Cruise: Belize

One of the best things about this cruise was we got to visit places

we had never been before. Like Belize!

We booked our excursion through Carnival.

It included a visit to some Mayan ruins and a jungle river cruise.

We took a bus through Belize City and out to the ruins.

Denise was our guide and she was fantastic.

She taught us a lot about Belizian culture.

It is an interesting melting pot of Mayan, Creole, and European influences.

The ruins we stopped at were called Altun Ha.

They were built around 200 BC and occupied until 1100 AD.

They found a giant jade head there--Belize's national treasure.

Altun Ha was a trading grounds for neighboring regions.

There were several pyramids surrounding a large, open field.

There were thick jungles around the perimeter.

We got to climb to the top of one of the temples.

Cool view from up there!

It was hot and this cold soda was delicious.

After Altun Ha, we got back on the bus and headed

to lunch at a quaint little riverside restaurant. 

There were lots of iguanas right outside where we were eating.

Belizians call them "bamboo chicken" and they

eat iguana during certain times of year.

After lunch, we got on a boat on the River Wallace

for a wildlife cruise.

They are very hard to see, but there were black 

howler monkeys in this tree.

Cute little bats on one of the bridges we went under. 

I learned that cashew trees grow in Belize.

Actually, I didn't even knew cashews grew on trees!

The nut grows at the bottom of the cashew fruit.

Interesting.

We got to see some trees along the banks of the river.

(I couldn't find my picture, take my word for it.)

We saw some beautiful exotic birds, including

Montezuma yellow-tail birds.

Can you see their nests hanging in this tree?

Also saw several more iguanas.

We saw about five crocodiles.

Most were small, but there were a couple of good sized ones.

This one was the biggest and creepiest--

right out where the river meets the Caribbean.

What do you do if you see a crocodile when you're at the beach???

We also got to see a couple of manatees and some dolphins.

The river cruise was really cool,

but it lasted too long.

By the end, we were all ready to be done.

When we got back to our cruise ship,

Whit had some chocolate-covered strawberries

waiting for her from the cruise director.  

She had won the egg hunt! Woot!

Another beautiful day on the Caribbean.

The night was Hasbro the Game Show on the ship. 

Andrew got picked to go on stage! Again! Lucky!

He played a game where you had to rearrange your boxes

into the correct order. His team lost.

Still fun to participate.

We went to dinner with the girls afterward.

Whit and Andrew LOVED their braised ox tongue.

Whit wasn't so sure about her cheese plate for dessert.