Blackadore Caye, and an Un-Belize-Able Biological Process

Blackadore Caye - windward side

Read our adventure on Blackadore Caye. Thank you Leo (totally on a first name basis after printing out a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio for the trip) for allowing us the opportunity.  So I think by now everyone in the world, or at least Belize (okay surely at least on Ambergris Caye) has likely read about how wonderful Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio is going to save Blackadore Caye from almost certain extinction.   How does an island go extinct?  I have no idea...

Blackadore Caye - Leeward Side

This lucky dude got to take a trip out to Blackadore with some friends this past week - an fairly exclusive deal since no one is really allowed on the island.  Charlie and Said captained our vessel (the mighty Koda).  Karen (check out her photography via her photography site or Facebook) got us on the island since she is the photographer with the power. Matt, Sara, Robyn, and I were lucky enough to come along for the ride. Perhaps next time I'll bring a real blogger along with me so you all can get a truly professional take on the island and not just hear random musings of an 'untalented hack that apparently breaks all the rules of blogging' and really just tends to anger a certain travel writer with every key stroke (by the way I've purchases those new whiz free Cheerios...but don't know where to deliver them?!).  So be advised - what follows is largely un-proofed, un-researched, and completely unsupervised!

Blackadore Caye - savanna lands

I know everyone's first question - and yes, of course I peed on Leo's new island!  Unfortunately I've since been informed that doesn't actually make it mine.  Square one again on the ownership front.

MERMAIDS!!!

Owning Ecologic Divers (partial owning...is that better?) I push that Ecologic is more than a name. We recognize the incredible importance of keeping the environment clean.  If we don't take care of our ocean and our islands then the source of our livelihoods will vanish, and us along with it.  So What does my feeling along those lines mean for my thought's on Leo's grand plans?  Well...you see I am also a realist in terms of development.  We are a growing people; development will go on.  So if Leo is truly going to be as he says - and develop an Eco friendly resort then I say do it.  I just hope the realities are feasible, and he really can keep a very low impact.  Things like this help us to improve developments in other ares - seeing better methods and technologies is a great thing.  We need to employ many of those methods and technologies here.

Blackadore Caye is currently a basically untouched bit of paradise.  Picturesque shore lines, dry cracked useless soil in the middle, with a rather impressive expanse of savanna style "grass lands" in the middle - so tall only one of our party could see over to the ocean (an entire 50 yards away).

Sea Grass washed ashore

Dried Earth meets new "sand"

Perhaps the most impressive thing about this little island is the excellent care taker it has - Guillermo. This man lives on the island and just works, and works, and works.  We convinced him to sit a bit and tell us about the island, fed him a PB&J and some fresh fruits, before we left him to his chores. He has a great deal of knowledge about the area and has done a great job at making sand...which I didn't know was a thing till now.  Thanks for the samiches Sara, they were more filling than the termites.

Piled & spread, to dry and breakdown

New beaches by Guillermo

The grasses (different than the plague of Sargasso) are constantly washing up on his windward (Eastern) shore.  He removes 50 wheel barrow loads per day; distributing the piles to be dried and broken down.  When I first arrived on the island I was intrigued by these piles of what appeared to be a synthetic fiber material...its sea grass, dried and about to all apart into tiny little balls of what people will call sand as they walk around the island.  It's amazing how things from the sea breakdown into sand-like materials.  This is where that "un-researched" comment comes in - I'm just going with what Guillermo was teaching.  Once again - this defies all logic I am used too...but eyes don't lie and that is the exact process I saw.

Said, Charlie, Guillermo - people that
make the world go round.

It was a good afternoon with friends on Blackadore, hope to be back again before the construction equipment moves in...


PS - I apologize to Mr. DiCaprio for calling him "Leo", I hate it when people call me "Ken".  So when you come down and we go diving together I'll let you call me Ken for an hour.  I'll also bake you a pie.