Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip (each photo is a thumbnail linked to a higher quality picture. There are two pages of photos in total): 1) First we thought this was a statue of Jesus at the San Pedro Catholic Church but we found out later that it is actually San Pedro himself. We were in town for the annual San Pedro Day and the people in the background of this photo are leaving the church after holiday services.
2) We did a lot of walking on Ambergris Caye, as evidenced here with Larkin walking through downtown San Pedro. The town has few roads and the island only has a single road that runs the length of it. As a result, there are very few cars but an abundance of golf carts and bicycles. Also note the beach architecture, which we loved.
3) Island decorations: In this case, fish net floats hanging from a tree on the Blue Dolphin grounds. Kind of like a tropical Xmas tree.
4) One day, we rented bicycles so that we could explore the island to the north of our house. Here, Jamie and Jonna ride along the coast, heading for a smoothie at a resort up the beach. This path went right in front of our rental house and ran from San Pedro in the south all the way to Maya Canal in the north.
5) Lassie the dog was certainly our best friend during our visit. He belonged to the caretakers of the house but we think they saw very little of him while we were in the house: teens to play with, treats to eat and a wet pool patio to cool off on.
6) Another of the activities that tempted us away from the pool was a combined sailing/snorkeling trip on the Lady Leslie. Captain Martin brought us to the Coral Garden reef where we spent a couple of hours snorkeling in the water seeing sights like this huge brain coral.
7) This is rare sighting of manatees in the wild that we got while snorkeling at Coral Garden. Normally you are not allowed to get in the water with manatees in Belize but if they show up where you happen to be snorkeling it is fine to stay in the water and watch them. This pair stuck around for about 15 minutes before we both went our separate ways.
8) Larkin and one of the manatees.
9) Lots of colorful, purple coral that we saw while snorkeling.
10) We have no idea what type of coral this is (maybe Finger Coral?) but there were large clumps of it on the reef which looked very surreal when swimming over it.
11) In addition to sailing and snorkeling, we also got a delicious lunch of beans, rice, fish and tropical salsa on our snorkeling catamaran. Pictured L to R: Jonna Fleming, Rosie Sherrill, Kelly McGrath, Brianna Sherrill, Jamie Sherrill and Larkin Sherrill.
12) On our last day Alan, Jonna and Larkin did a two tank scuba diving trip with White Sands. Our first dive was at the Mata Canyon dive site and was our deepest dive ever (80 ft.) We started the dive with a swim-through of this crevasse. Spectacular!
13) We saw a couple of nurse sharks on our dives, including this one which was very well camouflaged swimming through the canyons were we dove.
14) Larkin in scuba gear.
15) The Lion Fish is native to the Pacific Ocean and are considered an invasive species in Belize. We saw a couple during our dive. Normally, the dive masters try to kill them when they see them but our dive master had left his spear gun on the boat on this dive.
16) Our second dive as at M&M Caverns. This was a shallower dive but one on which we saw even more reef fish. Here is Jonna in her scuba gear.
17) At one point we were surrounded by a very large school of blue fish which were very striking in very blue water of the Carribean.
18) A Spotted Moray Eel who was not very happy about our presence.
19) It is really hard to see because of how well it is camoflaged but underneath the feathery coral is a big Green Moray Eel. It is amazing to suddenly spot an eel that is this size (his head was the size of my hand) while swimming along a reef.
20) There are a lot of iguanas that live on the island and hang out in the sun during the day. We spotted this one while having lunch at the nearby Captain Morgan resort but they were all over. We regularly put out fruit and veggie scraps in the bushes after meals at the house to feed the iguanas.
21) Kelly and Jonna on one of our many walks along the beach. Hard to beat this image for an idylic beach vacation memory.
22) Looking back at the Blue Dolphin house from the pier. It was a perfect vacation house. Close to the water, lovely pool and surrounded by coconut trees.
23) Alan and Jonna sitting in the shade by the pool at the Blue Dolphin. You can't detect our awful sunburns from this photo but we were peeling for days after the trip in spite of applying sunscreen constantly.
24) A final family portrait on the water before we all said farewell to Belize. Top row L to R: Rosie Sherrill, Kelly McGrath and Brianna Sherrill. Bottom row L to R: Judy McGrath, Larkin Sherrill and Jamie Sherrill.
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