CRUISES AND BELIZE

We went on a cruise in January, which was stunning. This is the sunrise from the ship.



Our aunt and uncle have been cruising extensively in their retirement and we were reticient. In part, we were concerned that cruising was losing its true meaning from our twenties in which cruising had an outcome that didn't include a buffet and sunsets. Perhaps our concern was right - cruising no longer is something that we desire to do at bars; now we want to do it on large boats. We went on the Norwegian Pearl, www.ncl.com. It was fantastic. Great food and great fun. We went for five days, which is, I think, the perfect length for a cruise. We would have been a little itchy to leave the ship if it had been longer.

One stop was on the Mexican rivera, a place to which we want to return. This from XCARET, a nature park where we spent the day.



Perhaps the best part of the park was the turtle release that they do daily. XCARET is dedicated to saving sea turtles. It was quite moving as my mother-in-law, who had died a year ago when we took the trip in January, was a turtle fan, so there was the moment of believing that she was enjoying the sunshine and the turtles with us.

The park also was filled with great native Mexican animals and statues like this one:



Our favorite stop was Belize City, the capital of Belize. I loved the intact ecosystem. We drove by miles and miles of mangroves on our way to the Mayan ruins, Altun Ha. The day was fantastic.

Here are photos from the day in Belize.