Located on the northeastern tip of Central America, boredered by Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean, Belize is our first stop on this cruise.  The cruise excursions for Belize consisted mostly of snorkling and visiting various Mayan ruins.  We had chosen to go on the Jungle river tubing and Mayan Ruins tour. 

After departing from the boat we boarded an old tour bus for the 1 and 1/2 hour ride inland.  During the ride our tour guide gave us a brief history of Belize.  The guide was a funny one, everyone in the group immediately took a liking to him.  Once we reached our destination and stored our clothes and bags away for safekeeping in a shed we took a litte hike towards the river.  During the walk our guide showed us various vegetation and told us about the animals that lived in the jungle there.  The jungle was quite nice, coming from the city, anything green was quite nice. At one point he found a poisonous baby snake, caught it and showed it to anyone who cared to see.  Naturally all the guys went forward to take a peek while the women, cluching their children pulled away.

Reaching the river we each grabbed a large rubber tube and rolled it down to the shore.  The tube had been baking under the sun for a while so it was quite hot to the touch.  I had to dunk both sides of the tube in the water for a few seconds to cool it down.  This was the dry season, the river was quite shallow and wasn’t flowing very fast.  The river wasn’t looking too clean either.  Not that it had trash or anything man made, but rather a lot of dead leaves and mud swirling in the water.  I was glad that Jae and I had bought water shoes with us.  I wouldn’t have wanted to walk in there barefoot.  What if there were gators! 

We tossed the tube in the water, waded in and hopped on….. and went no where….the river wasn’t moving at all. So for the first leg of the journey we had to kick and paddle our way down the river. It was quite a workout I must say, it’s a good thing I’ve been eating a lot on the ship.  Our guide had brought along two helpers, and together they helped drag and push us down the river. 

Overall the trip down was very relaxing.  There was a few occassions when our bottoms hit bottom and we had to stand up, pick up the tube and walk further downstream, looking for deeper waters.  Since there were quite a few men who are much heavier than me and thus sat deeper in the water, I had plenty of warning of when I should be getting up and didn’t drag my bottom too much   Towards the end we were not moving at all without extra paddling, the guides were dragging us for the most part since many of us have gotten tired after the initial thrashing in the water when we first got in.  We formed human chains by hooking our feet under each other’s tubes and allowed the guides to drag us along as we relaxed.

Our path down the river was shaded for the most part, so it was quite relaxing to just lie back, rest and gaze at the trees around us.  I even noticed a bunch of dragonflies flying about the shore. 

At the bottom of the river, we took another short walk where our guide pointed out ‘Mayan ruins’, it wasn’t anything spectacular, not even ruins in my view …..they were essentially small ditches where excavation have begun to find any hint of privious civilization.  But then I watch the discovery channel a lot and have come to expect great temples and pyrimids. 

We hitched a ride back  to the campsite where we ate the provided lunch.  After that it was back to the ship.  Overall I enjoyed this excursion, and would recommend it for everyone of all ages.  

As our tour guide said, “You’ve gotta see it to Belize it!”