Friday, December 14, 2007

Over the "bridge" and across the bay to the Reserve...

So, I went to the reserve on Wednesday. I was supposed to be ready at 8 am to leave. I was, well, almost. Anyway, my bags were packed and by the door. All I had to do was borrow a wet suit from a friend. At 8 am I look at the dock, conveniently located less than 100 feet from my front door, and the boat is not there. I had a feeling that Aldo wouldn't be there yet, I also knew he wouldn't mind waiting for just a minute or two.

I went to visit my friend Suyapa at Ecologic Divers and borrowed a full wet suit. (they always loan me anything I need, but I really dislike the guy who has controlling interest in the company) I returned and Aldo was just coming off of the dock.

We had to wait a while so that he could get some gear from the Hol Chan Marine Reserve staff. It was just as well, when we got to the reserve the wind was blowing from the east. Wind from the east = rough seas, at least that was what it meant Wednesday. This was actually really lucky for me. I had been feeling a bit yucky for about three days at this point so I was more than happy to get a day of rest. I was also happy to find out that Alicia, the reserve's manager, was able to hire Sam as our new caretaker. Sam was a fisherman at the nearest fisherman's camp from the visitor center. After my bowl of spaghetti I walked upstairs to my room. It took about all of the energy I had to put my sleeping bag and pillow out. Alicia came up, we chatted a few minutes, then I took a nap for about two hours. I felt a little better, but I still wasn't great. I went down to find a kitchen full of Belize Coast Guard fixing supper. I wasn't all that coherent, so I'm not sure how many there were, maybe 4. Anyway, I stayed as long as I could, and I couldn't stomach more food, so I went back to bed.

The next morning I woke up a refreshed as you can after being sick and worn out for a while. It is amazing the quality of sleep you get when you don't have dogs barking at your bedroom window, taxis passing the house at all hours of the night, and listening to the music from the club down the street.

Despite the plans we had made to dive Thursday morning, it wasn't looking good. The winds were still coming in from the East and it didn't look as if it would change. So, I stayed in bed. The winds eventually shifted to north- northwest. I went down for my Honey Nut Toastee Ohs and peanut butter and found out that this was a good thing. If they held until 9 we would go on our dive.

So the winds held and we prepared for our dive. I found out we would be returning to San Pedro after the dive, so I packed as well.

The dive is another post all together, but the theme of my diving is "I don't like suckerfish!"

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