Adventures in Belize

View Larger MapIn our final Mexican anchorage, Xcalak, we made our first 'real' cruising friends, a family on a 50' boat named Moonshadow (more on them later). Howard and Sheira, their daughters Rachael and Jocelyn, and crew Tiffany. We were going the same basic direction, Howard is from New Zealand (a Kiwi) and they were making their way there to live. We didn't realize it at the time but I had actually met them on our shakedown cruise in the Bahamas 2 years prior! We ended up cruising the coast of Belize with them, sharing laughs, meals and a lot of rum!


(Rachael and Abby)
Belize has the longest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere, the second largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We chose to sail inside the reef along the coast, which was a little dicey at times with a 2-meter (6'8") draft! There is another gem in Belize, aside from the great diving and snorkeling that can be done here, the Belize Zoo.

Anchoring off of Belize City is an adventure in itself, but we added to it by taking public bus, also known as the 'chicken bus' (an old US school bus, painted fun colors commonly used throughout Central America) out to where the zoo was, which ended up being more of an adventure than we bargained for!

The bus broke down.
In the 90 degree heat.
With NO shade.
We waited about 45 minutes for another bus to come rescue us, and then we finally made it to the zoo. We hadn't really planned on actually visiting the zoo that particular day. We went to the bus station with our friends from Moonshadow to check out the prices and ended up on the bus, ready to go! Well, we arrived at our destination and the price had gone up. None of us had enough cash to get in, and they would not give us any leeway. What to do? After such an interesting afternoon on the (broken down) bus we really wanted to actually see the zoo! Well, we hemmed and hawed for a long time, and finally the person behind the desk (who had been so unbending before) felt guilty or something, and she let us all in! I highly recommend anyone going to Belize visit this little zoo, it is truly a magical place.













The other highlight of Belize was Sapodilla Lagoon. We went there because it is one of the most protected areas of Belize and we had heard that there was a large weather front heading out way. We were all snug in the lagoon, I wasn't feeling well so Jeff went out exploring in the dinghy, picking up the Moonshadow clan on the way. When they didn't come back for hours I started to get a little nervous, Tiffany was on board Moonshadow so at least we could chat via the VHF radio (both of the dingy's were gone so we were stuck on our own boats). Finally Jeff arrived home and told me all about his adventure...



Motoring around in two dinghy's, they had found a large canal which was obviously man made. Curiosity took over and Jeff and Howard steered up, finding a guy in a pickup truck at the end. After a 3 hour tour of Herman Hanley's shrimp farm they 2 boats finally came home, with plans to go back the next day. Herman is a pretty interesting character, he described himself this way, through what his wife said about him in retirement "Most people retire and buy a Lazy Boy, you retire and start a shrimp farm in Belize".
All of us went back to Herman's Shrimp Farm the next day. He was headed into a little Mennonite (yes, Mennonite) town about an hours drive from the farm to pick up some supplies. We were all excited for a little road trip to see more of the country side! Driving along the rolling hills, as far as we could see were pineapples. Herman stopped at a little roadside stand where a man with a very large machete hacked off the bottom and prickly skin of the pineapple- leaving the leaves (stem?) as a handle- we had pineapple Popsicles! They were so juicy that we all had pineapple down our chins, I have never, ever, ever tasted a pineapple so amazing. Pretty amazing snack for 50 Cents!





Arriving back at Herman's farm, we were treated to a grand tour of the gardens, the house (where I got to take a shower!!!) and finally the shrimp pools. Jeff can write someday about the technology Herman was using to grow shrimp there, it was pretty amazing. While at the house Jeff had inquired about buying a small box of frozen shrimp, but Herman couldn't "sell" us any due to local laws. So he did one better... He took us out to one of the pools where the shrimp were big enough to be harvested (a few weeks early, but still big enough) and he got one of his guys to cast his net. We ended up with a 48 Quart cooler FULL of whole shrimp!

Probably the best, and worst part of the shrimp was sitting on Moonshadow, surrounded by friends, working on shrimp. I'm not sure how long we were there, but hours were spent de-heading and peeling shrimp. Moonshadow had no refrigeration at the time so they ate their fill that first night (we all did, even Amos the cat!). We thought that cooler would never be empty! Eventually is was though, and there were a lot of shrimp still to be eaten. So Jeff and I went home to No News, pulled out our vacuum sealer and packed 12-15 shrimp per bag to be frozen. Yes. I had a freezer! Let me tell you the best part, we ate the final installment of shrimp- grilled and over pasta- 9 months later in Tonga!




Shrimp.
One of my favorite stories to tell from our adventure. Unfortunately that part of Belize has been developed in the last few years. I was unable to find out any information about Hanley Farms Limited on Google. Maybe someday we will show up there again and check it out, maybe not. Sometimes it is better to remember the great times, not try to replace them.