Yesterday I began to take a trip down memory lane and shared some of the highlights from my 2010 Western Caribbean Cruise with you. Today that continues with the final – equally exciting and even more exotic – stops of the cruise.
Our next destination was Belize. The activity choices for this port-of-call included zip-lining (almost did this – next time for sure!), cave-tubing and hiking to name a few. We chose to visit the Mayan ruins of Altun Ha and explore the River Wallace.
Wake-up call for Belize was super early, so this was our balcony view when our alarm went off:
Needless to say, I was a bit grouchy. But… the view was still so gorgeous I got over it. Before I knew it we were off -our first stop, the ruins of Altun Ha. This site was first occupied somewhere around 200 B.C., with construction ending in 900 A.D. More information on the history of the site can be found here if you are interested.
Temple of the Masonry Altars - we were able to climb to the top later!
View of Temples B6, B5 and B3 from atop the Temple of Masonry Altars
This next photo gives you a good idea of the size of the structures – look at that tour group and how small they are compared to the temple itself.
That is the Temple of Green Tomb in the center.
Being able to actually climb the Temple and look out on the rest of the site was just spectacular.
Upon leaving Altun Ha we headed to the Black Orchid Resort for some lunch and the River Wallace Tour.
Being the nature lover that I am, my favorite part of the day was the tour of the river. There was wildlife everywhere. As soon as we left the dock we saw the guy below, and he set the tone for the rest of the tour.
Although we caught site of some manatees I wasn’t able to snap a photo in time, but I did manage to capture more crocodiles and an iguana (I think).
And my favorite: BLACK HOWLER MONKEYS! I was just a tiny bit excited by these, can you tell?
Then, all too soon, we were headed back to the ship.
We came back to yet another seductive towel animal…
… and caught another beautiful sunset before the day was over.
In my last post, I mentioned that Cozumel was almost heaven on earth. I say almost because Roatan, Honduras actually is heaven on earth. I am convinced that is true.
I have written about the Santé Wellness Centre (which is where we spent most of our time in Roatan) on the blog before. I won’t tell you about the amazing spa experience I had there again – but I will share some images of the beautiful island. Tell me this doesn’t look like heaven.
AHH - MAZ- ING
Just some local wildlife... so cool.
Look at how clear that water is...
I want to live here.
It doesn't get more relaxing than this...
... and this.
Hello front yard of my dreams...
I had to be dragged back to the ship kicking and screaming after this port-of-call.
Please don't make me go.
Back on board the ship another towel animal awaited… as did another sunset.
Fluffier than the real stingray I kissed (7 years GOOD luck if you kiss one!)
The next day was our final day at sea. Appropriately enough, it was also the roughest day at sea. You can’t really see it well in the photo below, but the waves were rough. It was kind of like being on a roller coaster, which was OK because 1) I didn’t get seasick and 2) I love roller coasters!
Choppy seas
Mr. Walrus was our final towel animal of the trip. I think he was as sad as I was for it to be over.
Please don't go...
Finally, a perfect sunset to end a perfect vacation.
And it was over... just like that.
Thank you for indulging my trip down memory lane… anyone else want to go on a cruise after all that? I think Alaska sounds good… 🙂
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