Paradise Lost

The Corona del Mar Hotel is pleasant place to stay on Ambergris Caye. We had reserved a penthouse room with a fabulous ocean view. The staff makes you feel right at home. Adie, the head housekeeper, always made sure our room was spotless. When we first noticed some "funky stuff" discoloring the wall, she came in and scrubbed it spotless. Frank, the handyman, always greeted us with a big smile and said, "it's another beautiful day in paradise." He is a good guy and even shares with us pictures of his family and the home he built. I should mention that Frank's house does not have electricity or as he calls it "current." He has been waiting years for the government to run a power line down a side street to his home. Friendly locals like Frank and Adie make your visit so much more enjoyable. That's why we like to stay in smaller hotels.

Paradise does come with a price. The days might have been beautiful but there was a demon lurking in the night. On the first night we were woken to flood lights pouring into our room and the endless noise of generators running. We learned that two hotels down there is an unloading area for barges. They bring in all the supplies to the island. It was midnight when the first of several arrived over the week. Some nights they ran the generators and other nights they didn't. I was so glad we brought earplugs. I can get a little cranky after a bad nights sleep.

The afternoon brings the promise of swimming with sharks. We are going snorkeling at Shark/Ray Alley and Hol Chan Marine Reserve. We try a different tour group called Aqua Dives. They pick us up at our hotel dock and take us on a short ride. The boat drops anchor off the southern tip of Ambergris Caye in Shark/Ray Alley. A few dark shadows appeared in the water. Sharks! Now you may think it is crazy to plunge into shark filled waters. Let me assure you however the ones swimming in these waters are not man eaters. They are called nurse sharks and are about as dangerous as a Labrador puppy. (Even Samantha Brown of the Travel Channel swam with them and she can be a bit of a priss.) Sadly, by the time we dived in the water, the nurse sharks had all moved on.

We snorkeled there for awhile but never actually encountered any other sharks. It was a big let down. Our guide had to spend most of his time helping two older people who could not keep up with the rest of the group. Sigh. The boat moved on to Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Hol Chan is Mayan for little channel. There is a trench in the barrier reef that is about 25 yards wide and 35 feet deep. We made our way there through the sea grass beds. Along the way, we found an octopus hiding in a small coral formation. Then Diane caught a glimpse of a shark. It vanished almost immediately. We dropped into the Ho Chan trench and witnessed the most beautiful coral formations. The coral has large finger-like projections that stick out. Inside the formations thrives a diverse population of colorful fish.

The sun was setting as the boat took us back to the dock at the Corona del Mar Hotel. Too tired and hungry to walk to town, we order a pizza from PepperOni's and sipped on a cold Belikin beer.

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