We awoke to a beautiful, calm morning, perfect for our planned snorkeling trip. There was a bustle of activity as we all prepared for the coming event! We were out on the dock waiting for our boat at the appointed time. Florenzio was there waiting as well. At nine am the appointed pick up time, no boat had arrived. Florenzio got the gears from the crew about what kind of charter did he hook us up with. He made a call and said the boat should be here shortly. Within minutes we could see "Lil Alfonse" approaching. The captain, Alfonse, pulled up in his 26' boat c/w bimminy for shade.
Alfonse, the skipper of the vessel, is an islander and family man and as he says he and the bank own his tour boats! He has two boats, the other being crewed by his nephew and his cousin who helps him out.
Alfonse introduced himself and described the itinery for the days charter. He is a well spoken and passionate about the conservation of the country's marine habitat. Our first leg of the ride took us about fifteen minutes from our dock to Hol Chan Marine Park. This park was pioneered by local fisherman, Alfonse's father being one of them, who recognized forty years ago that something had to be done to preserve the reefs and the ecosystem for future generations. Alfonse has been on these waters all of his life and at aged 11, got his first boat. He said that often he would get dressed in his school uniform and tell his mom he off to school, but as soon as he was out of her sight he would quit the school uniform and head off in his boat. He loved being on the water, and in the water, as we were soon to witness!
We pulled up to the park ranger's boats upon our arrival and once the formality of the permits were completed we tied up to one of the other boats that were there. Alfonse gave us detailed instructions on both the technical aspects of snorkeling and the rules of the park. Basically, keep your hands to yourselves! This is pretty much comman sense as what you may go poking at may have sharp teeth! Also the coral is a living organism and can be quite fragile.
Munchkin volunteered to stand guard on the boat while we snorkeled. Alfonse said that was not necessary but Brenda told him she was not getting her face wet and would not be getting in the water! Her explanation of why she was not going to snorkel was a bit more colourful than I have described!
The snorkeling was fantastic! There was marine live eveywhere. The number of species we saw phenominal. Alfonse's gave a continious monologue of various types of fish we saw. He showed us a live conch and many other fasinating creatures. Now Alfonse must be part fish himself for he appeared to as much at home under the water as on dry land!
At one point he located a large green moray eel in its lair of coral. He tried to lure it out with a vacant conch shell. This attracted a little nurse shark that also wanted to see what Alfonse had! The eel did venture out a bit, but only about a foot or so. What a formidable looking creature! When Alfonse dropped the conch shell the nurse shark was on it like ugly on an ape! You could hear its teeth grate on the shell and a sucking sound. This all took place about 6' below the surface with us floating above watching! We also got to see a fair sized grouper up close as well. I would not describe the grouper with adjectives like, pretty, or nice, it is one ugly looking fish! They sure taste good though! We also got to see a turtle having lunch in the seaweed. As we approached it, it began to move away, but Alfonse quickly circled around it and it slowly moved back towards us. It settled back down on the bottom right below us and continued with its snack!
Upon our return to the boat Brenda told us that she had to repel boarders! She said a sailor from another boat jumped aboard and began tugging at our bow line! She challenged him with cutlas in hand and he begged quarter, explaining he was merely attempting to adjust the mooring lines to prevent the boats from bumping each other. Satisfied that his intentions were genuine, Brenda allowed him access to the line to complete his task. Alfonse was impressed by her loyalty to the "Lil Alfonse"! We climbed aboard and lit out for our next snorkeling spot, Shark Alley. Now this is aptly named! The moment we pulled up and tied to the mooring bouy, we could see numerous nurse sharks and rays all around us! Alfonse tossed a bit of chum in and we witnessed a school of jack in a frenzie after the morsels! Alfonse had a perforated tube that he filled with fish pieces and tossed in. This sank to the bottom and a number of large nurse sharks began pushing it around trying to get at the tasty bits inside. Once in the water we were right amongst the sharks, rays and jacks! This was soooo coooolll! We then witnessed Alfonse interacting with both the rays and sharks.
After the snorkeling we headed to Caye Caulker for lunch and a walk-about. On the way from Shark Alley to Caulker Alfonse explained that his interaction with the sharks and rays has been developed over a number of years and the sharks and rays that frequent the area know him and are used to him. He showed us the scars of nips and bites from these animals that he obtained getting them used to him handling them. He did caution us that this was not something he would recommend a novice attempt!
We ate lunch at the Rainbow Restaurant on Caye Caulker and then went for a stroll to check it out. It was not a very long stroll! The place is very quiet compared to san Pedro and appears to attract more of your hostel/backpacker types. It was a very beautiful and hot sunny day and after an icecream cone at one of the local vendors we headed back for home.
Alfonse dropped us safe, sound and satisfied back at our Ambergris home. It was an absolutely wonderful day!
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