Unfortunately, our hopes of diving with whale sharks have been dashed. I submitted a couple of quick inquiries to both Seahorse Divers and Ecologic Divers, hoping to get some nugget of good news about a September whale shark encounter. Alas, both agencies explained that the information I got from Ambergris Caye .org was inaccurate.

Brian Jr. from Seahorse sent me this:
September is not too good for seeing whale shark, and we are not offering any tours during this time. The best time to see whale shark are after the full moon in the months of March, April, May, and June. If you have any further questions please feel free to e-mail.

Turns out the information found on every other information source seems to be the prevailing truth about whale sharks; so much so that leading tour guides don’t even go looking for them after the second week in July. This is such a shame. Though the manatee encounter will be a touching, extraordinary experience for Lizzy and I, the chance to dive with the worlds largest fish would have been, literally, the encounter of a lifetime.

I suppose we will have to go back to Belize next March or April around the full moon pursue those massive spotted fish.

Offering the one barrier reef in the western hemisphere and the Blue Hole, Belize is obviously a fabulous diver’s destination. But many would agree that neither of those would compare to the awesome, once in a lifetime experience of diving with a whale shark. These massive creatures, the largest fish in the world, are among the most gentle of the shark family. They can grow to 40 feet and weigh up to 15 tons. But they are filter feeders, sometimes consuming the frye of different fish species.

Most information sources I have reviewed suggest that the Whale sharks appear in Belizean waters in April and depart around July. I was so disappointed to discover that these creatures are found off the coast of Belize, but would be gone by the time Liz and I arrived. But, as I was researching this post, I discovered the following piece of information from ambergriscaye.com. Notice the last sentence!

They roam up and down the coast, the Gladden Spit area about 26 miles off the coast of Placencia is known to host large concentrations of whale sharks during April and May when Mutton and Dog Snappers are spawning (the whales ingest the spawn as food).

Based on observations, we believe the biggest sharks are in the area in September.

Is it possible? Could Liz and I snorkel or dive with whale sharks? This would undoubtedly be the single coolest underwater experience I’ve ever had. It would simply blow away the appeal of diving the Blue Hole, and yield amazing video! Whale shark encounters are mercifully shallow, allowing snorkelers and divers alike to view them. Snorkeling is often the recommended method as less impacting or stressful to the shark. This suits me just fine and would permit Liz to participate in the adventure.

Seahorse Dive Shop offers diving and snorkel trips to see whale sharks for $165.00 and $90.00 respectively. I sent an inquiry to ask about the likelihood of a September encounter. We’ll see if we get something back. I’m not holding my breath. Seahorse Dive Shop is in Placencia, a long ways away from San Pedro on Ambergris. We’d have to make some changes to our trip plans to get there and go on one of the trips. But if we could pull it off….

Montezuma’s revenge, also known as traveler’s diarrhea, is a common plague among travelers especially in Central America. My dad called me up tonight to give me a warning on this. He wanted to give me fair warning because he does not want our trip to be ruined by this. I have thought about this before but not to a huge extent.

Traveler’s diarrhea is defined as three or more unformed stools in 24 hours passed by a traveler, commonly accompanied by abdominal cramps, nausea, and bloating. It does not imply a specific organism, but enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli is the most common. Water and foods in Belize can pass this onto us. Or, as my dad explained, the country is so poor that sewers are not closed off and it runs into the water and oceans causing you to contract it. While the locals have built up immunity to it, Courtney, fellow travelers and I have not yet.

As wikipedia says: “TD usually is a self-limited disorder and often resolves without specific treatment; however, oral rehydration therapy is often beneficial to replace lost fluids and electrolytes. Clear, disinfected water or other liquids are routinely recommended for adults. Water that is purified is best, along with oral rehydration salts to replenish lost electrolytes. Carbonated water (soda), which has been left out so that the carbonation fizz is gone, is useful if nothing else is available. Travelers who develop three or more loose stools in a 24-hour period — especially if associated with nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, fever, or blood in stools — should be treated by a doctor and may benefit from antimicrobial therapy.”

Three years ago I house sat for some friends while they went to Cancun. Within a day and a half of being in Cancun, three of the four travelers contract horrible stomach cramps, diarrhea and dehydration. Two of them were bed ridden for the remainder of the trip in Cancun. The two who were bedridden also traveled home on the plane in that condition and spent another two days back home in bed in terrible pain. So yes, I have witnessed it and it is something to be very aware of. Pepto Bismal probably will not cure this. There are antibiotics and such that can help with that, but I’m not about to visit my doctor again for another preventative for Belize. I am tired of seeing the doctor. But am I being naive in thinking this won’t be a possibility to ruining our trip?

I know this is a redundant topic, but I wanted to expand a bit more on it.

The mosquito problem in Belize. I hate, hate, hate mosquitoes. Ever since I was a child and my family would vacation in the Outer Banks, NC I have had an extreme irritation of mosquitoes. When my family would vacation, we would always rent a house with my mom’s sister’s family and her three kids. With Seven kids, two couples and my grandmother and her friend (6 adults) there wasn’t ample sleeping space in some of the houses. One year, I was deemed the “sun room” or screened in porch as my sleeping headquarters. Again, I dawned my bed as an air mattress all week. I woke up morning after morning covered in more and more mosquito bites than the night before. I had horrible itching for weeks after returning from the Outer banks and developed a deep hatred for the little buggers.

One day, as a teenager and later in life, I was reading through a Cosmopolitan offering tips for summer beauty. One of the tips suggest Vitamin B1 as a mosquito repellent. You take the pills and the scent your body emits from the pills wards off mosquitoes. I immediately went out and bought a bottle of Vitamin B1 from GNC. Ever since, I have always had vitamin B1 in my possession. The Vitamin B1 has worked for me and it has prevented huge red itchy bumps from camping trips and late beach nights. You have to start taking the pills a few days before your planned journey, but it does work. I have read recently a few forums of people being worried of taking Vitamin B pills being asthmatic. I can say, having asthma as a child and (fortunately) seem to be growing out of it, I have had no problems combining Vitamin B1 with my asthma. Another plus about the Vitamin B1 is that it enhances your energy and metabolism. Maybe I can contribute some of my slender figure to that? It’s not a diet pill but a natural energy enhancer/mosquito repellent. Again, a win win situation!

I have about 8 pills left in my bottle. This means I’ll be making a trip to CVS Pharmacy (I no longer shop at GNC) to pick up some more of these handy pills to start taking three days before Belize and to share with Courtney.

Yes, the Atlantic Ocean is starting to see the beginning of tropical storm and hurricane season. A cheers to that, I will enlighten you on one of my biggest fears in life: a natural disaster.

The hurricane and tropical storm season runs from June 1st to November 30th, with the most active months being August, September, and October. Our trip puts us literally smack in the middle of hurricane season in Belize.

Belize’s past with hurricanes has been far lucky compared to other Caribbean destination.

1. Hurricane Janet, which produced devastating winds and massive flooding, hit just North of San Pedro in September of 1955 and recorded winds at 150 knots in Corozal.
2. Hurricane Hattie (one of the more historical hurricanes) hit in October of 1961 and caused so much damage that Belize decided to move their capital from Belize City to Belmopan. Hurricane Hattie’s eye gusted winds at 115 miles per hour with winds estimated at 200 miles per hour. The eye of hurricane Hattie passed between Belize City and Dangriga causing 307 deaths in Belize City alone.
3. In late October of 1998, hurricane Mitch hit just south of Belize in Honduras, but still his effects took a toll on Belize as well. While the winds reached 180 mph in Honduras, Belize was lucky to have just missed the eye of this beholder. Hurricane Mitch (at the time) was the strongest observed hurricane in October in the Atlantic Region.
4. October 1, 2000 Hurricane Keith (a category 4 hurricane) toke a toll on the atolls. Hurricane Keith was known to be a very slow moving hurricane which dumped tons and tons of water on the cayes and Belize. It took three days to pass through the Cayes and was later downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved more inland.
5. 2005. Let’s just keep it there. With the most active hurricane season yet, Belize encountered the wherewithal effects of 5 hurricanes, and luckily, was spared being hit head on by any of the 5 in the general region.

2009
We are heading right into it, with the list names assembled and two storms in, let’s hope for the best that we won’t be dialing into our travel insurance company right before the trip or a few days into the trip. The one downside of going in the low season is the worrying about the weather. But the best thing you can do is to purchase traveler’s insurance and the necessary gear to help cover the costs of a ruined vacation.

2009 Hurricane Names
Ana *
Bill *
Claudette *
Danny
Erika
Fred
Grace
Henri
Ida
Joaquin
Kate
Larry
Mindy
Nicholas
Odette
Peter
Rose
Sam
Teresa
Victor
Wanda

*recorded hurricanes as of today, August 17, 2009

I have always had a fear of natural disasters. Everything from tornadoes (eek!) to Volcanoes, to typhoons, floods, mudslides, earthquakes and hurricanes. I don’t know why I have been so scared of these things. Probably from watching movies as a girl such as Volcano, Home is Where the Heart is, The Wizard of Oz, Twister and the daily news. Something about not having control over the fate of your own life and not having the ability to stop the bad scares me.

Presented with the opportunity of experiencing a hurricane while in Belize slightly scares me. But now that I am older, part of me finds it exciting to have that opportunity to experience something in life I am scared of and to overcome it. Kind of like scuba diving the other day and the crabs. When you know more about something you are scared of and have experience with it, it somehow lessons the stress of the situation and puts your mind at ease.

I went to Los Angeles when I was 21 years old to live out there for three months. The only thing that was worrying me the whole time (from booking my travels, residence and my job) was encountering an earthquake. When I flew to Los Angeles a few months before moving out there, I stopped by the office I was to intern at. It was located in one of the very few high rises that borderline Beverly Hills and Hollywood. I was scared to death (and had awful daydreams/night dreams) of encountering a sizable earthquake while working there and experiencing a high rise falling over on top of me. But yet, I still followed through with moving out to Los Angeles regardless. I moved out there entirely alone, with very few people I knew and no one to rely on in case of an emergency. It made me very nervous. Every day I got in the elevator to go to work I feared for my life. It was terrible. But that was also growing up in a small town in a bubble that brought that fear out. However, I was determined to make my dreams come true and I dealt with it. The picture below (while not great, it was taken on my iPhone in February of 2009 on a trip to visit old friends) shows the bottom of the building I worked in for Pat’s Management Company and Adeline Records. Luckily, I never did get to experience a real earthquake while living in Los Angeles, however, one night while resting on the air mattress which I called “home” that was situated on a living room floor of a two bedroom non a/c apartment on Gardner Street in downtown Hollywood, I experienced my first tremors. I remember it clearly, like it was yesterday. My head was resting up against the wall as I sat surfing the web on my computer (bumming wireless off the neighbors, sad, but true) and due to my air mattress bed- my head against the wall ended up bumping on the wall with the vibrations of the tremor. I jumped out of bed, scared to my wits and ran to the shower and waited in there until the tremor seized- which ended up being only a few seconds later. I had experienced the beginning of my biggest fear in life and I was amazed with it. And I no longer feared an earthquake as bad.

So I almost feel, in a way, to tell the hurricane season in Belize, to “BRING IT ON!” I have a fear to overcome and a story to tell one day to my family, friends, and hopefully kids one day. So if it comes, it comes. And it will be an experience of a lifetime, hopefully, and not something to run away from.