Caribbean Cruise: Day 4

September 5, 2012

Belize

We woke up to another beautiful sunrise!!

Today we took a tour called "The River Wallace & Altun Ha Mayan Site".  The ship could not come into port so we had to take a short tender ride to Belize. 

The first part of our tour for the day was a boat ride up the River Wallace.  In order to get to the river, the boat has to go out on the ocean - we had to wear life preservers until we reached the river.  I know, I know - I look adorable!!! 

At the mouth of the river is a Manatee feeding area.  Unfortunately, even after waiting quite a while, we did not see any - bummer! 

Then we started up the river. 

All along the banks were Mangroves - very cool tree!

We saw a LOT of huge iguanas along the river (it seems they may have called it an "iguana farm" in one area...)  People in that area have to keep their doors closed or the iguanas will come right in and make a mess!

It was a gorgeous day for the boat ride, which lasted about 90 minutes.

Insect bats...

Small crocodile...

Weaver bird nests hanging down from the trees... very interesting!

Beautiful trees along the river bank...

We stopped at a riverside dock to get some lunch at a local place called The Olde River Tavern.  I got the rice and beans and stewed chicken - Tracy just got a burger and fries.  This cute little guy was hanging around...

One of the guides pulled us off to the side to show us where some Howler Monkeys were "hanging" around.  They were so cute!!!  They were busy resting so we didn't hear any "howling"...

After about an hour, we boarded a bus and headed to the Altun Ha Mayan Site - ruins of an ancient Maya city in Belize.  The site covers an area of about 5 square miles .  Altun Ha was occupied for many centuries, from about B.C 900 to A.D. 1000.  This is where, in 1965, Professor David Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum discovered the almost ten-pound jade head of the Sun God Kinich Ahau in the tomb of the Royal Priest.

Temple of the Masonry Altars

We were able to climb to the top of the Temple of the Masonry Altars.

The we once again boarded the bus and headed back to the pier. 

The River Wallace that we had taken the boat ride on...

We had a little time to go through some of the shops before boarding a tender for the ride back to the ship.

You can see the bridge sticking out in from right at the top of the clouds in this photo; there are balcony staterooms on that same level and then on the two levels below.  Our room is the first balcony on the level right below the bridge.  It was nice being way up front like that because there were only a handful of rooms past us so we did not get much traffic/noise in the hallway.

Tracy named this island "Gilligan's Island" - it was just sitting out in the middle of nowhere.

Beautiful sunset...



Unfortunately, I did not journal at the end of the day (not sure why I did not, because I always do...).  So I do not remember what we did for dinner or the rest of the evening... bummer.  I am sure it was fun, it always was!!