February 7, 2011 (Tobacco Caye Day Two)

This morning Carmen (shown below) served the guests at Lana's a nice breakfast of pancakes and eggs.

Carmen: Our Cook at Lana's on the Reef

The Canadian chap was leaving for the mainland this morning, so I bid him farewell and watched him walk toward the dock with his backpack. Just as I was just about to go up to my room, a local fellow came by to tell us that a boat was going out at 9:00 AM to look for manatees and do a little snorkeling. The fee for the morning excursion was US$30.00 which I thought was a great deal. The guide for our trip was "Eric" and the captain was A.C. (the guy who had fixed me up with a mask, fins and snorkel). Several other people joined us on the boat, and we spent the morning searching for manatees (we spotted several about a half hour from Tobacco Caye) and a couple of the young guys jumped in the water to attempt to swim with the giant sea creatures. Unfortunately, we never got close enough to them to accomplish this. We did, however, see their heads popping out of the water on numerous occasions. It is quite a site to see. 

On the way back from our manatee hunt we passed by the fabulous Man-O'-War Caye-- which should have been the setting for the famous Alfred Hitchcock movie because it was home to more birds than I have EVER seen in one place. If you look carefully at the island shown below, you will see that the air above the island is filled with hundreds of birds.


The Incredible Man-O'- War Caye



Man-O'-War Caye was apparently named after one of its most popular residents-- the frigate bird-- also known as the "Man-O'-War Bird" for its propensity for snatching the food right out of the mouths of other birds flying nearby. It frigate may not be the friendliest bird, but it is definitely one of the most beautiful.


The Lovely Frigate Bird (a/k/a "Man-O-War Bird")

After cruising by "bird island" and several other beautiful cayes in the area, we finally stopped for a fabulous snorkeling adventure and saw tarpon, manta rays, angel fish and a bunch of other marine wonders. We arrived back at Lana's in time for lunch. During lunch, I asked Emma, Jessica and Lorianna-- my three young female friends from downstairs (we were the only remaining guests at Lana's) --what the heck they were doing at a place like Tobacco Caye. They had already told me that they had also visited the Town of Hopkins.  This was the point where they told me that -- pretty much anyplace on earth they traveled-- there would be people who would take care of them and look after them. This was because, they told me, they were Jehovah's Witnesses. Wow! I told them that I had never actually met any members of their church-- other than the occasional strangers who periodically knocked on my door over the years. The girls were really sweet, and even provided me with a small sampling of "literature" responsive to several issues I had brought up during our lunch and dinner conversations (such as how hard it is to keep a marriage together...). I even took a quick look at the literature that week, but it was (unfortunately) pretty much the same old stuff I have seen over the years.

Three Lovely Jehovah's Witnesses

The snorkeling had been so great that morning that I decided to go out again later that afternoon. I could still not get over the fact that you didn't even need to take a boat out because you were already IN the reef! It was truly amazing. And that evening I went out on the dock for some star gazing. Because there were only a few lights on the island the stars were beyond belief. The temperature, the breeze, the stars-- and three young Jehovah's witnesses. It was absolutely perfect.