Day 21 & 22 - 23/1/10-24/1/10

Saturday morning started around 5:30am with enough time to make a pot of coffee, shower, pack up our bags and be at the dock by 7am. The Gulf was quite calm allowing us to make it out to the island, 40 miles due east of Punta Gorda, in just over an hour. The Sapodilla Cayes (pronounced "Keys") was our destination and a beautiful one at that. There are fourteen sand and mangrove cayes that make up the Sapodilla Cayes and we were shacked up on just one of them. The Cayes lie at the southernmost tip of the Belize Barrier Reef (which I discovered is one of the longest areas of intact reef that runs from Mexico to southern Belize). The water was crystal clear, emerald green colored and refreshing every time we dipped in, minus the salt. We filled up Saturday with snorkeling adventures out at some of the other cayes, lunch on the beach, exploring from the boat, and of course, one of my favorites... fishing! (I didn't catch anything except a rock, sadness.) As we were heading back in, our tour guide extraordinaire Roberto caught a large Junefish - HUGE!!! So we made it back to the home island for fresh sashimi, a taste of sea urchin that we snatched off the side of the dock and cut open to try, and an absolutely gorgeous sunset. Oh! And we met Otto, the groundskeeper originally from Chicago! He was a unique man to say the least... already living on the island in solitude for a month now and will be staying until November. Needless to say, I'm not sure he was prepared for 17 additional people to arrive and make noise. Dinner was steamed fish, grilled shrimp kabobs, fried plantains and garlic bread... mmm! The night topped off with coconut rum punch beside a beachside campfire.
The island was covered with these small little cabanas to sleep in, a large stone house with multiple oceanside bedrooms, and another building with the kitchen, bathroom, and a few more beds. That's it folks! Just us, palm trees, and the waves. I opted to sleep au naturale out in a hammock and it was one of the best night of sleeping I have had in awhile. Granted I woke up about every 1.5 hours, BUT I fell asleep under the stars, woke up under the stars, had a constant lullaby of waves, and was outside so how could I complain? No one else could figure out how to get comfortable in the hammock so on top of it all, I had peace and quiet too!! I woke up around 5:30am just at the crack of dawn in plenty of time to sip on some coffee and watch the sunrise. We had a slow morning of more snorkeling, naps in the hammocks, and a boat ride home where we spotted two manatees playing beside us in the boat.

Highlights of the weekend...
1. Island life... don't worry, be happy. Toto would agree
2. Falling asleep in a hammock beneath the stars
3. Stingrays swimming alongside me, sea turtles diving below, schools of Dory-like fish... best snorkeling EVER!
4. Trying sea urchin, the freshest I think I will ever have
5. Catching starfish
6. Waking up in a hammock beneath the stars
7. The sound of crashing waves 24/7
8. Fresh sashimi dockside, served with a splash of lime
9. Did I mention the hammocks?
10. Being in the company of 14 amazing new friends, the best local tour guide and Toto.


ONE WEEK LEFT, I cannot believe it...