We started the our tour with a beautiful 4 hour drive south from Belize City through mountains and dense forest along the “Hummingbird Highway” to the coastal settlement of Placencia. This sleepy town is at the very end of a peninsula, mangrove lagoons on one side and palm fringed, white Caribbean beaches on the other... a very relaxing afternoon was spent hanging out at our beachside hotel.
The next day our sea kayaking trip was to start in earnest. Unfortunately we were a bit unlucky with weather, strong winds and a few storms, so rather than moving between small coral atolls on the outer reefs we were confined to a small island 10km offshore which was to act as our base for the next 5 days.
Let me put “unlucky” into perspective. The island was about 80m long and 30m wide. At the southern and eastern sides were fringed with mangroves that provided excellent fishing for the family of pelicans living there every morning and evening. The northern and western sides of the island were interspersed with palm trees and more open and sandy, providing great views to other nearby islands and the distant mountains lining the border between Belize and Guatemala. There was a small timber hut with two rooms and a kitchen near the mangroves that served as storage and home for Tilo, the islands’ caretaker (from Honduras). In the middle of the island was built a large, hexagonal, wooden pergola, at the centre of which was the simple, but essential bar which served as the epicentre for hours of playing card, dominoes, reading and swinging on hammocks. Of course we could simply wade out a few metres to spectacular coral reefs that surrounded the island, some of the best we have ever seen.
Our tents were set up in between a thatch of small palm trees and the cold bucket showers were usually a welcome relief from the afternoon heat if the wind wasn’t blowing too hard. Most days involved riding out on the boat to another island and then snorkelling around coral reefs or mangrove estuaries before kayaking back to our base camp on the island.
But the real blessing on the trip was Dwayne. A local from Placencia who operated the sea kayaking tour and had a great sense of humour and even better sense of where the abundant marine life was hiding. Every night our plates were laden with freshly caught lobster, conch and fish. He also, along with Tilo and Rudi (our lazy mainland guide), educated us in the Belizean passion for dominoes. Dwayne also showed us how he caught lobster and took me fishing a couple of times were I was lucky enough to land a big Bar Jack (a local red blooded fish like a tuna).
Along with Frisky, the crazy island dog (who soon got into the habit of launching herself onto us when we were sleeping on the hammocks), all 6 of us easily fell into the daily rhythm of the sun and the only time we made it past 8.30pm was when we gorged ourselves on chocolate and marshmallows around the campfire on the beach. The afternoon rums may have also had an impact on our need for early nights!
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