Breathing Underwater - 06-19-2007

We awoke to the sound of a hundred birds as our alarm clock. Sounds and calls that we heard for the first time in our lives. We sat again on the balcony of our tree-house sipping coffee, listening to music and trying to find birds with our binoculars. The trees providing shade and making the temperature so lovely to just sit and enjoy. We hadn’t planned anything for our first day, just wanting to catch up on rest and enjoy whatever presented itself.

We meandered down for a healthy and satisfying breakfast buffet and afterward, I spent time in a hammock in the shade by the beach, listening to the waves and the birds and watching Hamanasi staff rake the sand, clean the pool and harvest coconuts. It was so relaxing. We spent a couple hours doing absolutely nothing but it didn’t feel like doing nothing. We noted the way the leaves were blowing, the waves, the ripples in the pool water, the flowers, the birds. There were so many simple pleasures to observe and so few other people to distract us from them. It looks like we picked a great time to come for privacy and seclusion. Plus we’ve been here for less than 2 days and every staff member is already calling us by name and knows our preference for rum drinks and hot sauce.

Mike and I decided that today we would take the time to do an introduction to Scuba Diving session. We were fitted for equipment, signed some waivers and watched a video before heading to lunch.

Mmmmm I had no idea that I loved cucumber soup! If my taste buds dissected it correctly it was cucumber, yogurt, garlic, salt and pepper blended to a silky smooth consistency and served chilled. I’ll definitely be making that when I get home. We had pita pizzas and some yummy shrimp tostadas and relaxed a bit more before meeting our instructor for a diving lesson in the pool.

The lesson went well, we both enjoyed being able to breath under water. It’s weird how a pool can take on such a different feeling when you don’t have to surface. So we’re ready for our first scuba dive, which will be later this week when the wind calms down and the waves aren’t roaring as they are now. The weather is not that great by Belizian standards. It’s very windy, especially in the evenings, but it is a welcome relief for Mike and I. The breeze is constant and a perfect temperature.

After our lesson we took off on some bicycles on the bumpy dirt road to Hopkins Village. It only took about 10 minutes to get there but it was a completely different world from our posh resort. Hopkins Village is a simple town. Not much going on, not many stores. It seemed to me like a make-shift sort of town. All houses and stores are as simple as can be with absolutely no luxuries. The people of the village all smiled at us as we peddled by. The speed bumps were simply large ropes preventing vehicles from driving too fast in the streets filled with children.

The streets were filled with dogs and chickens, neither seeming to belong to anyone, nothing fenced in. We avoided fallen mangos and coconuts in the roads, things we pay so much for at home are in such abundance here that the chickens were eating them.

There wasn’t really anything to spend money on there. We bought a beer each and a couple hot sauces from a convenience store. I felt the need to contribute my tourism dollars to this village but didn’t know how. The resort allows us to make donations to the local schools and after our visit into town I think I will have to do that.

Dinner was amazing yet again. I started with a broccoli soup that was seasoned just right and Mike had a bean salad with a balsamic glaze that covered the plate and was presented as though we were in a fancy Las Vegas restaurant. I then had shrimp kabobs and rice with more grilled shrimp than I could finish. Mike had a pork chop with a sticky mango habanero glaze. Mmmm. We finished with homemade ice cream. Each individual crystal melting in our mouths.

After dinner we took our drinks to the end of the pier and let the wind whip against our skin then took a quick and refreshing dip in the pool, floating and looking up at the stars.

Back in our tree house we sang ukulele songs and sipped wine. That’s all any of you need to know about.