Monday, February 18, 2013

Belize- a place for adventure

Arriving in Belize, we found it foggy and raining.  This had become the norm for us.  


Other arriving ships would appear out of the fog.  Ships have to anchor 5 miles away from the port due to a reef.










 The result is what amounts to a cruise ship parking lot.


 People have to take a tender to shore.  These boats are high speed, and make the 5 mile trip in 10 to 15 minutes.  We had a great time- it was a bouncy trip and not for the faint- hearted ( or weak-stomached).

 








Once we got to port, we boarded the bus to take us to the rainforest.  Patrick was our tour guide, and made the trip enjoyable.  The city of Belize is quite different from where we live.  Some of the buildings are well over 100 years old.







"Fruit Markets" can be one person sitting next to the road selling fruits and vegetables.
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 All graves in the cemetery have 3 foot high concrete tomb-like structures on the top of them, and all headstones face west.  In Belize, people have to be buried "under 6 feet".  This means that the grave is dug 3 feet deep, and then the concrete structure adds the other 3 feet on top.  This is not to be confused with what we know as "6 feet under".  The Belize pictures aren't really clear due to the rain hitting the bus windows.


On the trail through the rain forest- in the rain.  Ironic, isn't it?






Preparing to enter the cave
 Each tour group was tethered together so that no one could get lost.  The water in the caves is shallow in some places, but over 20 feet deep in others.  Plus, it's really dark.  Definitely not the place where you would want to get lost.  It was too dark to take any pictures inside, darn it.






 This is where we ate after tubing.  We had the traditional Belize meal of chicken, rice, beans and plantains.  After we finished eating, it was back on the bus to return to the city and port so that we could get back to the ship.  Belize had some really great looking duty-free stores, but we got back so late we had to get right to the tender to get back to the ship because it was time to leave.  An amazing day, and the rain didn't ruin things for us at all.







Next stop- Costa Maya.








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