What an adventure we had today!
We dropped anchor off the coast of Belize City and took a tender boat ashore...
Now, Grandma is not a huge fan of the tender boats, and today's ride was a bit of a longer one, so she stayed behind on the ship and awaited our return.
Much of the coast of Belize (a new country for all of us)...
is flanked by the second-longest barrier reef in the world.
Once we arrived, we met our tour group and embarked on a two-hour bus ride west (almost to the border of Guatemala, like literally less than a mile away)...
Once we arrived at our destination ~ Xunantunich...
we had a bit of a wait for the (hand-cranked ~ yes, you read that correctly) ferry set to take us across the Mopan River...
so we were extra thankful for the roadside stands where we got some fresh mango!
After our "snack", we quickly boarded the ferry, and continued on our way...
After crossing the river, we boarded park vans and drove another mile or so up to the park entrance...
and then, walked about half a mile up a big hill to a set of steps!
Once we reached the top, we were immediately greeted by "El Castillo"...
I am amazed that they still allow visitors to climb it, but according to our guide, that may not be allowed much longer...
It was very hot, but my climbers were GREAT sports, and went for it...
while I volunteered to stay below and get a picture (they really had to twist my arm, but I took one for the team). In all honesty, I might've given it a try had 1) I dressed better for climbing and 2) it not been sooo hot!
{that's me below ~ I kind of like the angle ~ ha!}
After climbing the first portion (above), they took a few photos on the side ~ notice the carvings...
before continuing on up to the top!
{can you see them up there???}
.jpg)
{just a little mother/daughter photo op ~ ha!}
Once my precious people made it back down...
we checked out the palace area...
and met back up with the vans that would drive us back down...
{loved seeing this mahogany tree}
to the river crossing...
From there, we boarded our bus and headed east to the town of San Ignacio for lunch at a local, family-owned restaurant...
It was delicious, and continuing with the theme of adventure, L even got a little adventurous with the local hot sauce (emphasis on HOT). Don't worry ~ she recovered quickly ~ we just had to document her reaction!
After lunch, we continued the long trip back to the port, and then caught the tender back to the ship...
Sweet B wanted to make sure to keep his weekly Wednesday dinner date with Grandma...
.jpg)
I love that they do this and love it even more that B wanted to keep that tradition while at sea.
What a unique experience we had today, and one that I'm sure we'll never forget. It was really amazing to see so much of the country in one day!
Another Mayan stop is scheduled for tomorrow, so, until then...
More {CARIBBEAN} 2023 Fun
.jpg)
.jpg)
