Lazy Days
[15:30] [Saturday, January 13, 2007]
We have been weathering winds up to 35 kts with intermittent rain showers. The stormy weather has confined us to the boat, where we've spent our downtime watching chingos movies, playing Galaga and Mappy, and editting our video footage on our ancient laptop. All things considered, our productivity hasn't been so bad, and we've become rather proficient in beating our own high scores on our two favorite arcade games.
Every time we go to town, we get approached by the same guy trying to sell us what he calls, "Sticky-sticky green-green." Sounds interesting and tropical ... Hmmm.
Also, we have in the works a special area of the site reserved for those we know. Email us to join our mailing list, and possibly receive a secret link for special people like you ... Special ed, that is. ;)
Also also, we know a lot of you are visiting on a regular basis, and we would like to hear from you on occasion. Your participation lets us know our adventure is reaching beyond the boundaries of our vessel.
We Got the Blus
[13:30] [Tuesday, January 09, 2007]
Blu returned home this morning. We're bummed he's gone and wish he could have stayed longer. Brady was happy to share the Belize experience with Blu like his dad did with him, and he hopes it is as positive an influence on Blu as it was for him. We miss you!! :( Come back!
We Come From the Water
[20:30] [Monday, January 08, 2007]
Awoke to find the wind had died down and the Caribbean was calm and very clear. A perfect day for snorkeling! We motored the dink out to the the cut in the reef and had a great 3 hours of exploring the maze of coral.
Watching footage of coral reefs on the Discovery Channel does not even come close to doing justice to their beauty and liveliness. That so much of our barrier reefs has been ravaged by humanity's vast inconsideration brings us great sadness, but a huge portion of this one has already become a variety of marine reserves, and this pleases us.
We haven't seen very much by way of sharks, rays or baracuda -- Brady reports the last time he was here they were prolific -- but personally, I blame their absence on a congregation around the Hol Chan Reserve further south of our position, where visiting divers feed the predators. Why hunt along the reef when food is free in one area?
We suppose it could be worse ... As we head further south we will most certainly take more footage and share the awesomeness of this "untapped" natural smorgasbord of marine life.
Returned to Sol Searcher for laziness in the hammock the rest of the day. Go to our video page to see a montage of our day snorkeling. "What we need is a montage!" Oh, and, "...freedom costs a buck O'five."
We're So X-treme
[17:53] [Sunday, January 07, 2007]
We rented a golf cart last night to explore more of Ambergris Caye than San Pedro. Started by taking the road south out of town in search of a quiet beach. We followed the road as far as it would go, and then a little farther. The golf cart performed rather better than we expected! Sort of a poor man's 4x4, it handled crazy potholes, deep mud puddles and soft sand surprisingly well, all things considered. The Captain suggested building a ramp and jumping it over Tanya, but the rest of the crew was not so keen to wreck our rented vehicle.
South of San Pedro, lush tropical jungle with intermittent swampland and mangroves inhabit the island. Seems some realtors have tried and are trying to develop the area, but we noticed quite a few abandoned houses, businesses and condo buildings. Awww....that's a shame.
Our little roadtrip gave the crew quite a beating. Riding in the cart is reminiscent of riding a horse ... If you don't bounce correctly, your crotchal area will suffer. After hours of sustaining this abuse and getting a peek at Ambergris Caye, we did some grocery shopping and retired to the boat, where Galaga awaits.
We have to admit we have not been an entirely adventurous "Team Sol Searcher" our whole time here. Thanks to Blu's Xbox, we have been playing Galaga, and thanks also to our DVD player (thanks also also to Jahboh, who generously let us borrow his DVD collection), we have been watching a ridiculous number of movies in our downtime.
For a change of pace, while running errands ashore decided to spend the night on the town. We rented a golf cart with the intentions of 1) having a vehicle to transport groceries and 2) spending tomorrow exploring the island. Instead of shopping, we spent the evening cruising San Pedro in our sweet ride. The roads here offer a very bumpy trip through town, but excited by the four-wheeler-esque design of our cart, the Captain drove like a maniac, no longer confined by the speed of our sandals.
We decided to hit up Jaguar's Temple and party with the local dance-aholics. Had ourselves a late but very fun night gettin' our grooves on. Much to the surprise of all who know him, even the Captain showed off some moves. Uh oh!
Had a very wet ride home in the dink through rough water, dried off and fell into bed.
