Wed, 3 Feb

Wed, 3 Feb My last day before i leave. There is a large group going diving and a smaller group going snorkeling out at Hol Chan; i'll join the snorkel group. Hol Chan is a Marine Reserve Park, so there is no fishing there, and there are lots of fishes. i've already been there, but i really like it for snorkeling because you get to see lots of fish. Devon, our guide was another young good looking Belizean :); and he took us all around the Marine Park and showed us lots of fish, eels, stingrays, and sharks. there were lots of boats out there today with lots of people. we had trouble finding a turtle, but did finally did find one, ... a green turtle. they are so graceful! then we went to another location with more nurse sharks. i was having fun diving down to the bottom, holding my breath, and swimming after them. i've always been 'afraid' to try this, i don't know why; but now that i've been doing it, it's lotsa fun! on the way back along the reef, we saw 2 fishermen in a boat cleaning conch they had caught. Devon pulled up to their boat and we saw a big Loggerhead Turtle feeding on the remains of the conch that they were throwing overboard. This is not a 'scheduled stop'; but Devon said we could get out for a few minutes if we wanted to. everyone else just sat there ... i had my fins and mask on, and i was in the water before anyone knew what was happening! the water was only a few feet deep and i got in there and swam with and around that big turtle. he looked a me with huge brown eyes and was eating and swimming ... with me right next to him, or on top of him. it was SO cool !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he could just 'fly' through he water, such a sweet face! a highlight on my last day! i am one lucky girl! :) i am so sorry that i haven't been trying out my new underwater camera. i had it with me today, but i need to practice taking shots. i had a sharks tail here, a flipper there, a lot of sand ... sorry, nothing to show here on my blog. hopefully i can do better once i get out to Glovers. in the afternoon i bought my airline ticket for tomorrow's flight, walked around with Darrel, ate more local food, sat on the dock, and watched a pretty sunset. and had one last Mojito before i left for Glovers ... where there will be no Mojitos ...