Matthew's web log

Today is our first full day in Ambergris Caye.  We awoke to be ready for breakfast at 7:30 because we wanted to book the glass bottom boat and snorkel tour for 9am.  The front desk said the glass bottom boat was full and when we tried calling it, one number was disconnected and the other just went to voicemail.  I wanted the glass bottom boat because I'm not a snorkeler, but wanted to see things and go for a swim.  I'm not into snorkeling because I don't do well with the snorkel in my mouth and can't see without my glasses assuming the mask even fits.   Giving up on the glass bottom boat, we booked snorkeling for 2pm, had breakfast, inquired about tomorrow's plans and options (since it is Christmas), and got some groceries.  I was a bit stressed this morning when it was looking like we might have 2 days with nothing to do, but was much calmer now that plans were forming.

After lunch at the hotel, we changed into bathing suits, lotionized for the strong tropical sun, and grabbed our stuff for the snorkel trip.  We get to the meeting point for the boat, and of course they have no mask to fit over my glasses (at least they had fins for my small feet).  While waiting for the snorkel boat, I chatted with the snorkel saleswoman.  I asked about our trip- how long we'd be on the water, how far out we go, and what we would see.  Always the comedian, I asked her if we could use Lonnie to chum up the water for the sharks.  She said "Of course, yeah of course you can do that".  Wow, we did pick the right tour operator!  Lonnie seemed a little concerned, however.

We headed out to Hol Chan shortly after 2pm.  It's a fifteen minute boat ride and when we arrive there, there are already sharks swimming thanks to all the boats tossing bread and food into the water.  The water is a beautiful turquoise blue, probably in the upper 70s and about 4 feet deep.  The guide will lead a group further out, but I opt to stay near the boat where I can walk around and at least see things in focus.  A bunch of other people do the same thing.  For 10 minutes, there's nothing to see, but then a nurse shark buzzes by and I'm glad I made the trip.  There was another one a bit later along with some coral.  The water was a bit cold so I headed back to the boat about 30 feet away to warm up.  About 10 minutes later my travel team returned to also warm up.  

The boat's next stop was Shark Ray Alley.  It is so named because fishermen used to gut their fish here so sharks and rays congregate there.  This is still true today as we were about to witness.  One of our guides was holding a ray that  swam by the boat.  There were plenty of fish around also.  I didn't bother going in the water and only a few folks did- and not for very long.  We then took the boat back to shore and made the short walk to the hotel for a hot shower.  

After all the advance planning and tricky logistics we arrived on time in Ambergris Caye (pronounced "key"), Belize.  The complicated airport transport to SFO (which will save us considerable time coming back by leaving a car near the airport) went without a hitch.  Although the new cabbie forgot to turn on the meter, we got to the airport with plenty of time for our flight a little after midnight.  Check in at the airport was a bit slow on TACA, but we had our seats in business class (more like a cross country biz. class than transcontinental, but nice in any case).  

The day was three flights that were successively shorter and on smaller planes.  I've now been to another country solely for its airport after connecting in El Salvador (which my friends assured me was long since past its Civil War).  After connecting to Belize City, we took the small prop (~20 seater) to the Caye.

The hotel is right next to the airport so we walked over to check in.  With only one room ready, we dropped off our bags and browsed the town.  A little while later we checked in to the hotel and had lunch there.  I looked forward to my Coca-Cola in a glass bottle only to find that it didn't taste like the coke I'm used to.  I'll have to try one more to be sure that this first one wasn't just a dud.

Finishing lunch, we browsed around the island trying to stay awake. By around 3pm, I returned to the room, showered to get the sand off and took a nap until about 5.  We then departed for dinner and were able to get good food and, more importantly, sample the local Belikin beer.  Belikin is mild with no after taste.  And I needed a couple to cool the mouth from the good, yet spicy, jerk chicken.

Doing a quick internet check to find out about snorkel options, we then just wandered a bit.  L' had her third good idea today- buying water at the local store (2 gallons for US$3 instead of US$1 for a 16oz bottle at the hotel).  This followed her other good ideas of walking out of the way of oncoming traffic and avoiding walking in the sand before returning to the room.  

Finally ready to crash for the night, I swatted a mosquito that just had dinner, leaving a nice bloody mark on the wall.  We later noticed other splattered bugs around the room.  Welcome to the tropics.  Tomorrow the real adventures begin.   

(Posted from Belize) 

Limited internet time, but a quick update.  We arrived safely and on time in Ambergris Caye, Belize.  Spent the day orienting around town and plotting out our upcoming adventures.  More info as the adventure continues.

I wanted to get one more photo shoot in of some animals in final preparations for my upcoming trip.  With only a little time to spare this weekend, I headed down to Happy Hollow Zoo.  It's just a short drive away and within an hour I covered the entire place. 

It's a challenge to get great animal photos even within the confines of a zoo.  The light changes as the animals move and the fast shutter speeds necessary to freeze motion are difficult with poor light.  Here are the highlights:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/HappyHollow2007

 (Scroll down past the picture to leave a comment).

On a crisp but sunny late Fall day, I went over the hill to Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz.  This time of year the monarch butterflies are migrating and they congregate in the park.  I had heard about this a few years ago, but didn't make it during one of our rainier winters.  With a nice day and a good zoom lens, I was eager to try some wildlife photography.   Photographing moving animals requires a different skill from landscape photography and I want to practice a bit before my adventures later this month.

Photographically, I found that manual focus can be useful- provided you get the focus correct.  Depth of field is challenging at these focal lengths.  Digital is great since I don't care that most shots don't come out. 

Following the butterflies it was off to a more heart rate raising hike (at Forest of Nisene Marks State Park), but I didn't bring the camera for that part.  I did get to see the epicenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake which was a good follow on to last month's earthquake hike . 

Photos of the Monarchs.

I continued the annual tradition of going to South Florida for the week of Thanksgiving.  Although the weather in Northern California is excellent, by late November it's a bit cool and I look forward to some warm sunshine.  After some scurrying around to sort out Delta Airlines messing up my flights, I arrived early in the day on Saturday following the red eye flight.

The week was spent visiting with the family, playing with the dog, and seeing some long time friends.  While Florida doesn't have nearly the photographic opportunities of California, there was a nice Japanese garden (Morikami) where I took some shots.  The rest of the photos were of the family.  A link to the album is below:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/Thanksgiving2007/

A hike was organized by Mid-Peninsula Open Space District at the Los Trancos preserve off of Page Mill Road.  The guided hike showed where the San Andreas fault lies and its impact on local geology.  After a rainy evening, the day was nice and sunny, although a bit breezy at times.  Here are the photos from the hike:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/LosTrancosNov2007/

With a friend from college in town, I went up to Napa Valley for some food and wine tasting.  Traffic was light getting there.  After a lunch stop, we made it to two wineries.  Visiting Rustherford Ranch the wine was good and very moderately priced.  We both bought some to take home.  The lovely girl in the tasting room asked where we had been and where we were planning to go.  We said we had no specific plan and asked if there were any places she recommended.  She kindly provided a map of the Silverado Trail and recommended a visit to Sterling.  I had heard of Sterling, but she told us they had a cable car up the mountain where you can tour and taste wine.  We were sold on it and made the short drive over to Sterling.  We paid for the tram ride and tour and it was well worth it.  The wine was good (although Rutherford Ranch was better), but the views were great.

View the photos from Napa. 

While the parents were visiting, we explored Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains.  Dad was able to break in his new camera, I could again use my camera back home, and Mom could enjoy a windy mountain road.

View the Big Basin photos.  

All of the Great Britain and Southern Ireland trip reports and photo albums are now online.  The main index page is:

http://www.sanjoseabrams.com/photos/GBSI2007/index.php

Given the length of the trip and number of photos, everything is broken up by day (with the exception of the pre-tour time in London which is all together).  

The trip was a lot of fun, the people were great, and Contiki put on a well organized adventure.