Belize, and Gulf of Mexico
Now the fun begins. We heard all about the hurricane Rafael may be joining us. If you looked on a map you'd see we were about to collide head on. We got a letter/notice from the Captain saying he is taking suggestions from Miami Fleet Operations to go east and follow the Florida coastline to Mobile. (Click on the photos to enlarge). Here's a couple pictures I took from the TV for travels and a guy on the cruise had a picture from his phone on location of the hurricane.
We had calmer seas and winds over night. The day was hot and humid but perfect for our excursion. We took a tender from the ship to Belize which was five miles. It didn't take long to get to the rows of stores. We had another little boat that was taking us on a river cruise around Belize. It had four outboard motors on it and we went flying in the Gulf to Belize river.
On the river there were Howler Monkeys (heard two), Green Iguana's but they were actually orange and tiny little bats on the trunks of the palm trees. We had a great lunch along the river then transferred to a big bus to go to the Altun Ha ruins which took a couple hours on windy roads. (Click on the photos to enlarge). In the tender on way to the Belize port.
The shops along the way to the smaller boat.
There were all kinds of tenders from four ships.
The coast line of Belize. There's 400,000 people on the island.
There were three hurricanes that hit this area in a month. They had eight foot of water higher than normal in the river.
There were several buildings damaged from the hurricanes and rebuilding is hard and slow because of short supplies. This tree is one of two in the area. It has a split trunk, that's not normal for a palm tree, and no one knows how or why it's happening.
Please zoom in closely to the tree bark. The dark areas are tiny bats. They are hard to pick out, but you can see them if you take the time. They're amazing being in daylight isn't normal.
The dark area that looks like a ball is a Howler Monkey.
This guy was on a branch almost out of view. A crocodile.
There's a green Iguana in the tree in the high branches.
Mary took this picture up closer then I did. They're huge.
We stopped for lunch in a little cove of the river. It was so good. Chicken, and rice with salad.
Belize is where you get a lot of maghony. The tables were all made from the maghony trees.
Mary
The water is high, you can tell it in this photo
Full view of the lunch area. They had a shop with homemade items and I forgot to take a picture
We took a bus that took about an hour and half to the Altun Ha ruins.
Our group took steps to the top and down the otherside.
The whole area is massive.
The name given to the ruins of an ancient Maya city in Belize, located in the Belize District about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Belize City. Altun Ha, the archaeological site closest to Belize City, was a major Maya culture ceremonial center and the discovery site of Belize's famous Jade Head. Altun Ha functioned as a central trading link between the Caribbean coast and Maya centers in the interior during the Maya Classic Period.
We made it back to the dock to get back on the tender to the ship. The last tender was 4:15 and we got on at 4:00.
On the dock to the tender.
This was the helper on tender helping all us old ladies make a big step from the dock to the boat. He's done for the day.
When we got back to the ship and in our room we had a frog waiting for us made from towels.
We cleaned up for dinner then on to the show for the night. 80's pop to the max.
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