Anniversary/cruise part 2

 Part 2: Belize, and Honduras

Belize was actually kind of a disappointment for me. This just so happened to be the only city that Kaj and I booked an excursion at and I'm SOOO GLAD we did. There isn't much to see when you get off the ship, there aren't any close beaches, or tons of shops to see and the local law enforcement keep a tight reign on where you "can and can't go".. they made it hard for you to be able to just go "explore the city". I guess its a pretty dangerous place to be if your not a local, (and in some cases even if you are a local)... Kaj and I got off the boat around 9 and then took an hour long bus ride to get to our "jungle kayaking tour"... Neither of us had ever done a jungle tour of any kind so we were super excited for this ;) They took us out to our kayaking spot and it had a ridiculously nice resort swimming pool and bar nearby, BONUS!!!.. our tour guide was super fun but I was TERRIFIED we were going to flip so I didn't get many pictures.. There were tree roots that had grown so big and that were soo hard to see, if you weren't careful you could hit one and your boat would tip... (the guide told me, "it happens all the time", BLAH) Kaj figured out how to steer about 10 min in and after that it was AWESOME ( I never really figured it out some for part of the time kaj told me to "just enjoy the ride and LEAVE MY PADDLE IN THE BOAT".. haha)!!!  After our hour long Kayak excursion we got to hang out at the pool for a while and can I just tell you HOW BEAUTIFUL this pool was, they even served us a local meal: Beans and Rice, chicken, and cooked plantains YUMMMM!!!

Honduras was the exact opposite of Belize.. :) When we first got there I was blown away at how BEAUTIFUL it was, it has rolling hills that are a BEAUTIFUL green, and absolutely beautiful crystal clear water:)... Next vacation I want to spend a WHOLE WEEK in Honduras!! :)  We went to the beach that was just right off the dock, they had a chair lift that took you down to it but kaj and I decided to walk since it was such beautiful scenery:) Once we got out to the beach we headed to the far side where it wasn't soo crowded. We picked a spot that was nice and quiet:) Kaj snorkeled once again while I laid in the beautiful white sand!!! Kaj doesn't like boundaries all that much so he got in trouble for going out to far.. He decided to come back and we found a nice little spot to go paddle boarding!! This might have been MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE THING ALL TRIP...   I LOVE PADDLE BOARDING :)

loved that the background was green, fit right along with our jungle tour :)

we had to take a catamaran to the shore

Bus ride to the jungle, our tour guide told us a little about the island and showed us some of their money:) We learned 2 major things about the island: They have a "serious gun problem", at least that's what our tour guide said, "young boys get into fights and they turn to guns. Sadly there are alot of killings. We don't have a high crime or drug rate around here though"  maybe that's why they don't let us "explore" the city. and 2nd the guy that discovered Belize left there country  something like 1.5 million dollars. He told them they could only life off the interest of that money and they still have money left from that original fund :)

These are the kinds of homes you see when you get into town. There isn't a high unemployment rate and there are "no homeless" people. Families live in what they can afford to build and you are expected to take care of your family pretty much until you die. That means that there isn't a need for unemployment or nursing homes over there. I think our tour guide said there is 1 nursing home with about 57 people that live there, but it is considered an embarrassment to put a family member in a "home".

our walk into the "jungle", very pretty :)

crazy picture, its one of the few i got on the boat.. :)

we started down a narrow and finished down this narrow canal

but about half way into it the river widens and it was super fun!! This was our tour guide, she was 34 single and has never left Belize.. she was super awesome!!

game: "spot the iguana" .:) they blend in soo well

I loved all the lilly pads and flowers in the river

more iguana's, this one is one of the bigger males. He lives in a hole on the other side of the wall with multiple wives.. NICE..

OOOOOH YAAAA, this is my kind of pool!!! I will have one of these in my back yard, please ;)

they had beautiful trails set up around the pool and into the jungle..

but we spend MOST of our time right here!!!

he was actually totally good with "just sitting" by the pool today :)

I will take a little yellow chair next to my pool if its not to much to ask ..

 

out morning ritual. Kinda nice to be able to go to the gym together.

 good thing we got our picture taken at every port ;)

 

Loved how green it was !!

rolling hills over the WHOLE island :)

 

beautiful water and beach right as you get off the ship.

since I didn't get to see a "sea turtle" this one will have to do

SHIP WRECK, or random boat on the beach.

SERIOUSLY this was my FAVORITE THING all cruise!

we had soo much fun and I'm pretty sure that was a "cheat board" you couldn't fall if you tried .

I would go back to this island in a heart beat.

 I Love tropical flowers

these were one of my fav's cause I've never seen one before.

 

we couldn't leave without getting a "coconut water", it would have been good except for it was COMPLETELY WARM... BLAHHHH

 

 

 

Seriousy I was SOOO SAD to leave this island!!

 

and Kaj was soo sad he didnt get to go explore all of the ship wrecks that were right off the shore:(

 This is also the spot that Kaj's eye got really bad.. He had been complaining about it for a few days but didnt want to see the on board medic beccause it would be soo expensive.. When we got home he found out he had a HUGE ulser.. :( ....(poor guy)