Dalen and I are to stay at camp today and work on seagrass samples with Pam. But a steady rain after breakfast makes today's plans iffy.

I've been introduced to a great little fruit called a kinip. It's about the size of a large grape and has a leathery exterior. You break the skin with your teeth, peel the skin away, and suck on the fruit inside. It's citrus-like and very fibrous, pulpy, and very tasty.

Since it looks like it may rain all day-we're going to have a manatee lecture from Caryn. We spent the next hour learning about mangrove trees, talking about the different manatees, and learning about the research we're doing here. The estimate is that there are between 400 and 600 manatees in our study area-the Drowned Cayes.

A little after 10:00, the rain stopped and the rest of the group went out with Landy to look for manatees while Dalen and I stayed back to sort and weigh sea grass. It's an interesting process. First, you dunk the grass in water. The bits that are "alive" will float. We pick that out and separate the root structure from the leaves. Then, we pick out the dead material, and lastly, dump the sand, shells, etc. in the trash.

Sorting the sea grass took us the rest of the morning and into mid-afternoon. At mid-day, we had flour tortillas made by Pam with salsa and tomatoes. I tried marmite-a bit salty and heavy tasting. We split a mango for a light treat to finish off lunch. We finished about 3:00 and had the rest of the afternoon free.

The pump for the toilets has been broken for a day or two. Without being able to pump saltwater up into the storage tanks, we can't flush. Well, we can flush, but it involves taking a bucket out to the sea, filling it up with water, trudging back into the bunkhouse, and pouring it into the toilet's tank. It's a cumbersome process and one we didn't make much use of. However, Gilroy came by today to fix the pump, so we have flush toilets again. Funny how much we take life's little luxuries for granted.

We finished our chores around 3:30 and had an hour or so to ourselves before the boat returned at 4:30. The team didn't site any manatees today, but they did see a perfect little coral head and were quite excited.

Dinner tonight was terrific. Bean enchiladas for Louise and me, (beef for everyone else) and chips and guacamole and fried plantains.

Clifton taught us how to make fried plantains. First, you have to start with ripe plantains-the skin should be almost black and the fruit inside should still be firm. Slice the plantains about 1/8 inch thick lengthwise (after cutting them in half). Fry them in a light oil (vegetable oil works best) until golden and the plantains start to caramelize. Fried plantains make a very good treat!

After dinner, we planned a trip for Friday's day off. We are going as a group to Lamanai-a Mayan ruin west of Belize City. It's $65 a piece, but covers the car, boat, tour, and lunch. Dalen called a tour guide she had met before joining the expedition team. She and Katie had used him to take a tour of the Belize Zoo. With a couple of phone calls, the plans were set-we'd meet in Belize City on Friday morning at 8:00 a.m.

We spent the rest of the evening playing games. Harold and Jerry joined us in Uno, dominos, backgammon and checkers. About 9:00, we headed for bed.