The Belizian Barrier Reef

On our way back, we stopped at areas developing into tiny islands. Sand and debris had accumulated on top of dead coral reefs and sometimes just a coconut palm tree was the only sign you initially saw that told you an island was growing there. We got out of the boat and walked on an island that was 2 feet below the surface of the water. Conch, starfish and a sea turtle traveled along the sandy bottom as I walked alongside. It was nature in action, giving birth to an island.

We reboarded the boat and the captain took us further on up the coast and nearer to where the Belizian barrier reef met the Atlantic Ocean. All the Texans splashed into the water but I didn't stay there as long as the others. There was such an intensity of the wave action from the ocean side of the reef, the power pulling you to and fro was immense -- nothing like along the Gulf of Mexico or around the Cayes. The sound of the Atlantic and the waves on the outer side of the barrier reef were mesmerizing and a bit frightening.

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.”

G. K. Chesterton

I thought of my aunt and uncle in their 52-foot sailboat with my cousins on board, sailing from Jamaica to Galveston. I remembered their stories of the rogue waves rearing up out of nowhere, only to come crashing down in the deep valley the water formed in front of it. Or the time their boat was bobbing up and down among the waves, then gliding up on a wave only to see an oil tanker ahead right in front of them and a couple waves later, not seeing it anywhere. The power of the ocean is tremendous and I have a great respect for water. The overwhelming feeling of awe I felt where the Atlantic met the Belizian barrier reef has never left me to this day.