Give me a break, Apple health. I’m on vacation

The travelers

We are here to celebrate Chris’s birthday. Of course,  Mike is wearing his favorite Traveler’s shirt that was recently altered.  

Snorkeling on Glover’s Reef

  

We finally got a wind free morning and took a boat out to go snorkeling on a nearby coral reef.  The water was very clear and the snorkeling was pretty good only Matt and Grandpa Mike went in, while others enjoyed the sea breeze for 44 minutes. Unfortunately, they were in the water for 45 minutes so there was less enjoyment for the final minute.  

The spotted eagle ray photo was from the dock, but they saw rays, barracuda, lobsters, triggerfish, parrotfish, needlefish and many others when snorkeling 

Birding with Midge

     

At many resorts, we get to know the bartender well.   The same is true here, but for a much different reason.  He’s also the bird guide!!!

We didn’t come here to go birding, nor to drink as much as our younger selves.  However, we brought binoculars and the small camera for some casual birding.

There aren’t any Belizean exotics here, but there are a few migrating birds   

Of course, there are frigates, and the laughing gull was good to see.  Weirdly, a rare Bird alert email tells me that both were in Long Beach while we were down here.

The most unusual find was a red-breasted Merganser, which don’t usually migrate this far south, but stop at the Yucatán Peninsula In Mexico. 

We saw a few East Coast warblers , including an American red start and a northern Parula.  There was also an indigo bunting and a spotted sandpiper 

Finally, we saw some of our favorites from home, including a ruddy turnstone and a yellow-crowned night heron. 

The next day, a yellow-bellied sapsucker was outside our room.

Morning execrcise

Back to the basics

There’s nothing like floating in the Caribbean.

It’s a different sort of vacation

Arriving at Manta Island

We took a helicopter out to to Manta Island.   All the other guests were arriving by boat, so we had the island to ourselves for half a day.

Back to Belize.

We are heading to Belize for Chris’s 65th birthday. This is also the 25th anniversary of her 40th birthday, which is when we started taking vacations to celebrate major birthdays. This time, we are grandparents and what could be better than bringing your daughter, son-in-law and and grandchild with you.   

Of course, we packed early in the week, but decided to rearrange everything at the last minute.