Pirates of the Caribbean...

MAY 25, 2011
I’m in paradise right now. I’m on a deserted island 35 miles from the mainland. I woke up at 6am on Tuesday, took a water taxi to catch the 8am bus to Dangriga. I was supposed to meet a lady to take me to the island on her boat. She called and told me that she still had to get the boat from the river and will meet me in an hour. No problem. I kept my bags at the local store and picked up some food for the trip. By the time she got there, she had to do some errands. We packed up the boat with my gear and some supplies from the mainland. At 1pm, they said they couldn’t take this boat, the engine kept cutting out. So they had to have someone from the island drive another boat all the way here to come get me and the supplies. We left the mainland at 4pm. Then the fun began! Picture this, a low profile, 20 ft fishing boat loaded down with about 1500 pounds of water, coolers, ice, mangos, bananas, food, my luggage, and who knows what else. There was me, the captain and one other guy. The instant we started moving, I was soaked. Water was coming in from every direction. I couldn’t open my eyes. It was like someone was throwing buckets of water on me constantly for one hour straight. I had to have faith that the captain knew what he was doing. I was concerned with my stuff. I had my laptop, camera, phone and books with me that I didn’t want ruined. It was the longest and wettest boat ride of my life. By the time we got to the first island, we unloaded about 1/3 of our weight. It was an island that conducts surveys of the reef. Glad we were able to support them with some food. Now, they said, come the waves. I thought, “Oh my God, what could be worse!”. We got back to the boat and past the reef into the wide open water. The waves were coming in from everywhere. I couldn’t see and the boat was tossing and launching a few times. I maintained complete calmness throughout this time and thought, this is crazy!! I wish someone could see me right now in the middle of the Caribbean, riding 35 miles in a little boat getting tossed around. AND this was after I waited 8 hours on the mainland for the boat to even show up! By time we got to the island, the sun was setting. However, I will have to say, that scary ass boat ride was so worth the time spent here. I got upgraded to the cabin over the water. There are about 10 cabins, a few dorms and tent camping spots. As I write this, I’m sitting in a hammock, with the breeze and sun and ocean right here. The sand is white, the water is blue and the diving is colorful! I brought my own breakfast food and snacks so all I have to do is buy dinner. They make fresh caught fish, veggies and fruit. There’s coconut rum and Belizean weed. There’s only 20 people on this island (10 guests, 10 workers). Apparently, it’s been known for pirates to hide out here and watch the Spanish boats go by. They would pillage the boats and murder people and when it got out of hand, they could get their quick, little boats back through the reef and on this island. The big Spanish boats couldn’t get past the reef. So there’s some old bones that are buried and perhaps some gold/jewels found here. I heard that the owner’s mom bought this island from the Morgan’s - Captain Morgan! The graves are his grandson’s! Sooo cool! On the next island, there’s a ghost of a tall headless man who walks around. Talk about Pirates of the Caribbean! I’m right here! The only animal to be careful about is the hermit crab. They are EVERYWHERE! Little baby crabs walking around and hiding in their shells when you step by. And I’ve seen crabs with shells the size of baseballs! Freakin’ huge! Gotta watch your step around here. There’s palm trees everywhere with coconuts. We can crack them and drink the water right out of the shell. There’s also kayaks that we have access to and more snorkeling, diving, night dives, fishing, relaxing, reading and of course, yoga on my deck over the water! I highly recommend people come to Belize. You don’t have to learn a new language, you don’t have to exchange money and it’s tropical, fun, relaxing and pretty cheap. I’m paying $20/night to stay here! Sure beats the last place I was staying at that had a shared bathroom. The guesthouse was made of wood and we were on the 2nd floor. The bathroom was built out with nothing underneath it but a little support and some pipes. When I stepped into the shower, it almost gave underneath. The water had soaked through the wood below it. Then I see in tiny writing, “Be careful where you step, shower not sturdy.” Oh, ya think?! I quickly got out of there. Don’t want to be the one who takes the last shower in there and fall through the floor 15 feet above the ground! Let’s just say, it’s been an adventure and I’m loving every minute of it!

I just checked my email after 4 days and have 2 emails from job offers. One in Guatemala on Lake Atitlan with a Waldorf School teaching elementary kids yoga twice a week, while helping out with recess and playing with the kids. The lake is beautiful and there’s hiking and yoga everywhere. The other job is back in San Pedro, Belize on Ambergris Caye. It’s marketing for a organic farmer/holistic business. He wants me to teach yoga and learn Spanish and market his biz while he does Chi Gong and massage, guitar lessons, etc. I’m having a hard time figuring it out! Thoughts???