Day Nine: January 15, 2015

Patricia's Blog

Beautiful Morning in Placencia

Waking up in paradise, enjoying the comfy bed and head straight to the shower to feel refresh and ready to start our last full day in Belize. Woke up and took a nice warm shower. Got my clothes ready and went outside and saw the most beautiful sky ever. We all met up with our professor, as she tells us that just behind our place, there's a new establishment that does laundry. We all ran back into our little houses and packed up all our dirty clothes that smelled so damp and of forest and rushed to the place and each handed the person our dirty laundry. It's 7 am and we decided just to stroll along the water on the docks and just take in the great view. At 7:30 am we all met up at The Shack for breakfast. I ordered the Grand Slam which includes two pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and some fruit with a nice glass of orange juice. Around the table we are talking about what we did the prior day after we settled in and had dinner. 

Laughing Bird Island 

Heading back to Placencia

After breakfast we all got into our bathing suits and water shoes, go our sun block, towels, sun glasses, and hats and met up at the main hotel office and walked over to where we were going to get on a boat to takes us to the Laughing Bird island and go snorkeling. We arrived at the hut where we get the snorkeling gear and meet up with our diver, we signed forms, and we all tried on flippers and mask for the first time. Into the boat we go, the rush of the wind and water splashing against us, what a rush. Thirty minutes in wide open waters, however a grey cloud was hovering over the other side, us praying for no rain, but with our luck we arrived at the island already soaking wet. We get off the boat and headed to our portion under the hut, grab a table and organized out belongings. The ranger of the island talked to us about the rules; took a potty break, and got out snorkeling gear ready. We walked along a very rocky portion at the edge of the island, put on our flippers, and Baljinder, Walkiria, and I hold on to each other as we walked backwards into the water and with our floaties like little yellow ballet totos. Into the water and we start to float around, looking at different fishes and coral reef, even saw a sting ray and touched a sea cucumber. Swimming back to shore, we went back to our table and a delicious lunch was waiting for us, fried chicken, rice with beans, and cole slaw. After lunch we had the option to go snorkeling again, I stayed behind as the sun came out and I decided to lay on the beach and try to get a tan. I was watching the pelican diving down to grab food. The others arrived back from the second snorkeling and we all had some coconut and started back to Placencia. 

Drink up 

Back in our little houses, we all took showers and decided to walk around to do some souvenir shopping. I bought so many hand painted magnets and a bracelet. We had our final dinner at The Secret Garden; I had a Cesar Salad and a grilled steak with shrimp top, mashed potatoes, and steamed veggies. After dinner all us girls decided to head back to the Tipsy Tuna and enjoy a night out. We all got frozen drinks topped with cherries. 
Placencia was such a thrill.....sadly the next morning we were off back to New York. 





The Legend of Walkiria's Bag 

Day 9 

Blue Dolphin House 

I woke up around 6:30am to a beautiful view of the sunrise and the beach. Took a shower I put on my bathing suit and shorts and tank top over. Today we would be going snorkeling the weather is so suppose to be sunny and beautiful till 4pm. Breakfast was at 7:30am but we were early so we decided to explore the boat docks and to take pictures of the views. Professor Lia told us about a laundromat that was $15BZ dollars to do a load. The girls and I went back to our rooms to get our load of clothes and took it to the place. We left our laundry and we went The Shak to have breakfast which was right around the corner. As we all ordered our breakfast everyone got their food except for me. I watched everyone eat but I was still waiting. Ken Hopper, a friend of Jacob's who tagged along with us asked the ladies what is happening with my food and apparently they had gotten confused since Patricia and I ordered the same meal. After I got my food I ate and then we went to the snorkeling post to get set up for a day of snorkeling. We had to sign waivers and information sheets in case anything happens (I signed my life way) and he took our sizes ad gave us al the equipment needed for snorkeling. As we were going to the laughing bird it rained on us, we were passing a big cloud but the raindrops were hurting. I said "In a few minutes we will get to a sunny place, you'll see" and sure enough we did! 

Morning View

It was so amazing seeing those different sites of private Islands. I was literally on the way to the middle of nowhere and I didn't even have a problem with it. We get to the laughing bird and we get our things out of the boat and put them on a table. We took some time to use the bathroom and get ready. I was given a life vest because I could never fully trust my body to float. Our snorkeling coach had us wash our mask to make sure it was clear and put on our fins. He told us to walk backwards until We are on the clear part of the water. When we were all good we began swimming into the ocean.

Parrots

 I put my head under water and I was amazed. So many Coral reefs, fishes that were big and small I loved it. He pointed different fishes out. At one point he pointed out a Barracuda. The current was pulling me towards it but I was just learning to control how to stay in place and how to move so I was a little afraid. Every time I swam I felt like I was going to touch the reef but I was trying so hard not to. 

Waiting To go snorkeling 

 I saw a SHARK!! Not a baby shark but a BIG MAMA SHARK. As soon as I spotted it I popped my head out of the water and freaked out a little. I told the rest but they didn't see only a few saw. I can finally say I was close to a shark. I was scared but also happy that I got to experience that. It made me want to do it again. I also saw a stingray they blend in with the ground that as soon as they come out it kind of scares you.

Lunch Time ! We got out the water and our boat drivers had prepared food for us. There was rice and beans and fried chicken. We ate and spoke about how amazing snorkeling is. After an hour or two we were going to go back in but on the other side of the Island and go around. 

We were going back to Placencia and we were going to have our last dinner. We went back to our rooms to take a shower and get ready for Dinner. We went to the Secret Garden. The secret of the menu was the menu of Entrees. I had Spicy Jambalaya traditionally it's a New Orleans dish. It was very spicy and hot but I enjoyed it. After the secret garden, The girls and I went to Tipsy Tuna and we had a girls night out before we leave Belize. Apparently Thursday are the good nights to go out and have a good time.

Last Dinner

Tipsy Tuna 

Baljinder's Blog:

Thursday January 15, 2015. Today was most awaited day since last night. All of us woke up early around 6:30 and started preparing for the day. All we knew was that we were going snorkeling and shopping for gifts later in the day.  Once we were all ready we decided to explore some of the island by our little cabanas since we still had some time before breakfast. On our little morning journey, we encountered Professor Lia doing the same and she told us about a place that had a brand new opening for laundry. They charged 15BZ per pound. So we all decided to get our dirty clothes and head over to the laundromat. My laundry was already in rolls in a bag because I had packed all the wet clothes in one bag. 

After submitting our laundry we went to "The Shack" for breakfast. I ordered french toast with coffee. Unfortunately, Walkiria's breakfast was forgotten so we waited for her food to come after reminding the waitress, to eat. 

Surprisingly, my coffee was amazing because I don't really coffee. The milk for the coffee was creamy and evaporated which was probably made the coffee taste so good. I even got fresh fruit with my french toast and didn't hesitate to take pictures of my food. 

After breakfast we were to get ready to go snorkeling, so we went back to our cabanas and got towels and a change of clothes and wore the ones to snorkel in. Once ready we headed over to the Snorkeling registration where we signed off waivers and contact information. Then we were provided with snorkeling masks and flippers before we loaded the boat that would take us to the island we would be snorkeling off from. 

On our way in the ocean, we were splashed with mists of water, until we went through a rain cloud and were splashed with rain. It become a windy ride at some point. When we were at the island we settled our belongings onto a table and were given instructions on how to take care and wear our snorkeling masks. Dish soap helps masks not fog up. Walkiria, Patricia and I wore life jackets in case of panic in deep water and for me because I cant swim.

It was a little difficult getting into the water because of all the seashells and rocks. We started to float our way into the water. I was a little panicked when we went deeper into the water but Patricia and Walkiria were there being supportive. I floated most of my way and got the hang of swimming. I tried to do everything one step at a time while trying look into the water while floating. We had to be very careful around the coral reefs because we could harm them and ourselves of we didn't pay attention. I did end up scraping my knees on a big rock but it didn't matter because we enjoyed the different views and colors as well as the sea creatures.  

After going about 100-200 feet away from the island, we headed back to have some lunch. there were watermelons, rice and beans, and cahune leaf salad. 

Lunch was great and the sun parted through the clouds, we then prepared ourselves for a second round of snorkeling. This time Patricia stayed back to soak in some sun. 

This time we had some sun while in the water, but also got some very fast tides. There was a moment when I removed my mouth piece to get some air and all I got was salt water. Walkiria spotted out a baby shark and pointed it out until she realized how close she was to it. It was pretty intense.

When we were done snorkeling we went back in the boat to our island of stay. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent on roaming through the market and buying chocolate, hot sauces, bracelets and other goods. We also had ice cream from the ice cream parlor. 

Around 7:00 we met up with Jacob at the Secret Garden for dinner, followed by some last cheers to the end of our trip in Belize.  

Dani's Blog

Our first morning in paradise! We all woke early (now out of habit) and watched the sun rise right on our front porch (total. perfection.) After soaking in all the beauty of an island paradise, we all convened and dropped out soggy (and jungle funk infested) clothes off at a cafe that offered laundry services. 

After breakfast (poor Walkiria was neglected) we made our way to the docks to be fitted for snorkeling gear. Today we were going to the reef! After a bit of paperwork we hopped in the boat and made our way out to the reef (the rain being to kind as to pay us another visit on the way there.)

Thankfully the rain stopped just before we reached the island, literally a little plot of sand in the middle of nowhere (by nowhere I mean ocean). We quickly got settled in and made our way to the entrance port (a challenge but we were all up for it). Before I knew it we were in the water, dipping down and looking at an underwater city. It truly was an unforgettable experience. After our excursion we came back to the shore for a lunch of some of the greatest food I've ever had. Coconut shrimp and fried chicken, fresh coconut juice and watermelon. Seriously out of this world. 

We rested up for a bit (tried to get warm between the sporadic rain showers) and when out again for a second round, but before long, it was time to head back to shore. After cleaning up a but we headed out for our last dinner in Placencia, a beautiful outdoor restaurant called the Secret Garden. Here we were responsible for paying for our own meals, so of course we all ate extravagantly. Although I never got the change to eat gibnut or conch, but I can vouch that the spiny lobster is delicious. 

After dinner we all went out for the last time, once again to the Tipsy Tuna bar (home of the free shots). This time around we ordered some frozen mixed drink, and after missing out on free jello shots, we decided to call it a night.