Beautiful Belize

Happy Valentine's Day, or should I say Happy Mardi Gras, we're inbetween both!

One of my first stops in Belize was to the bank. Who would think a bank would be decorated all out for Valentine's Day? It was. Several nice sayings there I just had to write down, but that's not why I came down here. I came to dive, as if I didn't get enough in Mexico. My first dive presented five sharks, the second three turtles--a loggerhead, a hawksbill and a Ridley! Then there's the fish that I'd only seen in the books and had to memorize for my research in Mexico and now got to see huge black groups, tiger groupers, nassau groupers. Trunkfish, dogfish, horse eye jacks, indigo hamlets, porkfish, yellowhead jawfish, tiny purple banded shrimp, and so much more. The water is so blue here and white sand. Exquisite. Now, if I just had a romantic person to share this with, it would be heaven. Maybe that was influenced by the music I'm hearing outside the internet cafe for a wedding reception across the street.

Belize is changing by the minute. There's lots of street construction so things are looking different even in the few days I've been here. I walked around the north side of the beach today, lots of 2-story apartments for tourists, more quaint than the huge complexes on the southern side that I've seen from the dive boat.

The town is rather small and it exudes tourism. Mostly American and Canadian tourists. The dive masters have all been local Belizians, unlike other places I've been when they're from everywhere else. The dive sites have all been very close, five to ten minutes away from the dive shop, so we come back to shore for the surface intervals. Then the tamale man comes so we have something to eat between dives. Oh, this dive shop offers warm towels after the dives which feel oh so good since it's been a little on the cool side down here. They also provide photos on a CD for all the dives you've been on, so I'll have those if my pics don't turn out well.

I'm using my down time to read up on my sailing, and will get back to the dive master books tomorrow. It's been a very relaxed time here. Island time. Life is good.

Hope all is well wherever you are!