Our shuttle boat was scheduled to pick us up around 1pm, so we had one last morning to do some exploring. It was still a bit breezy out, but we had the shelter of Tobacco Range protecting us from the easterly winds. First we paddled up the eastern side of Coco Plum Range, which is dotted with resorts. Paddling past these really made me miss my family, as it looked like the perfect place for a family holiday.
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| Malcolms Caye |
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| These small resorts looked very inviting |
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| Some had nice sandy beaches, with SUP and kayaks |
In between Coco Plum Caye and Tobacco Range is Manowar Caye, aka Bird Caye, which is a nesting area for frigate birds, so we made the short hop across into the wind to check it out. You can start to smell it from a distance, due to all the bird crap. Its also pretty loud.
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The males have large red pouch that inflates like a balloon during mating season. They make these crazy noises too.
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After leaving Manowar Caye, we paddled across to Tobacco Range. We had heard that manatees like to hang out around the southern end of the islands, so we headed there to check it out.
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| Looks like we are in the right place |
We paddled around but had no luck. A catamaran came by, and they spotted one, so I paddled over and was just able to catch the top of one as he went down, although all I could see was a brown blob.
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| They had a much better vantage point from that height compared to us |
After a while we gave up and it was time to head back to Malcolms Caye to wait for our pick up from Captain Balls.
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| All ready for pick up |
While waiting, we were watching a group of men in boats digging up sand from the bottom and putting it into boats, and bringing it to resort nearby. After a while, a boat from the fisheries department showed up and they didn't look too happy. They ordered the men into their boat and left with them. I guess they weren't allowed to do that!
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| This didn't look like a fun job! |
Our captain was right on time and dropped us off back on the main land at Island Expeditions. Our first order of business was to head to Riverside Café for a nice cooked meal and cold beer.
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| This couldn't have tasted any better after 8 days of dehydrated meals. |
The next morning, we headed across the border into Guatemala to see the ruins of Tikal. More to follow on that later..
