Paradise

They approached silently, but it was clear we were their target.  I tried to get Jason's attention, but he was trying to direct my gaze to the 2.5m reef shark that was his focus.  I continue to gesture wildly, and he finally turned his head to see the two manatees cover the last few meters and stop less than 2 meters from us.  We stayed there for awhile as they contemplated us, and we contemplated them.  I gave Jason the camera and dove downwards hoping he would manage to capture me upside down with the manatees in the background.  As I headed back towards the service one of the manatees dove down in imitation of my previous movement.  Deciding we were of little further interest they moved on, and we broke the surface - speechless, amazed, glowing with the beauty of the encounter.  

We continued on, ten more minutes of amazing coral structures and colourful fish.  It was deeper here and I headed to the edge of the reef where a school of massive fish, each one over a meter in length, were resting near the ocean floor.  Glancing up I saw the manatees off in the distance, and they saw me.  They turned approaching once again, curious about these two strange creatures in their ocean.  It was one of those experiences that lodges itself in your memory.  Something you can bring out when you need reminding about the beauty of the world.

It eclipses the rest of our time in Tobacco Caye and that was magnificent by itself.  Our room jutted over the ocean and sting rays routinely swam beneath us as we swung in our hammock.  Pelicans dove into the ocean, startling us as they tried to catch a fish.  We were woken in the night as a turtle dragged itself out of the water to dig a nest underneath the steps into our cabin.  The water ranged from light green to aqua, turquoise and a deep ultramarine blue in the depths.  The actual reef was like swimming through a tropical fish tank.  It was so densely packed with fish, they weren't able to move out the way when we swam towards them.  The water was the clearest I've ever been in, so visibility was excellent.  There were sharks, rays of every size and shape, flounder, lizardfish having their teeth cleaned, lobster and a hermit crab bigger than Jason's hand, and we were always the only snorkelers out there.  Then there was the food.  We were fed three meals a day of delicious food and both put on about 5kg in the 3 days we were there!   Unfortunately such things cannot last (if they did this trip would be one month, not five!), so it was back to cheap hostels, street food and long bumpy bus journeys.