It was All Systems Go as the ReefCI (Reef Conservation International) crew prepared the little boat to take us and all of the provisions for our first week out on the Tom Owen's Caye, a small island 36 miles to the east of Punta Gorda. This is obviously a well rehearsed routine and we just stood back and watched as ice boxes, waterproof bags and crates of coca-cola were loaded up for the journey. Finally, there was nothing left to load but us.
The boat left shore and we bounced and splashed our way across the ocean, wind through our hair, full of curiosity and anticipation. The remoteness of our destination was in our minds as more than an hour passed on our journey. Finally the Sapodilla Cayes came into sight and we were all as excited as, well, the children.
On seeing Tom Owen's island in the distance, my first impression was how small it is. Beautiful, yes, but only about an acre or acre and a half in size. I wondered what the living quarters looked like - and where the electricity and water supplies come from??
The dive resort comprised of one large and one medium building and seven small, circular cabanas all made of stone with open windows and doorways. We all raced about through the cabanas (single rooms with just an in-built cabin bed) and the houses, each with a small kitchen. The whole place was fabulously rustic, complete with the odd gecko on the wall and hermit crabs wandering about freely.
* Arriving at Tom Owen Caye
Andy claimed a cabana for his own, his first little home! He stayed snug in bed in that cabana most mornings and wasn't even bothered by the occasional wind and rain storm.
To use the toilet, we needed to fill gallon bottles in the ocean and use the water for flushing. The sink and shower, on the other hand, worked off rain water and sometimes needed to be pumped. There were periods of electricity in the mornings and evenings, provided by a gas-fuelled generator, this is obviously used sparingly as possible. The biggest luxury was the wifi that was made available when the electricity turned on for 2-3 hours in the evening. Not fast, for sure, but there all the same .. a recent addition to the island.
I was amazed when, after having seen the sparse provisions in the kitchen, we were presented with gourmet-level food 3 times a day. It seems our dive leaders are all cooking enthusiasts, how about that?!
Sam immediately set about letting everyone know about his upcoming birthday - which fell on the last day of our 2nd ReefCI week. For those he liked especially, he invited them to his party. His birthday list was reviewed continuously and guests and staff alike helped him with revisions.
While we divers headed out on missions, Sam and Ben would usually stay behind with Patti or Laura or Chris. They seemed perfectly content and were not missing us at all as our little boat returned to dock after our outings. I usually found that they had tortured Chris, the island manager, into swinging them for hours on end. Chris is a fellow Tennessean, from Memphis. He's been out in Belize for while and the boys love him, they think he is another big kid with them.
* Justin, me and Andy underwater
Sam was charming the ladies the entire time. He made a best friend of Patty the first week and Laura and Debs the second week. He was really making the most of having lovely young women about who actually appreciate his cheecky grins and bossiness. I'm pretty sure he must've thought that we arranged for this entourage as part of his birthday plans.
* Sam and his entourage
Polly, who founded ReefCI and did most of our Advanced Diver instruction, is one of those superwomen who manage to work crazy hours, keep 50 balls juggling in the air and have time for a laugh or a story with you at the same time. She is a British ex-pat who has married a local fella and settled in the area. When not in a wetsuit and BCD, she can be found in the kitchen most often, working on her latest recipe.
ReefCI is a gem of an experience. Justin and I had the time of our lives, diving amongst the local reef sites and dropping down a little over the continental wall, spearing lionfish (Justin, me bagging!!), and searching for eels, sharks, rays and turtles. Our fellow divers were a blast. Debs, in particular, was with us the first and second weeks so all of us (including, or especally, the kids) had bonded with her by the time we left. Debs' other life is as a Uni student and ski instructor in Jasper, Canada. Debs and Justin were equally fearless and competitive in the water, taking to lionfish hunting like 2nd nature.
We were joined the 2nd week by Rebecca, a university student specialising in marine biology and writing her final paper on the lionfish, Barry, a retired fellow whose been adventuring around the world for the last year since his wife passed away and Marge, a retired scuba enthusiast from England who trained in the harsh British waters and dives all over.
The first week in Tom Owen's, our cook was Patty, a young Creole girl who also works long weeks as a research diver with the TIDE organisation. Sam fell in love with her after she discovered that she could feed her way into his heart with bacon. When missing, we could usually find Sam in the nice warm kitchen hanging out with Patty.
The second week, Patty went on to a conservation diving project and Chris' fiancee, Laura returned from a trip away. A playful, blond south african girl, Laura grew on us very quickly. She arrived with tales of diving with bull sharks and whale sharks and had all of us listening intently. In a slightly unloyal way, Sam got over Patty's absence quickly and moved right on to Laura. I don't know if Chris minded losing his fiancee to a five-almost-six year old, but I'm sure it would have been difficult for him to edge in and move Sam off Laura's lap.
For Sam's birthday, Laura managed to produce from scratch (and if you saw the base ingredients available, you'd be as amazed as I was) a spongebob squarepants birthday cake which went down tremendously well. Earlier in the day, Laura and Chris had arranged a treasure hunt for Sam that involved a silly band with a clue at each stop. Even through the rain, we all had so much fun dashing onto the roof, into the kit room and around the lagoon to find the next clues. Chris and Laura are such a great couple, we can't wait to hear what happens next for them.
* Sam's 6th birthday, with Laura
One of the highlights of the second week was having George (from the kayaking adventure) come out with us as driver of our boat. Some of the swells that appeared as we were surfacing or navigating our way back from a dive would've been a bit nerve-wracking if we hadn't had confidence in someone like him. Polly seems to make great decisions in her boat drivers.
George made our evenings all the more interesting because, in addition to being an expert on birds, trees and jungle creatures, it turns out he could also put my old uni astronomy professors to shame with his telescope and ridiculously huge knowledge of all things stellar. We followed him out on the dock and up on the roof a couple of evenings and compared his knowledge with our Starwalker iApp.
There were a lot of shooting stars visible while we were out on the island. George said 'I make a wish each time I see a shooting star. Some of them have come true. Most are still pending.'
Another treat on night dives or from the dock was the bioluminescent display from Strings-of-Pearl. You could find yourself quite mesmerised staring at this real life screen-saver.
The luckiest person on the ReefCI venture had to be Andy. Being ten years old, Polly let him train and test to become a certified PADI Openwater diver. He was impressively good with the speed of taking in dive information - like mastering dive tables straight away. We all enjoyed having his little wet-suited self join us in open water excursions, even when he lost his temper at not being allowed to dive deep with us.
Andy did a great job in all his underwater skills - taking off and replacing his mask, offering air assistance to a buddy, doing fin pivots and all the basic skills. When it came time to for the final written test, he aced it with a 100%, the cheeky boy! How humiliating that he outdid both his father and I (even if he had a little extra help).
* Andy with his dive dive instructors Polly and Laura
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