Friday, August 1, 2008

Central American Adventure June 4-5



While much of our time on Caye Caulker was spent just enjoying the serenity of the island, one day we took a sailing trip out to the Barrier Reef (2nd largest in the world, just behind The Great Barrier Reef in Australia) for some snorkeling. We stopped at 3 locations: The Hol Chan Marine Reserve, The Coral Gardens, and Shark and Ray Alley. All three stops were fantastic, with a wide variety of marine life.



At the Hol Chan Marine Reserve there were huge Conch shells, which although it is illegal to take an uninhabited shell as a souvenir, our guides made us this salsa like stuff with fresh Conch (or whatever animal lives inside a Conch shell) for a little fishy kick.



The grand finale was the stop at Shark and Ray Alley (very appropriately named).



Guess what Big Steve said after wrestling with the shark, chumming the water, and watching the nurse sharks fight over the prey . . . "Okay, jump in." So we did. Not only did we swim with the sharks, but we saw several rays, including a huge Eagle Ray, a Moray eel (which was way scarier and meaner than the sharks), some squid things, Barracuda, and a lot of other cool and freaky ocean creatures. I even pet the shark (if you can pet a shark). It was AWESOME!



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