Take Two! (fearless leader) Look Look! It’s a baby Spotted Eagle Ray… ahhhh it’s a

Today, I took it easy thanks to a bad chest cold that doubled me over at times in coughing fits (not easy to deal with while snorkeling!) So, while I caught up on posting pictures, the rest of the crew went to Mexico rocks, checked out an underwater cave entrance and saw lots of fish. They came back, a very tired but happy bunch and had lots of stories about miss sightings and cool discoveries. In the gallery, I have posted pictures the students shot today. Scroll down to the bottom of this page and enjoy.

PS: Dinner was delicious fried chicken, rice and veggies, tortillas and of course – chocolate brownies!

Tomorrow is a very long day so I may not post. We will be hitting a couple of highlight spots – Shark-ray alley and Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Then tomorrow night we will do a night snorkel – always an adventure! A dinner cruise at sunset and then a chance to see the nocturnal creatures of the caribbean!

Look! It’s a Stingray!!!! Ooops sorry, it’s just the boat anchor! :(

I overheard this as we were heading out to our first snorkel at Tres Cocos. Same shape, different material. As I write this, all is quiet here at Belize TREC. The internet being what it is, leads to late nights and furious posting! But, here you go.

Today was a day of snorkeling. THe wind was pretty stiff so we headed to the calmer waters of Tres Cocos (Three Palms – no longer there because of hurricanes but the name stuck!) TREC leader Dr. Kenneth Mattes and his wife Maureen talked through the ins and outs of snorkeling, the reef and what to do and what not to do. What followed was an amazing trip through a living fish bowl with us as the largest species in the water. We saw many amazing fish, corals and invertebrates (there is a picture in the gallery below, just for Dave Ashley!) Speaking of galleries, remember to scroll all the way down the page to find the photos I post every day.

After a quick lunch of Tuna fish sandwiches and PB&J for the less adventurous, we headed to another site for another session of beautiful coral reefs, gorgeous fishes and an unrelenting wind and tide that made it a amazing sight but also a heck of a workout!

After a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, etc (and of course chocolate cake!) we joined Ken for his famous “Fish Lecture,” where he regaled the students in his knowledge of the more prevalent species on the reef. He also explained tomorrow’s snorkel and what to expect. For now, enjoy the pictures and tune in tomorrow for another peek into our Bio in Belize adventure.

Lions, Tigers and bears… oh, wrong country! Jaguars and Toucans and Crocs!

Day three included a trip to Cahal Pech, an amazing Mayan Ruin, and the Belize Zoo.

Cahal Pech (Land of Ticks) is named so because of the large herds of cattle that once grazed on the vegetation that once blanketed the ruins. The cattle and ticks are long gone but the ruins, many of which have been excavated by a number of University archeology teams, still rise above the jungle floor, giving those who walk through its v-shaped arches a glimpse into the powerful Mayan society of a thousand years ago. It really gives you pause to think that the USA is just over 130 years old while Cahal Pech took 2000 years to build and thrived for almost 4000 years.

As we journeyed East towards the sea, we stopped at Cheers for lunch. Yes, I said Cheers! No, we didn’t get a visit from Norm but we did have very good food and enjoyed the covered terrace seating.

The Belize zoo was our next stop. This zoo was literally built around the animals of Belize. The founder of the zoo adopted the animals being used in a documentary and built the zoo around these animals, using the natural plants and contours to create a very comfortable zoo for the animals and information-filled tour for its visitors. The animal and most of the flower shots came from the zoo.

Finally, we journeyed further east until we literally ran into the Caribbean, just on the other side of the small airport where we departed for San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. Of course, with 30 people, it took three planes and numerous trips by the TREC van to pick up our crew. We got to TREC and were greeted by a sumptuous dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, corn and a delicious chocolate brownie! Then it was time for some swimming in the TREC pool and an orientation session with Dr. Ken Mattes, our host.

Needless to say it was a very hot and full day and now it’s time for bed. Tomorrow we board the Goliath for our first snorkel trip.