Belize - Here We Come!

Oh my gosh!! We were awake again at 5:30am to get ready for tendering into Belize this morning. The sunrise was a bit red ... my anxious mind worried that this meant wind. In all honesty, though, there was a part of me that was thinking it might not be horrible if we could't go on our excursion today because our ticket said "long bus ride". I figured if they printed it on the ticket ... it had to be quite a long ride. I did not feel like spending hours on a bus.

It turned out that I was right about the length of the ride. It was terribly long. It ended up being 2.5 hours to get to the Xunantunich Mayan Temple ... and then ... 2.5 hours back. But, I was wrong about not wanting to spend that much time on the bus. It ended up showing us so much of Belize! We thoroughly enjoyed the trip!

We learned so much about Belize en route! Belize City is two to three feet below sea level ... and ... with a population of about 90,000 people, it is the second smallest country in Central America. El Salvador is the winner in this regard. Our tour guide ... Berta Allen ... indicated that social services are not apparent in Belize. She stated that "if you don't work, you don't eat" so people are very creative about finding ways to make money.

Belize used to be a British Colony but was liberated on September 10, 1981. The main language is English. We were required to tender into the port because Belize is protecting their live coral reef. We learned that there are only three traffic lights in the entire of Belize City.and, only seven in the whole country ... but only five of them are currently working dur to Hurricane Lisa a few years ago. Gasoline costs $7USD per gallon. Oh ...and ... there are a generous number of speed bumps everywhere! They call them the 'sleeping policemen' And they work!!I have no idea why we don't do something like this at home?!?

There are 570 species if birds!! And, many of the houses are erected upon stilts. I asked if this was to protect from high/flooding waters. Yes. And ... several other reasons too. The higher the house, the more breeze you get. You can hang your laundry under the house in the rainy season if you are on stilts. And ... wait for it ... there are 62 kinds of snakes in Belize (9 of them are venomous).

And, the ruins of Xanantunich were absolutely incredible! They were inhabited for over five thousand years in total. The largest of the ruins is 130 feet high. And, it is 13 stories high ... and took 52 years to erect each story. There is far more detail to include about all of this ... but ... I had some delicious wine with dinner and, at this point, it seems less interesting than it did when we were on the tour.

The old boy initially expressed interest in climbing it. I was dead set against such folly at our age. But, low and behold ... up we both went ... and ... down we both came. It was a precarious journey!! I was sweating ... not just because of the heat! It was scary. I had to keep my eyes only on the step in front of me. And, thankfully ... the tour guide alerted us to Iguanas that were lazing on the rocks nearby the steps we needed to take! I was grateful I wasn't unexpectedly startled by one of them.

All in all, as we made our way back to the ship ... we were both really happy with our tour! We were thirsty and hungry when we got back on board ... so ... we headed to the pool grill and enjoyed a hot dog and onion rings. I then whipped the old boy (royally!!) at a game of Clever just prior to watching the sun set on this beautiful day!The sea is such a gorgeous shade of tourquoise. The pics do not do it justice!! I think I'd really like to come back to Belize and stay longer

Then, I talked the old boy into going down to the Star Theatre to see the musical production being offered! It was fabulous. Some talent from Britain offered up a fabulous evening of performances of EltonJohn, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and Barry Manilow. Gosh .. it was so GOOD! enjoyed another nice dinner at the Restaurant and visited with a couple from Pennsylvania! They were a joy to chat with .. entirely unpretentious and both had great senses of humor. Patty and Wally Otto. Who knows if we will ever see them again ... but ... I really enjoyed our conversation.

All in all, it was just a wonderful day!! Maybe I am becoming more of an ocean cruiser after all!! Tomorrow we port in Cozumel! I will catch up with you then. BTW ... I am having trouble uploading pics to my tablet. I may not get them all in here right away. I will keep trying!Leggi altro