Sailing, sailing

We set sail Tuesday morning from Caye Caulker to Placencia-a memorable trip with mostly good memories :) Belize has the second largest barrier reef in the world. In our 3-day trip we stopped along the reef to snorkel 5 times. That was definitely the highlight. What an incredible variety of beautiful fish! There were dinner-plate size black fish outlined in electric blue, cute little yellow and black sergeant majors, schools of 20-30 silver and yellow fish that hovered close to the coral and just swayed with the current, fish colored all over in army camouflage, totally rainbow colored fish (just like in the book), sand-colored flounders blending perfectly into the bottom till they moved, bluish-silver squid, and a green spotted stingray. Scariest fish--a 3 foot barracuda. Most impressive (seen from the boat, not while snorkeling)--2 blue-spotted eagle rays, about 4 foot across. Not to mention the beautiful coral--feathery purple fan-shaped coral, baseball-bat sized tubes in clusters of 4-5, some bright blue, some bright yellow, brain coral, and dark red branched coral.
The food was great--dinner both nights was fresh-caught barracuda. Camping was a mixed bag. Our first night we camped on a small deserted caye. The idea of it is charming--the reality not quite so. No place to sit except the ground, no shower, no toilet, nothing but palm trees and 1 spindly bush to crouch behind. We arrived after dark, which gave some privacy, but there was a full moon (so to speak). Setting up our tent in the dark with a strong wind blowing was a challenge, dinner wasn't till 8:30--so it took more than 1 rum punch to improve our attitude. Camping the second night was on a caye with more amentities-less charming, much more comfortable.
All-in-all it was a fun adventure, we're really glad we did it, but once is probably enough.