12-16-2014 Boat Trip with Captain Yuri

We are still working on organizing the pictures on this post so the final one will be done by 1-15-2015.

Yuri has been a Captain in many other countries, but he just got his Belize Captain's license!  So, he and his wife, Ingrid, took us and our friends Mark and Sabrina out for a special celebratory trip on his boat (also his home), and we enjoyed fishing, snorkeling and relaxing.

Medal, one of the best tour guides in the country, put us on the fish almost immediately.  More than a dozen fish ended up in the cooler: mackerel, porgy, jacks, snapper, and more.  On more than one occasion we saw dolphins playing near us.  We also saw a manatee and giant sea turtle.

While snorkeling saw loads of different fish and incredibly beautiful coral.  Cara also saw a large jellyfish (larger than a frisbee) and an itty-bitty jellyfish (about dime size).

Cara, Sabrina and Pooch as we travel the Sittee River out to the sea.

Yuri, Sabrina and Mark fishing

Yuri observing, Eric fishing and Medal holding his latest catch

Between private residences, businesses and marine research stations, Medal said about 60% of Belize's 200 islands are
inhabited.

Medal found a conch while snorkeling. Here he works to make a whole in the shell so he can
remove the conch.

After making the hole in the shell Medal separated the muscle that attaches the conch to the
shell, and here he is pulling the conch out of the shell.

This is the conch, freshly separated from its shell.

This is the incredibly beautiful conch shell.

The awesome floating island in the area where we snorkeled.

After returning from our awesome boat trip, Ingrid treated us to an amazing dinner:

Truly FRESH fish!

Potatoes - Ingrid made a delectable lemon caper sauce for the fish, but Cara like it with the potatoes. 

Cara's special vegetarian dish was delicious!