I’ve been getting a little behind on my blogs since I’ve had some crazy long days and long late nights. We were in Belize today. We had an excursion planned so most of our day was organized. We were tendered in to the city, which was about a 20-25min ride. We saw a few dolphins in the water, but they were too far away to get good photos of.
Once we were off the boat, we jumped in a bus and headed out of town. It was about 37 miles and a little over an hr to get to the location where we would be cave tubing and zip-lining. Our tour guide, Roy, gave us local info and history along the way. We arrived at our destination where we would begin our day cave tubing. 
We got our tube and helmet with a light and went for a 30 min walk thru the rain forest. Shortly into the walk we had to cross the river. They gave us a rope for balance, but the current wasn’t too bad. The river is spring fed, and not by a hot spring, so the water was pretty cold. Not as cold as some rivers I’ve been in in Colorado, but cold enough that I didn’t want to go for a swim. We continued our hike thru the rain forest. We crossed 2 more portions of the river. These didn’t have ropes for balance and the current was much stronger.
We finally arrived at our put in spot, which was between 2 cave openings. After getting acclimated to the cold water and getting nipped a few times by some little minnows, we stated getting our tubes together to head into our cave. They put Scott and Erica in front and tied them together. Then they got the next couple tied together, and they had to put their feet up under Scott and Erica’s arms. 
Then we put Tim and Nick behind them. They weren’t tied together, but they had to hook their feet under the people in front of them. Then since Sara and I have the longest legs, they put us in back and tied us together. We had to stick our feet under Nick and Tim's arms, but since we were in back, we didn’t have anyone under our arms. Only waterproof cameras were allowed. Lucky me, I had one. We traveled in our 8-man formation into the cave. It was completely dark. 
The only light was our helmet lights. My camera did a pretty good job taking photos of in inside of the cave. after we exited the cave, they unhooked us and we were able to free tube on the river. Right when they unhooked us, Nick immediately ends up and bush of trees along the side of the river. The free tubing was a blast. We only got to do it for a little while before we were at the end of our cave tour.
After tubing, they fed us a traditional Mayan lunch. I had a hamburger. Then our tour guide came and got us for our turn on the zip-line. We got all geared up and got on our first platform for more instructions. Then we went on our first short zip-line. We got gloves with a leather strap on the right had so you can grab the metal cable and break by pulling down. After a short climb up a mountain, we got to our next platform. 
This was one than you didn’t have to break until you got close to the next platform. It was pretty fast and right over the top of the trees. I thought it would be cool to look around and see the scenery, but mostly you are holding on for dear life and watching the tour guide because he would tell you when to break and if you are coming in too fast. For the most part, it was pretty awesome. The straps I had around my legs could have been more comfortable, but what can ya do. I don’t have any pictures of me from the zip-line, but there will be on other people’s cameras. I’ll upload them to Picasa when I get them from Erica.
After our excursion, we headed back to town. It was about 45 minutes before we had to get back on the boat, so I did a little shopping in the shops by the boat. I have made sure to get my magnet at all the locations, but mostly I keep buying stuff for other people. It is hard not to when you see something perfect.
Tonight's dinner was colorful casual. The show was the Royal Caribbean dancers and singers. Then, most of my group hit the sack, so I tagged along with Melissa and her group. 
It was 70’s themed night. Melissa, Pattie, Missy and I went to the Royal Promenade where they had 70’s dancing. Got to see some of the staff dressed up as the Village People. We did a little conga line. Then we headed up to Ellington's on the 14th deck for an adults only dance. It was suppose to be out in the Solarium, but since the weather was crappy, they moved it to this lounge. They already had a country music band playing. We had to cut them short so DJ Jorge and play some good music. We did some dancing and some drinking. I had a great time. I hit the all night pizza joint and got to bed around 330am.
Tomorrow is Cozumel. We don’t have anything planned so we are just going to wing it.
1 comment:
You are a lot braver than me!
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