We just got back from a cruise on the Norwegian Jewel to the Western Caribbean (Cozumel, Belize, & Trijillo):
We had a wonderful view of the ocean out of our stateroom and good weather the whole trip. There were over 1000 guests and over 2000 staff who fed us around the clock, entertained us, and cleaned our rooms everyday. We met some interesting people too.
On our first stop, we had an authentic tour guide whose ancestors were Mayan--he even spoke Mayan which is a dying language in other areas. He had a VERY long Mayan name so he just went by Jose. He told us of several instances where things were named because of a misunderstanding. For example when explorers asked what one country was called, the Indians said "Yucatan" (meaning "I don't understand what you're saying.") Thus we now have the Yucatan Peninsula. Another instance was the Temple of the Diving (or Descending) God which had an inscription of a man upside down. According to our guide, he was upside down because he represented a bee & was called the "Honeybee God" by the Mayans to honor the perpetuation of their agriculture. Their "white gold" was salt. Their blue water was the most beautiful of the whole trip.
We saw the Tulum ruins at Cozumel but the colorful murals inside the buildings were closed to the public because people had put grafiti on the the walls. Can you imagine? Tulum was an important port on the Caribbean Sea between the 13th & 15th centuries & it is thought that diseases brought by Spanish settlers was the cause of its demise. It was a major trade center for obsidian (black volcanic glass). I bought a piece with my name on it in Mayan hieroglyphics. The Mayans were amazing astronomers. One of the buildings had two doorways situated so that when the two annual equinoxes occurred, the sun shown directly through the two doorways for a few minutes, telling the people it was time to plant (or harvest). Our guide even had a picture of it. I took a picture of his picture but unfortunately lost my camera. We had some really good Mexican food and didn't get sick (thanks to the recommendation of our guide). He also led us to restrooms where we didn't have to pay.
The next day we visited Belize; 6% of which is retired military & is the only country in South America with English as the official language. Gasoline was $6/gal. Jr & Adrian were our guides. We took an hour boat ride to the ruins and saw white, green backed, & great blue herons--magnificent birds up close. We also saw a little bird that walked on water and a fresh water crocodile. There were tiny bats covering a tree that ate thousands of mosquitoes and were the only creature that pollinated agave plants. We visited the Lamanai ruins & I climbed most of the 125 ft temple (Dad's feet were bothering him). We heard the Howler monkeys which was enough to put the fear of death into a person. They are quite small but they sound like a gorilla. You can listen to them on youtube. We had a lunch of yellow rice, rice & beans, cole slaw, chips & salsa and 4-legged chicken (iguana). Not really. Our guide was teasing us. We saw a big male iguana that turned orange to attract his honey. I bought a necklace made from mahogany seed by a local artist. The British cut down all the mahogany forests & exported the wood so now the government has laws to protect it. School is mandatory & all students wear a uniform. After graduation, the gov't gives everyone a plot of land to develop and there is no welfare system (everyone has to work).
Trujillo on the Banana Coast of Honduras was a new stop for our ship. It was trying to build a tourist industry because all their banana plantations had to be burned to stop the spread of a killer fungus. We had a bus tour of the little village with our local guide Sandy. They even had some mountains! Christopher Columbus landed in Trujillo in 1502 on his 4th & last trip to the Americas. The people built a fortress to discourage the many pirates that invaded their coast. A community of Africans found refuge from slavery there. Members of their community entertained us along with some dancers from Honduras. I got to dance with one from each group! I found some earrings made out of coconut to match my necklace from Belize.
When we got back to the ship, I became ill with a mean chest cold that put me in the bed for most the rest of the trip. Kerry agreed to go to one of the shows without me and get a massage which made ME feel better. I found some Allegra at the airport ($2.40 a pill) that helped. I also managed to lose some important papers and break one of my necklaces. Our flight home was 2 hrs late, so things didn't end on a very happy note. I'm still trying to recuperate. Glad to be in our own beds.
