St. Maarten :(

Today we got up early because we really wanted to check out beaches in St. Maarten. I wanted to go to the beach that is known for low flying planes and hopefully get some snorkeling in on our last day. We went up to deck 9 for breakfast and we noticed the boat was still moving and there really wasn't any land in site.  It was kind of cloudy and we knew that weather was a topic the night before so we thought maybe we were just delayed.

Then during breakfast it was announced that there was a tropical storm called Rafael that had popped up over night and was now over St. Maarten.  We would not be going to St. Maarten we were going to have a day at sea and try to get away from the storm.  This was really disappointing.  We were so pumped and ready to get off the boat and now we would have to spend the entire day here on the boat. It was hard not to be upset but at the same time there was nothing we could do. The crew did their best to come up with more activities for people to do and they made a new itinerary for the day.

So we started off our day by laying out for awhile by the pool.  I brought my book and was reading. Don was kind of resting.  There was some sunlight.  The captain kept saying he would try to get us to some sunlight.  It was getting pretty hot so we went inside the boat and went to the library.  It was a first time there and we rented the game Scrabble.  We took it to our room and started playing.  It got my mind off my disappointment.  Don wanted to go to the Coral Cafe to see what the puzzle and games thing was at 11 am so we paused our scrabble game and went.

At the Coral Cafe we played Battleship together.  Then we played a pictionary game. Don was really good at drawing; I was horrible.  We did not win that game. We pretty much played games and trivia all day.  We tried to win $1000 from a game in the casino.  It was frustrating because it looked so easy but we could not win. We played Movie Clip Trivia, Sea Feud, General Trivia, Entertainment Trivia, and Picture Trivia on the big screen on the lido deck. We did not win any of these games. Don wanted to win so we went back into the boat and played another General Trivia game.  The questions were hard but this time we actually won!! We won a little trophy of the Carnival Victory Ship. The last trivia game was Food & Drink and it was ridiculously hard.  Then we went back to our room and finished our game of Scrabble. We started packing a bit and then went to dinner with Mike and Teresa.

For dinner I had a salad which was very good and Bacon Mac & Cheese.  It was pretty good.  I got Melting Cake for the last time but I could not finish it. After dinner we went to comedy and saw the same guy from the other night. He is really good.  Then we saw another guy who was not so good. We thought maybe he just couldn't do family friendly comedy. There were a lot of awkward moments.

That was our last day. Tomorrow we will leave. I don't know if I have been very impressed with the cruise. The food has been okay, not as good as I thought it would be. I think if we do a cruise again I would definitely want to try another cruise line. Carnival was okay but I think there's better.

St. Kitts

Today I had booked an excursion with Greg's Safari.  This was the first booked thing we did that wasn't through Carnival and I am thinking it was the best.  While we were waiting for Greg we were bombarded with guys with about 6 little monkeys.  The monkeys had diapers on and some had clothes.  Before we could discuss anything they were putting the monkeys on us and taking pictures with our camera.  Then they told us $20 a piece!  Don said he would give them $20 for both.  I think that was a rip off but we did get a lot of pictures.

We met Greg around 830 for our tour of Philip's Rainforest.  Michael and Teresa came with us on this excursion.  I was excited because it looked like it was just going to be us 4 and then another couple but then 4 other people ran over to Greg and booked last minute.  Then when we got to the land rover there were already people in it. I was a little disappointed because I didn't want a repeat of yesterday, but turns out the vehicle was pretty spacious and we had a good amount of room.

The tour started with a drive to the rainforest that was about 45 minutes.  It was a cool drive, very scenic.  Then we got out and started our hike.  Along the way Greg would tell us about the plant life.  It would rain and then it would be sunny.  It was pretty awesome.  We came to a waterfall and put our feet in the water.  The hike was pretty good, some of it was a little rugged.  While hiking I got bit near my wrist by some kind of ant.  It was painful, but didn't look too bad. At the end of it Greg gave us some local fruits.  Then it started pouring and we got back in the land rover and made our way back. I will post some pictures of some things we saw on our rainforest hike.

On our way back we asked Greg if he would be able to drop us off at Frigate Bay to go to the beach.  He told us earlier it was a good place for snorkeling. He said that would be fine. He told us about a good restaurant there and to ask for Greg's Special.  He also told us to tell them we are with his tour and they would let us use their beach chairs for free.  Then he even offered us a ride back to the boat later because he was picking people up from the beach at 430.  That gave us plenty of time to eat and snorkel.

We ate at Sunset Cafe which was part of Timothy Beach Resort.  We got Greg's Special which was Conch Fritters and Rum Punch.  The fritters were delicious but the rum punch not so much.  I kind of just wanted a cheeseburger and fries but then decided I had to get an authentic meal so I got Stewed Chicken with Macaroni Pie and a Salad.  It was pretty good.

Don got the fish and chips.  Both meals I would say were great. We mixed it up and had a little bit of each other's meal.

After eating we got in the water.  It was raining off and on but it didn't bother our snorkeling. I would have to say I thought this was the best location of snorkeling we did on the trip so far.  There was a lot of coral and sea life.  Of course we didn't swim with turtles but it was a really cool place to explore.  It had a dock that had a lot of coral and rocks with sea life.  Then out further there were rocks and the water got a bit rougher. Don did not want to go out that far but I had to see it.  As I was swimming I saw something pretty big in the rocks so I looked and it was a sea turtle!! I was so excited to see a sea turtle on my own!  I told Don but when we looked back in the water I couldn't find it. Don had the camera so we also didn't get a picture.  But it was so cool!  It was a bit creepy in this area of the water for some reason and Don was getting annoyed because he didn't have his fins so he made his way back to the beach.  I went behind him a little bit after. I wanted to see if I could find the turtle again but I never did.  So then I slowly made my way back up to the beach.  I saw a sea snake!  I was totally freaking out when I saw it but I had to get a picture. Then I swam away keeping my eye on it.

Here are some more pictures of the snorkeling...

Around 430 Greg picked us up along with some other people and gave us a ride back to the ship.  It was a great day.

Then we had dinner with Michael and Teresa in the dining room.  I had a Thai Chicken Appetizer. It was okay. Then I had Shrimp and Fries for my main course; it was probably one of my favorite meals on the ship so far. Don had Filet Mignon.  During dinner Mike and Teresa told us they got a notice that their excursion in St. Maarten was canceled due to weather. This got me bummed out because I was afraid of what the weather was going to do and how it would effect our day.  After dinner we went to a magic show and then to a comedy show.

St. Lucia

We woke up this morning and it was rainy.  We had our breakfast and got off the boat to explore St. Lucia. We hadn't made any plans for shore excursions in St. Lucia so we were not sure what we would do exactly. As we were walking into the port terminal a guy yelled at us about an island tour.  So we went over to talk to him and another couple with two kids followed.  At first the guy said $40 per person for an island tour.  Don talked him down to $30.  So we were going on an island tour. We were not really sure what that entailed but the guy told us to meet him on the other side of the fence and to ignore all other tour guides that tried to talk to us.

Finally the 6 of us made it to his van.  It was me, Don, a couple from Boston and their kids Jonathon and Aaliyah.  They were 5 and 6 years old.  We were somewhat disappointed to see that Phillip our tour guide had already brought another couple and their daughter into his van.  They didn't speak English so I was thinking well maybe he is just dropping them off somewhere, because we have had tours do weird things like that.  So we all piled into this van.  Phillip was in the front with the man that didn't speak any English.  Don, the couple from Boston (I can't remember their names) were in the middle row of seats.  And the woman her daughter, the 2 other kids and myself were in the back row.  It was extremely crowded.

So from 9 am until about 4 pm we were cramped inside this van.  We got out in various locations to take pictures. I will try to remember the route we took.  We started at Castries.  From there we went down the west coast, the Caribbean side.  The next town I remember was Soufriere.  Along the way we took pictures with a man and his boa constrictor and views of the pitons.  Phillip also took us to a banana field and told us a bit about the banana crop.  I tried the local beer here called Piton. It was pretty good. The views of St. Lucia were amazing, absolutely beautiful.  That made up for being cramped into the van.  Here are some pictures from the Caribbean side of St. Lucia.

Then we made our way down near the airport.  At one point I thought he was going to stop and take pictures by the airport and I was thinking to myself "awesome, now is our chance to pay Phillip and get a cab out of this awful cramped van!"  But that didn't happen we stopped at the lighthouse near the airport to take pictures of the Atlantic side of St. Lucia.

We made our way up along the Atlantic coast.  I remember going through the towns of Micoud and Dennery.  Then we went back to Port Castries.  Everyone in the van was very irritated by the time we got back.  It was way too long to be cramped up like that.  But we did get to see most of St. Lucia.  And now we know when we get an island tour next time to make sure we are not going to be cramped in a van with 15 other people for 8 hours.  Even though it wasn't the most pleasant experience, I loved St. Lucia.  I think it will be hard to find somewhere else more beautiful and I wouldn't mind going back.

Barbados

Today we got up early to go on our Tiami Sail, Turtles & Beach Excursion that I booked through Carnival. We took a bus to the catamaran.  It was a really nice boat.  It had a bar that actually had fountain soda and a beer on tap.

When we got to our first snorkeling site we learned it was more like a swimming site.  The crew didn't want us to wear fins because it scared the turtles.  We have snorkeled with turtles before and they didn't seem to be scared by fins, but whatever.  Basically we just got off the boat and swam with turtles.  Don't get me wrong, swimming with turtles was awesome.  We got some really awesome pictures and they are just amazing.  But when I booked the excursion I was under the impression we would actually be snorkeling and seeing more.  You can't really beat swimming with turtles but if you plan on booking this excursion for snorkeling there isn't any of that really.

After the swimming with turtles we got back on the catamaran and went to a beach.  The beach had the most expensive resort on Barbados. I believe the guide said the least expensive room was $1500 a night and the the most expensive was around $10000 a night.  Ridiculous.  There was no snorkeling at this beach.  We just swam and enjoyed the rum punch that the crew made us.  Don even did a rum punch bong through his snorkel. It was crazy! The beach was beautiful.  We saw a guy with a monkey on his head. He wanted us to pay him for pictures but I snuck a few without him noticing.  A rain storm passed through while we were swimming but then it was back to being sunny immediately after the rain.

On the way back to the port we had more rum punch and did a little dancing.  Of course everyone got crazy when Gangnam Style came on.  That song is so fun.  Once we got back we didn't want to go back to the ship because we wanted to experience Barbados as much as we could.  We saw Michael and Teresa getting ready to go the excursion right after us.  They booked the wrong time; they had the afternoon excursion.

So we decided to explore Pelican Village in Barbados because we knew it was pretty close to the port.  We ate at a place called Sylvester's Restaurant.  It was a buffet style place and it was delicious.  I had macaroni pie, which had a little spice to it, fried chicken and a salad.

Don had fried chicken, pork chop and rice. He tried a little bit of everything.

Everything was very good at Sylvester's.  It was a nice change of pace to have some authentic food rather than just the very Americanized cuisine on the cruise ship.

After lunch we just walked around the area.  We ended up at a market called Cheapside.  Or maybe the area was called Cheapside, I am unsure.  It was so hot in Barbados.  Just completely miserably hot.  We walked around for probably an hour then decided to walk back to the boat.  Once back to the boat we got cleaned up and then decided to go back off the boat to the port terminal to use the wifi. The wifi worked at first but it was really slow and we didn't really get to use it much.

Then we came back to the ship and went to a trivia game at the coral cafe.  After trivia we ate at the grill. We then laid out on the top deck and kind of fell asleep for a bit. It wasn't comfortable and we were tired so we went back to the room and took a 2 hour nap. Then we got up to go to some shows in the theater:  Battle of the sexes, Liars Club and a Scavenger Hunt. The scavenger hunt was fun. We had to divide up into teams and find things in the audience like an empty purse, a bra, a girl who can doing the splits, etc.  And that was our day.

Day at Sea

Today was our Day At Sea on the cruise.  I have to admit I was looking forward to it a bit because I have been tired.  My plans were to lay by the pool and that is what I did.

I went up to the deck on the 10th floor with an ice cold Dr Pepper and a slice of pizza.  I was looking forward to the pizza on the boat, but it really wasn't that great.  It wasn't horrible though.  It was neat to sit there listening to my music and drinking my favorite drink while staring out into the ocean.  But then it got hot, really hot.  So I decided to go down to the pool and try it out.

The rest of the day was spent between the 2 different pools on the ship:  the Triton Pool and the Siren Pool. The Triton pool was more towards the middle of the boat and it was where the big screen was and all the activities were held.  So needless to say it was crowded and loud.  I enjoyed the Siren Pool much more.  I was able to read here and then get in the pool when it got to hot.  And that is what I did until about 3 pm. Then I went back to the room and got cleaned up.  Don had spent some of his day at the casino.

Tonight was formal night on the ship so we had to dress up to go to the dining room. We were planning on going with Michael and Teresa but when we called them they were not going to be ready to eat for awhile and we were pretty hungry so we decided to go by ourselves.  We were seated with 2 other couples.  One was a young couple from Florida, the other was older from Seattle.  It was nice getting to know these new people.

Since last night I was very unimpressed with the steak from the dining room I decided to get a cheeseburger which was funny since it was formal night.  Don had lobster tail. We both had some kind of alligator for an appetizer.  It was kind of like a fish ball but with alligator.  Again, I wasn't impressed by the dining room.  The best part was the wine, bread and fries that came with my cheeseburger.

After dinner we went to the show on the ship.  It was a dance/singing show called City Lights.  It was okay, a little cheesy.  We saw Michael and Teresa there and we talked to them a bit after the show.  Then we went to an adult comedy show.  It was pretty funny.  I thought the Day at Sea was pretty good, but I couldn't imagine having to be on this ship much longer than a day.

San Juan Puerto Rico

Today I intended to wake up around 8 am but forgot about the hour time difference and got up at 8:30.  There was no hot water in the shower.  That was very disappointing.  Then we decided to go out for breakfast.  We found a diner like place down the street from our hotel.  I had 2 fried eggs with ham and toast.  Don had 2 fried eggs with bacon and toast.  It was okay breakfast.  I can’t remember the name of the place. 

After breakfast it was around 1030 and we decided to try to figure out what to do with our luggage while we explored more of San Juan. We had to check out the hotel at 11.  We talked to the hotel manager and she said we could keep our luggage in their luggage room until 4 pm, so that was perfect.  We got our luggage all situated and then checked out to explore San Juan for the few more hours we would be there. 

It was so hot outside! We couldn't decide what to do.  We knew we wanted to get on the boat around 2 or 3 to check in.  So our options were check out a couple of forts or the Bacardi Factory Tour.  We could see one of the forts from where we were standing and it just looked like the sun was beating down on it.  I knew the Bacardi Tour was free and I had seen a sign for it earlier so I convinced Don we should do it.  He was a little unsure of it because we had a feeling we had to take a ferry to get to it and he was worried about time.

We went to the port to check it out.  The guy said the boats run back and forth every half hour and the tour was only 45 minutes.  So we decided to go for it.  The ferry ride was 50 cents each way.  The next ferry was taking off at 1130 so we had about 15 minutes.  

In the ferry terminal a young woman came up to us and asked if we were going on the Bacardi Tour.  She said she heard you had to take a taxi once you got there to get to the actual factory.  We didn't know this; we just thought the ferry would take us right to it.  She asked if we wanted to share a cab and we decided yes. Her name was Anda and she was from Romania. We started talking while we were waiting and a man came up to us and introduced himself as Larry from LA. He had a friend with him named Anne.  We all started talking and decided we would try to fit in a taxi together.

On the ferry over to Catano we made friends with an older couple of women. They were also leaving on the Carnival cruise with us later.  I can’t remember their names right now.  I wonder if we will see them on the boat sometime.  They gave us some tips since this was like their sixth cruise. 

Once we got to Catano we were hurried to a taxi, which was really like a shuttle bus so we could all fit in it.  It was $3 per person. Once we got to the Bacardi Factory we signed up for a tour.  We had to wait for the English speaking tour so we had a 45 minute wait.  They gave us each 2 tickets to get free drinks at the bar. We all quickly went to the bar and got a drink. Don and I both got Bacardi Coconut with pineapple juice.  It was delicious, much better than Malibu I think. Don, Anda, Larry, Anne and I all sat at the same table and talked and enjoyed our drinks. The grounds of the factory were beautiful so we took a lot of pictures. My second drink was some kind of raspberry mixed drink. It was good, but not as good as the coconut.

Finally our tour was called and we went on the tour. We got on a bus to go over the factory, which was a very short ride but for some reason they said you were not allowed to walk. The tour was pretty good. I learned a few things about rum. The highlight of the trip though was the free drinks and meeting the people. Once we got back from the tour we checked out the gift shop. Then somehow we all got another free drink. I got the coconut and pineapple again because it was so good. We hung out for a little bit because it started raining. Once the rain seemed to have quit some we all ran to the shuttle bus. Once we got off the shuttle bus it was pouring. The ferry was leaving in 5 minutes so we all quickly paid and ran to the ferry in the rain. Then we got back to San Juan and said our goodbyes. We exchanged emails and names for facebook.

Then Don and I went back to the hotel to get our bags to take to the ship. It was raining. We got our bags and walked in the rain to the ship. It was about a 10 minute walk. Luckily the rain started slowing down. We went through the whole check in process and that took probably an hour. We saw our room. It is on the 1^st floor and has no window. It is pretty small but we expected that. Then we decided we would go to starbucks back up on shore so Don could do something for work online. We had been to starbucks earlier and there was a free wifi connection. The wifi on the boat is very expensive. So we got off the boat and went to starbucks. Of course the wifi was not working. And we both ordered ice coffees and they were horrible. So then we went to CVS down the street because we found out you can bring bottled water and soda on the boat. I got an 8 pack of Dr Pepper and we got a 12 pack of water. It’s just easier to have your own water for excursions and stuff.

Then we got back on the ship and Don had to suck it up and purchase some internet. We figured the best thing for us would be just to use the 75 cent per minute package. We won’t use that much. Around 630 pm Michael called our room and we decided to meet for dinner at 730.

We had dinner at the buffet. It was pretty good. We were so hungry since we hadn’t eaten since the morning. Then we just walked around with Mike and Teresa and explored the boat some. At 915 pm we had to do the mandatory safety thing where everyone has to go watch how to put on a life jacket and see where they go if there is an emergency.

After that we went back to the top of the boat to watch the boat sail away from San Juan. Don and I got some beer and we all went to the very top. We found a pretty secluded spot and we gave each other our own space. Then we looked over and Mike was down on one knee proposing to Teresa. We knew it was going to happen we just were not sure when. She was so surprised. So now Mike and Teresa are engaged!

After all that we went back to our rooms and slept because we were freaken tired.

San Juan Puerto Rico

Today we woke up around 5 am and quickly got ready.  We ran to kinkos real fast to print another luggage tag for the cruise.  We decided to check a bag with our fins. Then we got in a cab to head to O'hare. 

We had a some breakfast and then had about an hour to spare before boarding.  We started boarding on time at 8 am.  Once we started moving and getting ready to take off though we sat in one place for a long time.  Finally the captain said we had to go back to the gate to get a mechanical issue checked out.  That was annoying to hear but also scary. 

We went back to the gate and sat.  Why is sitting in an unmoving plane so much harder to do than when you are in the air?  I get so irritated.  Luckily the problem was fixed quicker than I thought it would be.  We finally took off around 930 or 10. 

The flight was about 5 hours.  I hate long flights!  We sat next to a family that had 3 young kids.  They were cute and luckily they were also well behaved.  We landed around 3:30 pm, an hour later than scheduled. 

We got outside in San Juan and it was hot!  We got a taxi to our hotel.  It took about 20 or 30 minutes to get there.  I was so tired and hungry. 

Our hotel looked very cute when we got here.  It's called Casablanca Hotel.  We picked it because we could get a night here free through Hotels.com. The guy at the front desk is from Indiana.  He asked how the weather was in Chicago.  We found out our room was on the 3rd floor and no elevator.  We are used to that by now.  I was shocked at how small the room was.  It is probably the size of our living room if not smaller with a bed, couch and a tiny tv.  It looks nice though. 

I quickly changed into some more weather appropriate clothes and got ready to go out.  We started walking around Old San Juan.  The area is very cool looking and everyone walks.  Things are very close. We saw where the cruise ship will take off from. 

We were having a hard time finding a place to eat so finally we asked these 2 guys.  They gave us 2 restaurants that were authentic Spanish food.  We decided on Mojitos.  It was pretty  good. We had a mashed plantain appetizer.  I had skirt steak with fries. Don had a pork chop with rice and beans.  The food was good, I ate all of it!

Then we started walking around more.  We went down by the water and came to a plaza that had vendors selling food and purses.  We got a bag of churros.  They were delicious.  Then we sat down for awhile because it looked like a concert was getting ready to start.  But after sitting for a long while we decided to go back to the hotel because we were tired. 

Now we are just chilling in the room.  Not really sure what we are doing tomorrow before we get on the ship.

Belize-Snorkeling-Silk Cayes

So today was our last full day in Belize and we went snorkeling again. When I woke up my sunburn on my arms felt better and it wasn't really red but the back of my thighs hurt like crazy!  It was such a weird sunburn, none of it is very red.  Maybe the medication I'm taking for Malaria prevention is making me sensitive to sun.

We were able to eat breakfast because Splash Diving wasn't picking us up until 8.  They had even called to see if we wanted to cancel because it was going to be rainy off and on.  I'm so glad we didn't cancel.  The guy who picked us up was really cool.  We talked to him a bit and found out he used to live in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

I thought the dive shop was a lot better looking that Avadon's.  It seemed newer and bigger.  The boat we took today was much smaller though.  The seats were a lot more comfortable though.  The group we went with was also smaller, probably because of the weather.  There were only 2 divers and 3 other snorkelers besides us.  Everyone was from Spain also.

The weather was very stormy looking while we on the boat ride there.  When we got to the island it was clearing up a little but still pretty overcast.  This made me happy though because I didn't know how much more sun I could take.  The island was like nothing I've ever seen in real life.  It was very small, like maybe 100 feet long...it was very picturesque.  White sand, palm trees, a few picnic tables, one grill and one bathroom.  That's all.

We saw a lemon shark in the water off the shore immediately when we got off the boat.  That was so cool for.  I love sharks but have only seen them on TV or in the aquarium.   We got ready for our first snorkel of the day with our guide Brian.  We saw a lot of sea life. Tons of different kinds of coral and fish, a lot more than the day before.  We saw one sting ray that was pretty cool looking.  It was light brown with black spots. We also saw little squid that looked like cuttlefish.

Then we got out and I was applying sunscreen like crazy.  The sun was hurting me so I was also trying to stay covered up.  While we were waiting for lunch to be made Don got in the water and tried to get a picture of the lemon shark that kept coming close to shore.  He never got a good shot though, but all throughout lunch we could see the shark.  That was very cool.  Lunch was bbq chicken, cole slaw, augratin potatoes and watermelon.  It was much better than the lunch Avadon served us the day before.

We saw a bunch of the cutest hermit crabs on the island.  I love hermit crabs! We stayed on shore for about an hour and then we got back in for our second snorkel.  We saw more fish, but the highlight of the snorkel was seeing a nurse shark.  It was so fast so we chased it for awhile.  Finally we got close and it turned around.  It was coming right at me from about 8 feet below.  I got a picture of it.  I thought I was taking a video of it swimming below me.  It would have been such a cool video...but I guess in the excitement of it all I didn't hit the record button.  So then we went back to shore so we could get back on the boat.

We took the boat out a little ways to where another boat was throwing bait into the sea to attract turtles, rays, and sharks.  When I jumped in the water I couldn't believe what I saw!  A huge sea turtle right next to me and about 8 nurse sharks all around.  I was so excited!  It was the coolest thing I have ever seen or done.  When I went to the other side of the boat I could see there were about 4 sea turtles, 6 rays and maybe about a dozen nurse sharks total.  We took a bunch of videos and pictures.  It was amazing. The rays were giant.  They were mostly Spotted Eagle Rays, there was a gray one there also that I didn't catch the name of.  We swam right next to the turtles and over the sharks.  One of the coolest days ever!

When we got back we prepared for our last dinner in Belize.  We couldn't decide where to go but eventually decided on Mangos.  We walked the beach there.  I got a cheeseburger, it was very good.  Don got the fried chicken and rice.  It was a much better experience than last time at Mangos because there were hardly any fries.  I love the waitress at Mangos she was so nice and cool.  We decided to walk the beach back, it was pitch black.  So Don used his flashlight on his phone.  I have to admit it was a bit scary not knowing where you were putting your feet.  We saw a ton of crabs!  It was pretty cool.  And there were so many stars in the sky.  I'm glad we took the beach walk back to the hotel even though I was a little scared.  It was a good end to our vacation.

Belize-Snorkeling South Water Caye

This morning we got picked up at 7 by Avadon Divers.  We didn't have time for breakfast. We met another young couple that was staying at our hotel, Andrea and Kyle from Michigan.  They went on this snorkeling excursion with us.

Once we got to the dive shop we filled out paperwork and got sized for fins.  We brought our own snorkels and masks.  When we finally got on the boat, it was awesome.  It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be.   I had an upper deck and a bathroom.  They set out some coffee and banana bread for breakfast.  When the boat started moving we stayed mostly on the bottom.  We went up top for a little while, but I really wanted to stay out of the sun.

The first snorkel site was really cool.  It was a small island that had a marine biologist resort there along with a couple of other resorts.  Our guides James and Giovanni did their best to point out the different sea life. We saw a couple Barracudas and many smaller fish.  It was really cool to see the coral because I've never really seen anything like that in the wild.

The island looked so cool but after the first snorkel we got back on the boat for lunch.  They had made tuna, chicken and egg salad to choose from.  I had the chicken and the egg.  It was pretty good, although I have to say I was expecting a better lunch from some of the reviews I read.

For the next snorkel location we were in the middle of the sea and jumped off the boat.  The water was deep, probably around 15 feet, but you could still see the bottom perfectly.  There was so much coral and so many different types of fish.  We saw a sting ray!  During about half way through the snorkel I could feel the back of my arms getting burnt.  It was such an intense burning feeling, like nothing I've ever felt.  Pretty much every time I've gotten burnt I haven't felt it until afterwards.  This was like my skin was frying. It was pretty bad, some of the worst skin pain I've ever felt.  It made the snorkeling not so great but I didn't want it to ruin my trip so I tried to ignore it.

We got back on the boat and James cut up a variety of fruits for us.  My arms felt like they were on fire.  I've really never felt anything like it.  If any sunlight touched me I felt like I was burning, like a vampire.  I sat with my towel draped around me.  It was so uncomfortable. Sometimes it felt like I was getting an Indian Burn over and over.

Once I got off the boat the sun was so intense I just wanted to hide from it.  We took a picture with the guides and got in the van to go back to the hotel.  By now I am feeling the burn on the back of my arms and the back up my legs right below my butt.

After getting cleaned up we biked to the grocery store to look for aloe.  There was none.  So we biked to Singing Sands Inn because Don said their gift shop had a lot of stuff.  Luckily they had a bottle of aloe.  We also bought tshirts from our hotel that we could wear the next day because we booked another snorkeling trip.

We ate dinner at the hotel.  I had a spicy chicken sandwich, which I didn't really like at all.  Luckily Don shared half of his pork sandwich with me.  What a nice husband.  My sunburn just felt weird...and wasn't very red when I went to bed.  I really lathered on the aloe.

Belize-Monkey River

We woke up this morning and had time to eat breakfast.  Don had the Bacon Egg Burger that I had a few days ago and I just had a bagel.  Then we had to walk to meet our guide at 745.  We met him about 10 minutes away at a dock on the lagoon side.  His name was Evaristo.

It took about an hour to reach Monkey River Town.  On the way Evar pointed out many different types of birds. He was an expert at spotting them out.  He was also an expert boater.  We raced through the mangroves at high speeds.  It was a little scary for me at first but he maneuvered the boat so freely.
-about an hour to the town monkey river.  The passages were so narrow at some times that we had to stop the boat and turn off the engine to listen if another boat was coming through on the other side.

Once we got to Monkey River Evar told us to go to Alice's Restaurant and place our order otherwise it would not be ready for later.  The village looked very small.  The restaurant looked like someone's house.  We told the lady there that we were with Evar and wanted to place our lunch order she said "okay, I have rice beans with chicken and plantain."  And so that is what we ordered haha.

Then we got back into the boat to go down Monkey River slowly to try to see some wildlife.  The first monkeys we saw were in a tree by an abandoned house.  They were kind of far but you could see them.  We saw several types of birds and their weird nests that they make.  Then we saw a big iguana up high in a tree.  How Evar spotted it, I have no idea.  The guy was good.  He pointed out a small crocodile just chilling in front of some tall grass.  It was probably about 4 feet long.

Then we got off the boat for a walk in the jungle.  We layered on the bug spray!  Almost immediately we saw a big land crab.  It was walking around a tree.  I was being careful where I stepped because who knows what is on the ground in the jungle.  Evar warned us watch out for ants because they could be crawling on you and you might not notice until it was too late.  I saw a big black spider crawl over Evar's shoe and I told him.  The spider was just sitting in some plants and I was trying to show him but he couldn't see it.  Finally he saw it and told me it was small.  It was not small!  This is when he learned I was afraid of spiders.  He told me I should be afraid of snakes instead.

Then we came upon a family of monkeys high in the trees.  They were pretty easy to spot though.  Evar said he was going to scare another tour group coming at us so he got out his machete and started banging it against a tree.  When he did this the monkeys started howling and screaming.  They were called howler monkeys.  The howling they did was so loud and so intense.  It was awesome.  I think we got some good video of this.

We saw a lot of cool plant life also.  One of the coolest parts was the bamboo.  At one point there was just bamboo towering over us.

Evar was always leading and at one point he started backing up and saying whoa whoa.   He had walked into a big spider web with a big spider!!  It was freaky. He said that this kind of spider makes a very strong web and he didn't even break it.

Then we got back on the boat and continued down the river.  We didn't really get any bites in the jungle, which was cool.  The rest of the trip we saw mostly birds.

Then we went back for lunch.  I was so hungry and the food was really good.  Then we got back on the boat to go back to Maya Beach.  But first we were going to look for manatees.  Evar knew right where to go. Right when he stopped the boat we saw a manatee pop his head up for a breath.  Another tour boat pulled up for a look at the manatees but they didn't stay long and I think they missed a lot. We stuck around and saw manatees poking their noses up for air.  It was very cool.

When we got back to our dock we saw a giant iguana.  We saw everything on the tour that was listed except for dolphin.

On our walk home we made a detour to go to the grocery store.  I got a Dr Pepper and we got some sunblock.  We walked the beach home.  Don was hoping the fins we had lost had washed up. When we got back we showered and then decided to take the bikes to Bonefish Grille.  It was about 1.5 miles away.  The bikes were good.  Riding on mine made me want to get a new bike.

The Bonefish Grille is in the Singing Sands Resort.  Right when we got there I got bit by a mosquito.  We got bit here more than we did in the jungle!  The restaurant was very dark and made you feel like you were in the jungle.  It was really cool looking.  The waiter was really nice and we had some really good drinks.  The restaurant was like an Asian Thai fusion.  I had a spicy pork sandwich and Don had a Korean beef bbq sandwich.  The food was really good and it was a really cool atmosphere.  The only problem was there were a lot of mosquitoes and bugs that were biting us.  The pool looked awesome and the resort itself looked really nice too.  I picked up a brochure for the place and found out they have glass bottom kayaks!! That would be so cool.  Then we came back and went to bed.

Belize-Kayaking

We slept a lot last night.  We finally got out of bed today around 8:30.  I know that doesn't sound very late but I swear I fell asleep at 7:45 last night!

Once out of bed we decided we were gonna kayak.  There is an island about a mile from the shore here that has good snorkeling on the other side of it.  I wasn't really sure of our kayaking abilities but we decided to go for it.  So we ate breakfast and then got ready to go out.  

Marlon gave us fins to snorkel with and life jackets.  He also put a cinder block on Don's kayak in case we wanted to anchor somewhere.  Then we both got in our kayaks and started going.  It was a lot easier than I imagined it would be.  Before we knew it we were almost half way there.  I started getting somewhat tired at this point but really wanted to keep going.  Don said "I'm waiting on you! Every time I look at you, you are not paddling!"  I told him I was waiting on him because every time I looked at him he wasn't doing anything!  So then I started paddling more.  All of the sudden I look back and Don is in the water.  The kayak had flipped!  I turned around and tried to get close to him but missed him...not really good at being precise with my direction.  Finally I got to him and I noticed there was another kayak coming towards us with a guy and a girl in it.  They asked us if we needed help and they stopped.  Don could not get his kayak to flip over.  Luckily his bag and his fins were still there strapped in.  The cinder block had fallen to the bottom though.  When Don finally got back on the kayak kept tipping up so the back was underwater and the top was upright in the air.  We thought maybe it was because of the anchor so the guy got the anchor up and we put in my kayak, but Don's kayak still wouldn't balance.  I put all of his stuff in my kayak....except his fins, we lost them.  Then Don got behind me and the guy told me to just paddle him in.  I tried paddling and couldn't get anywhere.  So the guy tied his kayak to mine and they paddled us back to where we could touch.  I tried to help by paddling also.  I wish we could buy these people a beer or something.  

Once we were on shore Don was tired and disappointed.  I was just happy we got back and we had everything...except the fins.  I was really worried about our underwater camera but it was there in the bag.  Don's kayak was so heavy!  Then we saw the plug in the back wasn't screwed in and water was coming out.  So we drained it.  We are pretty sure that this was the problem; the plug wasn't in so when we first started he had no problem but as time went on the kayak filled with water.  We drained the kayak for a good 15 minutes.  We saw a pretty big fish right at the shore.  It looked like a baby or small shark but I'm sure it wasn't.  As we were standing there the woman who we had saw the day before with her trinkets and crafts said hi.  She had a friend with her.  She asked if we were having fun we said yes but we tipped over.  She said "oh you're the one that tipped!?" Then she asked if we wanted to look again at her things to buy....I couldn't believe it haha but I told her we had no money on us.  Crazy woman.

Once the kayak was drained we needed to get back to the hotel's beach. We were pretty far from there so we decided to get back in kayak back.  We had decided that the island was out of the question now...we were tired and it was far.  The kayak back to the hotel beach was fine...so now we know the problem. So always check to make sure your kayak's plug is screwed in!!

We got back and swam for awhile then we told Marlon what happened and that we lost the fins.   He was nice about it but Don still felt bad.  Then we went out to swim more.  The water felt sooo good.  After that we dried off a bit and Don said he wanted to walk the beach back to where we came to shore and see if his fins had washed up.  I knew this was unlikely because I saw them sink.  They went pretty fast.  But we went and walked the beach.  On the way we saw some pretty big fish and Don pointed out a sting ray.  We also saw 2 crabs.  We looked along the shore and got in and snorkeled a bit but we never found the fins.  

Then we came back and swam in the pool.  After the pool we got cleaned up and decided to walk to the grocery store.  They had Dr Pepper so I got one.  Then we ate at the Green Parrot.  Don had a cheeseburger and I had shrimp and fries.  It was good but I think our restaurant is better.  We walked the beach back and decided to have the peanut brittle pie again.  Now we are relaxing in the room and getting ready for our Monkey River Tour tomorrow.

Belize-Xunantunich

So last night we freaked ourselves out reading in a Belize guidebook about bugs and diseases you could get here! Not a good way to end the night!

We woke up early for our tour of the the Mayan site Xunantunich.  We got a bagel from the restaurant here and our guide was here at 7:20.  His name was Gilbert.  There was a family of 3 in the van already which was surprising because we thought we would be the only ones on the tour.  That was okay with me though because I thought an all day tour would be a little awkward just the two of us.  

So we started the 3 hour drive to Xunantunich near San Ignacio.  We stopped at a gas station about 45 min into the trip.  We got some drinks and some breakfast sandwiches here.  I wasn't really hungry after having the bagel though.   Then we just kept driving.  

About an hour from our destination the driver pulled into a shopping center and dropped the family off.  We thought that was weird, we thought they were going with us.  So it was just 2 of us to the ruins.  

We drove through the city of San Ignacio.  It looked really different from anything we've seen so far.  It has been so rural here in Belize.  When we got to the ruins the driver explained to us that we would have to get out of the van and take the ferry across and then walk a mile to the ruins.  I thought he meant he was not coming with us....so I was a little freaked out at first!  But then I understood and we got out and waited for our turn for the ferry.  

The ferry would take each tour bus one by one over the narrow river.  It was powered by a man using a crank.  It was pretty cool to see.  People had little shops set up where they were selling their crafts.  We looked around a bit but didn't buy anything.  Then we got on the ferry.

After the ferry we drove to the parking lot and got out.  Then we hiked about a mile to Xunantunich.  The site was really cool.  We hiked to the top and got a view of Guatemala.  Going down the ruin was a little difficult for me.  I was afraid I was going to fall.  Once at the bottom we went all around the site, learning about different things.  We saw some leaf carrying ants.  It was pretty cool they had a whole little hike they were doing.  Our guide Gill showed us if you stomp around the opening of their homes the soldier ants would come out to defend it.  I was looking at it and wondering where are the ants?! All the sudden I looked at my shoe and a giant ant was on it attacking my shoelace.  They have giant pincers that will just cut things up.  So that was cool. Luckily it didn't get in my shoe.

Once we were done with the ruins we went for lunch.  I had a traditional rice and beans with stewed chicken  and Don had breakfast.  It was pretty good.  Then we started on the road again.  We stopped at a gas station for a break and Gill told us he would be picking up a family on the way back.  Once we got to the shopping mart again the same family got in.  We couldn't believe they had been shopping all day! The woman told us they were school shopping.  

Then we started on the road again so we could make our last stop at The Blue Hole National Park.  This is not to be confused with the Blue Hole that Belize is known for.  This blue hole is in the jungle and you hike to it.  The hike was only about 5 minutes though.  Once you get there it's a little lagoon that is deep blue.  It's blue because it's about 100 feet deep in spots.  It was kind of cold but once you got in you got used to it.  It was cool to see the fish swimming around us.  If you went further down you would come to the opening of Herman's Cave.  You could hike through Herman Cave to get to the blue hole, it's about 2 miles.  We didn't do that though haha.  

After we got done swimming we went back to the van for the ride home.  It rained for about 30 seconds then it was sunny again.  It was the first rain we had seen.  Gill showed us this spot that is supposedly magnetic because if you put the car in neutral it goes back up the hill.  It worked.  I wanna know why it worked...is it really magnetic?

Once we got back I was so tired.  We ate dinner.  I had a personal pizza it was good and Don had fish and chips.  Both were good. But we had an amazing dessert.  It was peanut brittle ice cream pie. Neither of us like peanut brittle but we tried it.   It was amazing!  It had caramel and vanilla ice cream with the peanut brittle.  

That was pretty much our night because when we got back to the room I was out.  

Belize-Placencia Village

We woke up today pretty early around 7 but just laid in bed kind of fell back asleep until 8ish.  Then we decided to go out and snorkel for a bit since the water was calm.

Before getting in the water a woman approached me and asked if we were staying here.  She said she had hitch-hiked from Placencia.  Then she asked if I wanted to look at her crafts.  I told her I had no money on me now so maybe late. When we got in the water we didn't see much because it's mostly sand.  Then we saw a few fish and we were getting further out and I heard Don say "Andi come back!"  We've been snorkeling quite a bit in our lives and I've never heard him say this so I was scared...like is there a shark??  So I just started swimming back to shore fast.  In my head I was a little disappointed on the swim back like..."man if there was a shark out there and he just made us swim like this and draw all this attention to us!!"  I wanna see a shark so bad and if it's far away and you just stay calm it should be alright...but we when got closer to shore he told me he saw a big jellyfish and I was swimming right for it.  So that ended our snorkeling this morning.

Then we came back in and got cleaned up for breakfast.  Don had a dish called Belizian Fried Jacks.  It had black beans, scrambled eggs and these pastry like things.  I had a Bacon Egg Burger.  It was good.  It was just bacon and 2 eggs over easy on ciabatta bread. During breakfast we could see the woman spreading out all her jewelry and trinkets on the beach to sell.

After breakfast we talked to the hotel owner about our tours.  Now I think we are adding another snorkeling trip.  It sounds pretty awesome.  Then we decided to take the bus to Placencia Village.  While waiting for it thought....guess who caught us.  The woman selling her crafts.  She was also waiting for the bus.  But she convinced us to look at her items.  I ended up buying a bracelet for $10, because I am a sucker. The bus came around 12:15 and you get on by waving it down.  It is an old school bus painted blue and it says "Richies Bus" on it.  The is $1 per person.  It took us to the end of the peninsula.

Once we got off the bus we walked around a bit.  We looked at the beaches and then just walked around.  It was sooo hot!  We decided there wasn't really much there so we planned to take the bus back at 2:30, which is the last bus of the day on Sunday.  We decided we wanted to try a different restaurant so we tried a place called Wendy's.  It was good.  The quesadilla I had was great.  After that we walked the town some more just basically waiting for the bus.  The bus was so crowded on the way back but the driver dropped us right off at our hotel.  Can't really beat the price of $1 for a bus ride.

Once we got back I wanted to go for another swim....so we went back out to the beach and snorkeled again.  We love snorkeling.  We didn't really see anything too crazy just a few fish here and there.  The water felt so good, it's so nice and warm.  After our swim we got cleaned up again and decided to walk about a mile to a different restaurant.

On the walk there the hotel owner saw us and said she would give us a lift.  That was nice of her.  The restaurant was Mangos and it looked really cool.  The food was good.  I had nachos. Don had fried chicken. The problem was when the food came immediately we were surrounded by flies.  It was so annoying.  We just ate so fast.  I feel like all we did today was eat hahaha.  We had to walk back and it was pretty dark.  But it was a nice walk.  When we got to the hotel the whole front of the building had little lizards on it.

Now we are back and we are just getting ready for our excursion tomorrow to the ruins.

Belize-Getting There

Today we woke up around 3 am so we could make it to our 6 am flight at ohare.  We got to the airport and our flight was on time....so nothing really crazy to tell from Ohare.

We had our connection flight in Dallas/Fort Worth.  We ate breakfast at a taco bar.  It was pretty good.  Then an alarm started going off.  It was a siren with a computerized voice saying "There has been an emergency reported in the building.  Please stand by for further instruction."  No one knew what was going on and it just kept repeating over and over.  Finally a real voice came on and said the emergency was taken care of so to keep going about business.  Even though he said this the alarm continued to go on until we boarded our flight for Belize.

We sat in the aisle that had 3 seats so we were sitting next to a woman.  She had the window seat.  Eventually one of her friends came and told her they had an open seat by them so she could sit next to them. I was excited because then we would have a giant space...but when I moved over to her seat it was a little damp and kind of smelled like urine, not really sure.  Luckily I only touched the seat with my hand...and I had hand sanitizer.  So for the flight we did not use that window seat.   It was funny though because I saw her when I was exiting the plane and she said "You didn't sit in that seat did you?" and I said "no" and she was like "good because it made my pants damp".....

So then we made our way into the airport to go through customs. There was a live band playing some music.  That was a first for me at an airport.

When we made it through customs we met our driver, Abraham.  He took us to his truck.  Abraham drove us 3 hours to Placencia...we had a private ride.  It was cool. He told us things about Belize on the way.  We stopped at a grocery store to get some drinks.  It was so weird.  It was a Chinese owned grocery store in the middle of no where.

The whole ride to the hotel all I could think was this place has really nothing but jungle.  I didn't really know what to expect but it is just land with trees, very rural.  We even saw Amish! Abraham told us the Amish settled here about 50 years ago.

We finally made it to Maya Beach Hotel and got settled in.  Our room is the Hummingbird Room and we saw a hummingbird outside our window!  We walked by the beach and relaxed on the deck for awhile.  Then we had dinner at the Bistro here at the hotel.  We had Spicy Fish Empanadas for an appetizer and we both had burgers for dinner.  It was really good.

After dinner it was only like 8 but we went back to the room for bed!