned butter I had read about.  I wandered through the weekend market on the riverbanks, but found mostly used clothes.  I picked up a few limes at the produce market, but wasn’t brave enough to check out the meat & fish section, as the stench was fairly overwhelming.  With my shopping out of the way, I decided to give the infamous “King Burger” a shot for breakfast.  Not a fan of eggs, I asked if I could get a burger for breakfast.  Clearly I never learn, as I didn’t specify that I would like it plain.  It came out covered in a mystery orange sauce that looked like Russian dressing, but it was otherwise pretty tasty.  I started chatting with an American couple at the next table, and they encouraged me to try the Belizean specialty of fryjacks – bread dough fried in oil, covered in butter and sugar; sinfully delicious, and just like my grandfather used to make!