Day 7 We sit and watch the parade of planes coming to and leaving Belize.

Ours will soon be here and another adventure in this quaint and picturesque Central American country will be once again be nothing but a memory. This is my third time to Belize. The last was more than ten years ago. In the past decade I see a country that is striding forward. San Pedro on Ambergris Caye has exploded with development and rivals other major tourist attractions in the Caribbean. This is both a good and bad thing. Yes it is good for the tourism trade yet the sleepy little town is no more. Another major change in the past decade is the health of the reef. We visited a number of places I saw a decade ago and the reef life, in size, abundance and diversity has increased tremendously. What a great experience for our students to see vibrant healthy reefs and abundant aquatic life. The change was quite dramatic.

So once again we journey back to the home of the Pony Express. Another fantastic journey with the biology students in Dr. David Ashley’s amazing Field Natural History of Belize course.

Dr. Robert G. Nulph (resident photographer/videographer and overall techno geek)

Day 6 Belize at its most awesome!

Today featured snorkels at Turtle Rock, Shark Ray Alley and Hol Chan Marine Preserve. Many many turtles, stingrays, spotted eagle rays and sharks (hungry nurse sharks who let the students pet them as they went after the fish heads one of our guides, Nair, threw to them). A fantastic variety of coral, fish and invertebrate life. A dazzling display of a healthy reef resplendent in colorful Caribbean species. Having snorkeled to Hol Chan a decade ago, I was impressed with the growth in both diversity and size of the reef and its inhabitants. A glorious way to end our snorkeling in Belize!

Day 5 – From the shining sun to the dark of night the intrepid snorkelers and divers explored

Day 5 started with a short trip to the mangroves south of Trec’s location. This, the ocean’s nursery, proved to be full of life and surprises. Many forms of life to observe with something new around every stalk of Mangrove. Maureen, our wonderful guide, topped off the exploration with an up-close and personal look at the bizarre batfish. (see the picture gallery soon)

Our second stop, after lunch on board was one of the jewels of the trip, The Coral Gardens. There is nothing so enjoyable as floating though crystal clear water and feeling like you have fallen into a giant fish tank! (although I would venture to say no one has a tank with so many types of coral, fish and invertebrates.) An amazing way to wile away an hour or two – better than meditation!

After a brief afternoon siesta while the divers took off for parts unknown to dive 90 feet into the great ocean depths, we all converged on the Goliath for pizza on the boat and a short trip to our next stop. The key to this snorkel – darkness. With a sky brilliant with stars and a nearly full moon, darkness never was complete but close enough to see a variety of octopi, squid, a sea turtle and other active denizens of the dark – especially lobster! A very special experience.