Paradise found…..at last.

After visiting Twin Cays, which promised to be paradise and turned out to be not quite (if you know what I mean) we decided to up anchor and hop over to Glovers Reef.

Glovers Reef is an offshore atoll, very much like what one can expect to see in the South Pacific or the Indian Oceans. Expectations were high, but scepticism was creeping in having been previously disappointed when things have not lived up to their hype.

On the passage Rob hooked a big Mahi Mahi (or dorado), But we were sailing fast and we didn’t respond in time to stop the boat and he ran out of line. The fish in its escape, leapt out of the water just to rub salt into our wounds.

As we approached the atoll we were guided in by a pod (or a school or whatever you call them) of 4 dolphins, racing the boat and playing in the bow wash. They were with us for a good 20 minutes. No matter how many times you see it, the sight of dolphins always makes you happy and excited.

As we got nearer to the atoll so the water started changing colour, beautiful sapphire blue contrasting with aquamarine and white waves breaking on the coral reefs, it was breathtakingly beautiful.

We very carefully picked our way through the coral heads and reefs, not only wishing to avoid damaging both the boat and the reef, but also to avoid the stiff Belizian penalty for going aground on a living reef. They will fine you in excess of US$25,000; you may also be imprisoned and have your boat confiscated.  A little steep, but when you see and hear some of the things some people do, it’s not surprising.

Glovers Reef was declared a world Heritage site in 1996. We pay $10 (Belize) per person per day to anchor in the atoll. This is to fund research and pay for the park rangers.

We went ashore to do a reccy of what the island had to offer. There are several cabanas, a dining hall and a bar. Needless to say we (that is Roger & I) ended up in the bar. There we met a group of people off a motor yacht that was also anchored close by. One chap, John, had striking similarities to our friend Tom (in fact we think it may be a long lost brother). He too is a dentist of Irish decent. He also has Tom’s irrepressible zest for life and that cheeky twinkle in his eye. He also owns a 51’ Wauquiez (sorry if I have mis-spelt it Tom). Anyway, we ended up sharing a few drinks and listening to his latest venture. He is promoting a new development which is being built at Hopkins (near Dangriga). We met Eric Moore who is building this development. It will have 3 golf courses, 2 marinas etc and is a 12 year project!!!

We decided to eat ashore that evening and lo and behold the heaven opened when it came time for us to go, so we had a cold wet evening which was frankly, not worth the effort.