Belize

(September 15th, 2021)

Ready for another day of fun excursions? So are we! Today we landed in Belize. Fun fact, Belize is the only country in Central America that has English as their official language. It is also a port where we can't dock right next to the shore, so we had to take a ferry over to the mainland. It was also a mask day. They were mandatory there.

You can see the cruise ship back there. See you soon.

We found our tour group; those who chose the same excursion as us, and we boarded a bus. Sometimes it is a bus and often a van. This was as nice as any other. And we had a cool guide who gave us lots of details about the country. 

Our plan today was more ziplining. But this time it was a bigger jungle and also ziplining into caves. I was super excited. So we had lights on our helmets this time. 

This area was so gorgeous. With the rocks and the trees, this was easily one of my favorite locations.

There were quite a few ziplines to do. We would get hooked up and then go flying through the trees. It was so cool!

Then we would hike along to the next one. I loved the walking too. The paths were awesome and sometimes we would climb steep stairs or go across a bridge.

We don't have any pictures going into the cave since it was rather dark, but it might be my most favorite zipline ever. We started in the jungle and then went zooming into this huge dark cave. It was a really long zipline and it was so unique. There was another zipline from there, further into the cave and we eventually walked out. It was an awesome experience. 

But that's not all. After getting off the zipline, we walked down to the river, where they had tubes waiting for us. They strapped 8 of us together and we got to coast down the river towards another cave. I apologize in advance for the lack of names, but it's been too long. But we had one other couple with us, and they were super cool. No names, but we have pictures.

I think Beth had the only camera on this part. I wasn't brave enough to get mine out around the water. So you won't see Tyler and I in these pictures because we were strapped in front of her. :)

We traveled down through the jungle and then we went into a cave. It was really cool. And we still had our helmets with light. Sadly, we didn't see any bats. I only saw a spider. (Why can spiders live in every climate in the world? Probably because there are bugs in every climate in the world. Sigh.)    

 We emerged on the other side, back into the jungle.

Then we had an exciting moment. Coming out of the cave, Beth saw a large spider on the tubes. (Probably a stowaway from the depths of the underworld) She quickly flicked it off the tubes and it landed on the water. But you know how creepy spiders are. They basically can walk on water with their light mass spread out on eight legs. This one looked like he might come back for revenge. And then...a fish came up and ate him!! Just swallowed him off the surface. It was awesome. One of the best parts of the excursion.

Our guide had been towing us around the whole time. I imagine it wasn't very deep, since I think he was walking. 

He let us get out at the end and splash around in the water a little before getting out. Helmets off and the water was super nice and definitely not deep in this spot.

As usual, the guys went farther down and jumped off a rock. I think it was deeper there but not by much. One doesn't have to wonder too much how these guys get injured more frequently than we women.

Ah...cruise buddies.

And one more awesome shot of Mr. and Mrs. (incoherent mumbling).

Lunch was included with the trip. It was so tasty. I really love the authentic food from these countries. We look so civilized, eating lunch.

But really I be like...

Here are just a couple more pictures of the area. Belize was a paradise. 

Oh, and I finally saw some bats. Not in the cave, but in the batroom. Oops, sorry, I meant bathroom. They were hanging out on the walls. 

Then it was back to dock. Another successful day of adventures in our pocket. These guys were waiting for us.

Actually, that isn't far from the truth. As the ferries leave, they churn up the waters and the seagulls follow in hoards to pick things out of the water. It was pretty cool to watch. There is our lovely cruise ship. It really is gigantic. I wonder how it compares to the Titanic?

In the evening we watched a little more comedy and played more games. The library was still out of commission. How much art do you think they actually sold in there? I'm guessing none.

It's fun to walk along the halls on the cabin decks. Lots of people put signs on their doors to identify their rooms. Some are sweet and others make me giggle.

And here are a couple towel animals for your viewing pleasure. I think Beth and Jonny had a different steward so they often had a different animal. I can identify the bird, but what is the other one?

Coming up next...Cozumel. For real this time.