Monday, May 29, 2017

Belize Trip - Day #3 Water Caye to Billy Hawk Caye


On Day # 3 our plan was to do some more snorkeling outside the reef early in the morning, then head over to Twin Cayes and do some exploring of the mangroves, hopefully see a caiman. After that, head across to the Blue Ground Range and possibly camp at Hangman's Caye.


Always start the day off with a good cup of coffee. Robbie's expresso maker was the most important piece of kit we had!



Some pics from our early morning snorkel:









Our route for the day
After our morning snorkel, we headed across to explore Twin Cayes. Lots of cool little mangrove 'tunnels' to sneak into. I love the places that you can get in a kayak. We heard there are caiman in this area, so we kept our eyes open, but didn't have any luck.

2km crossing to Twin Caye
Exploring the mangroves

Making our way around
A lot of little nooks and crannys to check out
We saw a big splash here, but couldn't find the creature that made it. Maybe a caiman?!
Next, a 4km crossing to Hangman's Caye. Saw some dolphins and a sea turtle along the way
It got really hot!
The 4km crossing got pretty hot, 38.4C. There was absolutely no wind also. I thought I was going to perish. Making crossings like this, in the mid day heat, with no breeze to cool you off can be a bad idea! By the time we got to Hangman's Caye, I was really overheated, had to unzip my pfd and keep dunking my hat in the water to cool off. The water was 28C, so that didn't help much either. When we finally landed, we all sat in the water up to our necks to get our core temps back down. I was pretty much done at this point, and wanted to camp on Hangman's, but I have to admit, it wasn't the best location for camping.

Landing at Hangman's Caye
Not the best place in the world to camp, but from what I understand, there are no camping fees
After a small lunch, and a chance to cool down, Rob convinced me to paddle another 4kms to Billy Hawk Caye. In hindsight, it was a very good decision, but I have to admit, I wasn't too fussy on moving at that point!

Lots of islands in the Blue Ground Range
How I kept the sun off my head. Next time, maybe a wide brimmed hat?
Very happy to finally see Billy Hawk Caye
What a welcome site.
Alex Sabal and his family own and run Billy Hawk Caye Campground. What a spot, and boy did we ever feel lucky to be there.

More on our stay at Billy Hawk on my next post.....

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