Trip to hell

Well if yesterday morning was a good surprise to wake up to this morning was just a surprise. Belize doesn't have deep enough water to actually dock so we and three other ships including the Norwegian Dawn were anchored offshore. Seeing a huge cruise ship so close when you wake up was a bit if a shocker.

Because we were at anchor we were at the mercy of local boats to pick us up and take us to shore. This turned out to be a pretty big pain and took some time. It make sense though when you think about 12,000 or so people trying to come awhile at the same time.

Our excursion for the day was tt go cave tubing. This had to have been the most popular thing to do in Belize seemed like half of all the people off the ships ended up at the caves. There was about an hour drive to the caves but we were entertained by our guide Dirty Harry so didn't make the transfer too bad. Belize is Mayan country so is steeped in stories. All the Maya believed that the caves were part if the underworld so stayed away from them but frankly they seemed pretty heavenly to us.

Anyway, after the bus ride and about a forty minute walk/hike through the forest we got to the start of our tour which looked like something out of a movie.

First sight of caves

Kristen is an angel...do angels need helmets?

Our guide Dirty Harry is eating termites

 There is pretty much no good way to describe the next hour and a half or so. Either I am not good at working the camera or it was just too dark to take any good pictures but it was pretty incredible. There were 6 of us hooked together just floating down what was the coolest lazy river ever. Because the caves were carved in the limestone there was pretty much nothing inside but water. When you did get some light you could see straight tithe bottom which was usually not more than 4 or 5 feet deep. Other than that just us and the occasional bat inside the cave.

The first cave was pretty short and small (comparatively) and while at the time seemed amazing turned out pretty ordinary.

 The second cave was just huge and amazing. Probably 100+ feet wide and tall. Rock formations both sides and on the ceiling throughout. About halfway through there was a waterfall and a huge opening to another part of the forest. My pics aren't great but you can see people climbing out with their inner tubes.

  

Once out of the cave we had another mile or so float down the river and ended up back where we started. Even as we were leaving which wasn't all that early there were still people just heading into the forest. Not sure how they made it back to their boats on time.

The entire time in the jungle and in the caves it was pretty much vacation paradise but we were quickly snapped back to reality driving back into town. Military checkpoints dotted the highway with soldiers and the assault rifles. Even in the center of Belize City they were just standing around with shotguns and A4s. Best we could tell there were guarding the butcher store but probably had something a bit more important going on than just that.