http://thebeehivebazaar.com/2010/03/21/come-have-a-wild-time/
I dig the beehive bazaar and I'm posting so you know about this cool event but also because I want to win free tickets to the opening party night for the VIP!
keep updated on the event through facebook
today's stop is Cozumel. While going through the pictures to post I discovered that we only have ONE picture. It was raining and all we did was shop. Our friends are sending us a CD of their pictures so maybe they will have some good ones, so until then I will put the rest of our cruise posts on hold.
:)
Today required another tender, which means the ship cannot pull up to the port so we have to take smaller boats from the ship to the dock. At our last stop that required a tender, we just went down to get on the boats when we wanted but this stop, we had to get a number. We found this out a little later than most so we were late to meet our tour group. But they took care of us and rushed us in a van to catch the bus with the rest of our group.
Belize, the only central American country that speaks English as their primary language. It was the poorest of all four stops and the most dangerous, one of our guides said that the homes made of concrete meant they had money. Not that I ever felt unsafe, but if I had to rate them, this would be the most unsafe. In the city, there wasn't much to see but we headed about an hour inland to the jungle. The tour guides were fun and very entertaining, they tried to make the bus a bit of a party, which didn't matter to us either way. They have cashew wine that they sell so they were giving everyone a sample and i got the impression from the reactions I saw that it wasn't the best tasting wine. I don't see how it could be, cashew wine, nasty. When we got off the bus, we had to rent water shoes that were nice and moist (gave me the heebie jeebies) and we hiked about 20 minutes through the jungle. The guides insisted on carrying all of the tubes for the ladies. It was a pretty hike and reminded me of a set at Disneyland. At the river, they gave us each a headlight and hooked us in trains. These guides worked hard, they swam along, ran back and forth and pulled us every wich way. Some spots were pretty shallow and our train was a little long so we would get stuck, their big thing was "butts up", Ryan didn't seem to quite get the hip thrust idea and dragged his butt and got us stuck. While we were in the caves it was really dark and I tried not to think of what was swimming under me because I couldn't see a thing. But there didn't seem to be much in this river. After we got out of the caves we floated by ourselves which was entertaining because a lot of people don't get the concept of how to paddle, it was also relaxing.
We finished and got back to the bus and they drove us to their little picnic/ATV location where they had a Belizian, lunch. It was chicken and rice, yellow rice with some green beans and it was seasoned very well, tasty.
They dropped us off at the port and we walked through their market, I found a little clay nativity that had BELIZE carved into it. We were offered drugs, hair braids, massages and a freshly cut open coconut mixed with rum but we passed on all of them.
We caught a boat back to the ship and I decided on a lovely nap. I woke up just in time to get ready for dinner. One thing I loved about this vacation was I could take a late nap and not have to worry about staying up too late. I had to remind myself that it was okay to be up pass 11:30, 12 or even 1. We watched a little show that 2 break dancers put on and then headed over to the comedy show.
the cemeteries are 3 feet under and 3 feet above ground.
cashew wine for everyone.
just wanted to take a swim before getting out. And maybe needed to pee a little also. 
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got up, worked out and ate too much for breakfast, but dang it was good. Today we docked at Isla Roatan, Honduras. The port was misleading, when you first get off there were tons of shops and buildings that were colorful and new among the jungle. Then we had to walk passed all that, up a hill and through a security gate to meet our tour guide and I noticed a concrete building with windows but no glass and people looking out the windows. I asked our tour guide what the building was for because I was unclear about what these people would be doing hanging out in a vacant looking building. His response, "it's a house, they live there." And I couldn't help but ask when we saw the next building, "and that is also a house?", sure enough. The more we drove, the houses did get better but I was shocked at the conditions these people lived in. It was the four of us in the van and according to Ryan, Jess and Ryan, I ask too many questions, I was curious about their culture and way of life and if their were mormon missionaries on the island.
Our activity for the day was "zip and dip". We were going ziplining over the jungle, sounded cool until it came time to suit up and climb the stairs to the first platform. I've lost my sense of adventure, four kids waiting at home will do that to you. After getting the hang of it, it was so cool, so fun. This was my favorite excursion by far. Our guide was awesome. He had to stop us, even the guys. When we would reach the platform, he would reach out and catch our ropes and brings us to a stop and then get us up on the platform. Our tip wasn't nearly enough but we did what we could. The zip line company also had monkeys that you could hold? play with? not sure what to call it. We were in their cage forever, it was so funny and all I kept saying was "the kids would LOVE this".
We then headed to the beach but first decided to stop for lunch to eat Honduran food. We ate at a seaside reasturant and had conch soup and fish tacos. big servings and yummy food. We then went to a free beach that was descent. Okay, I'm picky when it comes to beaches, I actually find beaches without waves boring. I grew up going to the beach all summer and I love being in the waves, when there are no waves, it's like being in a lake. To me ocean equals waves. I did take a dip because I was sweaty and althought there were no waves, I still love the saltiness of the salt water.
what? I'm not nervous......
taking the first jump, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.........
our tour guide
Just to show how amazing he was, Ryan (our friend) got stuck and he came down and PULLED him up the zip line. It was hilarious, we were dyeing of laughter!! He stopped and started to pull himself up the line then our tour guide came down and wrapped his legs around Ryan and pulled him up while Ryan just dangled there nice and relaxed and notice his feet are practically touching the ground! Sometimes I think of this and it makes me crack up up randomly to myself, such a highlight of the trip.
Then on one of the lines, he wanted me to go with him, not sure why, but let's be honest we all know why someone would want me hooked to them wile zooming across the jungle. Well we didn't quite make it to the platform and I was left to just hang there while he grabbed the line and pulled us up to the platform. I felt REALLY light and like a little skinny 105 pound mother of 4. yeah right!
here he is enjoying the ride.
then the monkey's
Jessica tried giving the monkey a small piece of her apple and it ended up stealing the whole thing from her bag. She wasn't about to get it back, it would probably bite her and we've all seen the movie "Outbreak".
It was cute when the first monkey curled up on my lap and rested but when the second one climbed on my arm, all i could think was "oh sick, his butt hole is on my arm. bleh!"
they loved her bag.
we bought the kids some gifts at the little shop and then picked a coconut up off the ground, another free souvenir that they will think is so cool.
cooling off in the lake, I mean the ocean. Seriously though, who complains about that? Such a beach diva.
At dinner we were talking to our maitre 'd because he is from Honduras and asking him questions about his country and what not and we got on the subject of food and he told us about ceviche. It is raw fish, shrimp, squid, marinated in seasonings and lemon juice and the juice apparently "cooks" the fish. Then he came out with a plate of it for us to try! It was good. Just an example of how amazing the staff is on the ship.
First stop, Grand Caymen . Out of all 4 stops, this was the only country that wasn't third world. Come to find out they have 600 banks (ever heard of off shore banking? this is one of the hot spots) and they are part of the commonwealth.
We got off the ship early enough to buy sunglasses because 3 out of 4 of us, came on a cruise without sunglasses, and walk around and check out Grand Caymen. We met up with our tour group and took a boat out to sting ray city. It's amazing that these rays are so docile and they will eat out of your hand and let you hold them. It was also amazing that we were standing on a sandbar in the middle of the ocean. Doesn't the water look like a swimming pool!
I thought it was interesting that everywhere we stopped, we saw stray chickens. 
Then we stopped at two more reefs and snorkeled. We spotted some sand dollars and dove down for 3 of them but they were so fragile and broke on the boat. But Ryan did find a sea shell that was pretty cool, free souvenir for the kids!
Back to the ship where we got some ice cream and sat in the back of the ship and watched Caymen disappear.
It is so peaceful to be out in the middle of the big blue ocean and also can make you feel so small. Have you ever stared down at the water from a ship? Doesn't it make you want to jump in? It just pulls you in. We talked about overboard scenarios at night while hanging out on deck.
To give you an idea of how much we ate, for dinner we always ordered at least 3 appetizer's, 2 entree's and 2 desserts. But it wasn't until the third night that we realized we could order so much. And it was also this evening that we asked our waiter what they did with all the wasted food. He said at 3 am, they dump it into the ocean for the fish. I felt far less guilty about not finishing a plate after I heard that, it's just a big circle of life :) Ryan ordered 3 entree's this night of lobster tail, mmmmmmmm.
"fun Day at Sea" as they call it on the ship. We slept in, relaxed on deck and read, Ryan & Ryan (our friends name is Ryan) played basketball, ate to our little hearts content, got soft serve ice cream when we felt like it, dipped in the pool when the sun got too hot, worked out, went to the "formal night" for dinner, tried to watch the comedy show but we got there late and it was packed so we stood for some of it, went to the dance club but the music wasn't good and hardly anyone was dancing, then went up on deck and watched "terminator". I could only stand so much of that movie so i went to bed. And here is an overload of pictures.
This is where we ate every meal except for dinner. And when I say meal, that includes breakfast, snack, sample of something that looks good, lunch, you get the idea.
to give you an idea of what the dessert looks like at lunch. And it's different everyday. 
this picture was taken at about 7:50 and our formal night dinner was at 8:15. I had just finished working out and I woke Ryan up from his nap because the sunset was gorgeous. Don't rush me, I'm on vacation. We showered and we did make it on time to dinner which consisted of consuming way too much yummy food. 
