The Manatee tour we took with 77 year old Lionel 'Chocolate' Heredia was all we had hoped it would be. Chocolate has been instrumental in setting up wildlife sanctuaries for the manatees and knows more about them than most. He has spent most of his life trying to save the manatees here in Belize. He is very passionate about the manatees and had little tricks to find them and get them to come up close so we could get good pictures. We were lucky that the weather was calm with no wind. So the water was as clear as glass. We saw six or more manatees, at least three of them all together at one spot. They are so graceful and the tails are huge! I am so glad we got to go on this trip. It was a thrill to see these gentle giants. We also got to do some snorkeling on this trip off this tiny little island called Sergeant's Caye, right on the reef. This was once an inhabited island but, the hurricanes and locals stealing the sand have made this island almost disappear. It's maybe 30 feet wide 60 feet long. I'm talking really small. All white sand and no plants left. The snorkeling was fantastic here. Maybe the best of our whole trip! The water was so clear the colors of the coral and fish were brilliant! I can't wait to see the pictures on the computer! We didn't really see any big fish but, we saw large schools of some of the most colorful fish. Chocolates snorkel gear was pretty old and not in very good shape. Both my fins were ripped and they were already too big for me, even with socks on. Dave had one fin that had a big rip in it so it wouldn't stay on his foot. My also kept falling off. So, we decided not to go outside the reef. Many of the others in our group did though. They said it was even better then the area we were in but, I could tell that it was not as clear as where we were snorkeling. The outside of the reef is lot more choppy and I think it is harder to get good pictures. We were pretty happy snorkeling where we were.
Tomorrow we head home and though I've had a fantastic trip, I'm missing home and ready to leave. I'll be doing more updates once I get home, including uploading pictures from Dave's camera. So, there will be some good under water and caves pictures added.
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