Early morning at Glover's reef

Magical Mangroves

After one night at Glover’s Reef (one of Belize’s 3 atolls and a part of the world’s second largest Barrier Reef) we headed for the off-shore cays (Tobacco Range) in search of protected waters from the threatened northerlies.     We anchored in Twin Cays in splendid isolation with nothing but mangroves, jumping rays, dolphins, cormorants, frigate birds and pelicans for company ….. that is, until the Manatee came to surprise us.  What an extraordinary prehistoric type creature this is.   So large that as Claire swam with it, it would have been a very frightening experience if we hadn’t been told that Manatees are harmless and vegetarian!     Sadly no camera shots but we are now on constant Manatee watch … Reef sharks are passé, Manatees have taken over our number one ‘must swim with’ slot.