Belize it or not!

Day 4 BELIZE

Today we are in Belize. Because there is a large coral reef offshore (the second largest in the world, after Australia's Great Barrier reef) no ships can dock, so we anchor 5 miles off shore, and have to tender ashore. (Basically, that's a water taxi that runs back and forth to the ship.) It's about a 20 minute ride, and it was a bit bumpy. I realized that I am fine on the ship- even in rough water- but another 10 minutes in that tender would have been a problem. Urgh.

Apparently the scuba and snorkeling are incredible (or unBelizeable, as they say here), but I chose to visit the ruins of Altun Ha. After a brief tour of Belize City, we head to the ruins. Our tour guides (Carol, Mark, Amalia) gave us a running commentary about the countryside and the history of Belize (the country formerly known as British Honduras). It's not a rich country, but it's beautiful. It also made me realize that I was quite wrong about Cozumel being hot yesterday ... Nah, in hindsight, it was balmy. Today is hot... as in 98F in the shade with 85% humidity. I had picked up a straw hat in Cozumel, and it's getting quite the workout. Wearing it makes my head hot, but not wearing sets my hair on fire.

Anway, we picked our way through the gorgeous, lush jungle as Amalia pointed out various trees and flowers the Mayans used for medicine. She also pointed out the all-spice tree (the leaves smell divine!), the palm trees that have clusters of small coconuts called kohunes, and the national tree- the mahogany. She warned us not to wander off the path, as Belize is home to several dozen species of snake, 7 of which are venomous. One is called the “3-step” snake, because that's how many steps you take after it bites you before you fall down dead. Point taken. We stayed on the paths.

Belize is south of Cozumel, so Altun Ha is older than the ruins I saw yesterday (since the Mayans moved from south to north as they were invaded). This site dates from as far back as 200BC.  There are 350,000 people living in Belize now, but at the height of the Mayan Empire, over 2 million Mayans called this country home.  But they practiced slash and burn, cut down all the trees, had too many people to support, etc., and eventually collapsed under theoir own weight.

There were two distinct plazas that we could explore, with some very clear carvings in places- including several of their cross-eyed sun god. Our kind guide kept us under shady trees as she explained various points of interest, but we were permitted to climb these ruins, which surprised me. Since the steps were about 2 feet high each, I passed on this. How those very short ancient Mayans could lift their legs high enough to climb these steps was a mystery, until she explained that the priest ascended on his hands and knees in deference to the gods, and would arrive at the top, bloody and bruise. So, I let the others climb the steps, and I took pictures. The sounds of jungle birds was amazing!

After we explored the site, we headed back to the parking lot. There were some nice local crafts made from coconut wood, etc. Quite lovely. I fell in love with a heart shaped wooden bowl and had the craftsman sign the underside for me. I also bought a bag of homemade baked banana chips, and if I had known how good they were, I would have bought more. On the bus ride back we saw a jabiru stork – huge thing, over 5 ft tall, with a black head, a white body and a red neck. Very cool!

Some shopping at the pier, a quick taste of blue raspberry frozen margaritas some guy was handing out (well, why not?) and then the bouncy bounce of the tender ride back to the ship. Time for a nap, then off to supper. I really like our dinner companions, and they said they missed us the previous night when we were at the Chef's Table. Our serving staff also seemed pleased to see us again. Tonight, the staff danced and sang after the meal, and had us in stitches with their exaggerated movements. After supper, we headed to the lounge to watch a live version of the “Newlywed Game”, called the “Love Show”. It was very, very funny. They picked 3 couples – one married 50 years, one married 32 years, and one married the day before on Cozumel. We immediately recognized them as the ones from the Chef's Table, and realized we were inadvertently part of their wedding supper! Listened to some music on the promenade deck, then back to the cabin. Tomorrow is Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan!!

Kitty scoop :  Cats are all great – Ty and Emily are allowing me to have a wonderful vacation!

Foodie details :

Breakfast : same ol' same ol' (eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, hot chocolate, etc.)

Lunch : pastrami and corned beef sandwich on rye

Supper : tom ka gai soup

seafood newburg, coconut cake