11 January 2009

Great Cruise 2008 - Belize

In Belize we saw more Mayan Ruins. The site was called Altun-ha. This is where a carved head of Jade was found in 1968. According to our tour guide, the head is now on display in a local bank, but we didn't get to stop and see it.

Altun-ha seemed to be more complete than Kohunlich. The buildings were closer together and the jungle farther back. You can't really tell, but the next two pictures are panoramic, taken from the top of one of the buildings.

And this was the building they were taken from. We didn't climb the really steep stairs to the top. I don't think I would have made it if we had to do that. A wooden stairway was built on the side of the ruins, so anyone who wanted to could make it up. Going back down was a little scary, cause you had to take a couple of the original stairs down before the wooden one started up again. But they don't tell you that before you go up.


One more thing about Belize, the port is surrounded reefs, so really large ships, like our cruise ship, aren't able to come into the port. We got do what is a called a "tender port". Smaller boats came up to the cruise ship and we would board them; then they would take us into Belize. Although these boats were much smaller than the cruise ship, they still could carry about 50 -75 people at a time. They had two seating areas, one enclosed and one above open to the air. Going into Belize, I sat up top. We went so fast that my hair came out of my pony tail and created a huge rat's nest on the side of my head. The moment we got off the boat, someone in a dolphin suit grabbed me and someone else took our picture. It later went up in the ship's gallery. I wasn't even tempted to buy that one.
Not only is Belize the only English speaking country in Central America, it also has its own special language. Here are some the words and phrases we learned:
belize it or not
unbelizeable
seeing is belizing
I can't belize it


1 comment:

Kirsten said...

your pictures are fantastic. it looks like a ton of fun. I can't belize you had the chance to see all that. Sorry, had to do it.