We headed off to "sunny" Florida in February for some fun and good times with a dozen or so of our friends. Unfortunately, somebody forgot to tell the Caribbean that we were expecting warm, calm water and sunny skies!!! It was a bit chilly when we arrived in the sunshine state (we had to wear our jackets and it kept blowing and I swear it was only 40 degrees that morning. After getting to the ship port, and standing in awe with our mouths open at the massive feat of engineering that we were about to board.... we stood in line for an hour to check in. It was too cold to spend much time outside the first two days, but Oh Well... at least there was lots to see inside the ship.
The first "day at sea" we were supposed to watch the Super Bowl (sorry, "The Game", don't want to infringe any copyrighted names). However, the weather just would not cooperate. It was windy, the sea was splashing all the way to the top deck and it kept trying to rain on us. Dinner was fantastic. Although, some in our group were unimpressed at the food selection and quality, I really liked all the choices. I didn't think to dress up the first night, so I was a bit out of place in our group, but what made me sad was forgetting all my jewelry at home... I really am a jewelry kind of gal, so I felt a bit naked the whole trip.
After a choppy night, day, and another night, we finally arrived in Cozumel. I loved this island! I would definitely go back someday and stay here for a week. We docked early in the morning and were able to do some shopping at the port (very touristy) and then chartered a couple of vans to a semi-private beach to spend some time getting tan, eating fantastic guacamole and chips and doing some low-key snorkeling. Although there wasn't a lot see under the water, it was really good to get a feel for breathing and looking down at the same time. It's harder that you might think, but pretty easy to figure out. The water was a bit too cold with the wind blowing the wrong direction to get to do any real snorkeling, but I had fun anyway.
After getting our fill of sun and chips, we headed into the real part of town to do some shopping. I made some great buys and wish I would have spent more of my money and time here. The prices were the best of the whole trip. I love the "Old Town" feel of the island and felt very at home.
The second stop on our cruise was to Isla Roatan, Honduras. Here we had reserved a private beach (thanks Jerian!) that was absolutely breath taking. White sand and big hammocks. What more could I ask for? How about chartering a boat and doing some reef snorkeling?! I am utterly amazed at all that I was able to see so close to the surface. There were all kinds of fish and shells and corals. The underwater camera just doesn't do it justice! On the edge of the reef was the channel... basically a drop off to nowhere that was impossible to see the other side. It was eerie with the cold water running by like a river in the sea. I got to feeling a bit exposed, maybe there was a shark nearby??? So I went back to the safe side.
Sadly, I did get really sunburned while snorkeling. Just didn't think about my shoulders being in the sun for several hours while the rest of me was submerged. And I was bit by sand fleas in the boat... Ouch. Those red bumps itched and irritated for several days after.
Our next stop was Belize. Although we had gotten mixed reviews about the city and area, we decided to give it a try. We had to get up rather early. (Actually, we got up far too early everyday, in my opinion, especially since we never really went to bed.) Then we had to get on a little boat that was crammed full to get to the land. Once there, we were cautioned strongly to stay behind the 12 foot high chain-link and barbed wire fence that encompassed the "tourist area". We didn't. We decided that the shopping wasn't fabulous enough to hang out there and the boat ride took to long to just turn around and go back. That only left one option-- charter a tour! We took a "private" tour in a run-down little car across the city and out to a howler monkey "private sanctuary". Interesting doesn't even start to describe our experience! Our tour guide was born and raised in Belize but had traveled the world, been educated in the states, served in the military both abroad and at home and was very entertaining. His driving was also really scary and really fast for dirt/sometimes paved/ has random horses standing on it, roads.
We saw giant iguanas, cute children in school uniforms, a small farm-turned wild monkey sanctuary and education center, the only stoplight in the country, really high fences around churches, and a really unusual use of the English language with some Spanish, Jamaican and local native thrown in. Probably the best part was feeding the baby monkey a banana right out of our hands. I am still surprised at how strong a 10 pound animal can be.
Our last stop in the warm Caribbean was Costa Maya, Mexico. We took a group tour to some ancient ruins (Chaccoben). The trees and the jungle was making a strong effort to reclaim the stone structures as fast as they were being uncovered. The entire area was Very beautiful and very non-commercialized. The last time we were at ruins in Mexico, we were hounded non-stop by sales people. They followed us everywhere and were very insistent. Here, they just stayed in the little plaza shops and let you come to them. I bought the cutest dresses for me and the girls here. The shopping in town was okay, but I really liked the giant sea-water pool in the middle of the port area. I wish we would have had a couple more hours to hang out there.
Our last day on the boat was spent in a gale force storm slapping the boat with every wave and making it difficult to walk in a straight line. Amazingly, no one was significantly ill from the movement. It did make dinner a bit of a challenge to lean one way, then the other.... A long night of hanging out and getting the free ice cream one last time at 1am. Then up before the crack of dawn to get off the ship. For being so welcoming and friendly while we were there, they sure made us feel like we had better get off right then! Then out into the freezing cold wind in Florida to wait for our ride outside. Gratefully, we were able to go right to the hotel and check in early. After warming up some, we went shopping in town and played a bit at a golf shop while missing our bus. Finally some dinner and a little pink poodle like the magic show prop from the the night before :) Then back on the plane and back to cold February in Utah.
