March 10, 2010
Today we, and 4 other cruise ships, docked in the waters outside of Belize City, Belize. Some interesting facts about Belize: there are only 6 traffic lights in the entire country, the official language is English (they are members of the British Commonwealth), and there is a sizeable Amish community that produces most of the country’s vegetables and dairy products. After taking a tender in to shore we boarded a re-purposed school bus for a tour of remote ancient Mayan caves. The boys wanted adventure and they got it! We hiked up a jungle trail, led by Tricia and Tiffany, our sassy, confident, and knowledgeable local guides. They had a very entertaining repartee and commentary that made the hike go quickly. WE then entered a series of limestone caves that were sacred spaces to the Mayans. The caves are definitely off the beaten tourist track. They were pristine and deserted except for our group of ten. Many stalagmites and stalagtites were present. Water still dripped within the caves, creating new formations. In between caves we rapelled and slid down zip lines. By now, John and I are veteran zipliners. It was Josh and Elliott’s first time, however. At some points the passageways were so narrow we had to crawl on all fours. There was evidence of carvings and broken pottery, indicating prior use by the Mayans. We were sad at the end of the tour. We then took the school bus back to the chaos of the Belize City dock, where at a local pharmacy, you can buy whatever drugs you want without a prescription!
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