Our wedding anniversary is in March. We have discovered that it is a very good time of year to travel. Tourist season is mostly non-exsistent and other than being a little cold in some places the weather is mostly nice. We actually like to take Caribbean cruises during that time of year because there are no hurricanes on the horizon. This particular cruise had some interesting stops and ports that we had not been to.
We were interested in doing some port excursions that were different and challenging. I almost wasn’t allowed to do the ATV Riding because it had a cut off date of being 65. It was March so I still had two good months left in me before being considered OLD. Well, it was fun and exciting but I was kinda over it after about 10 minutes. We wore the bandanas on our faces not as a statement of being tough or in a Jungle Gang, those vehicles stir up a lot of dust. Also, my girls were bouncing everywhere. Ouch! When our excursion was over we took a bus back to the ship. Our regular bus was going to come later so we took an alternate bus…….the party bus. Oh my! They had a driver and a co-pilot so to speak and one guy to entertain us aka the drink pourer. Part of the bus was open so it was exposed to the outside jungle air and the front half was enclosed. We sat in the middle. We had a few shots but were more entertained by our fellow bus mates. There was an older gentleman who even peed himself from drinking and laughing too much. Now, my husband Jon, got a souvenir from that day that lasted at least a year. Tropical bug bites that itched like crazy and left scars. Good Times.
So Zip lining? I am pretty proud of myself because I am afraid of heights. It was a blast and I still get a little woozy when very high off the ground but for that day…. I made it. As Scarlet O’Hara would say “I’ll worry about that tomorrow” (she said something like that!)
That same port excursion also had a Rainforest hike that was beautiful and we had an expert lead us in who told us all about the Flora and Fauna. Here are a couple of examples.
I think the highlight of our trip was our day in Guatamala. We visited a school that was way back in the jungle. The kids there likely would not have an education if not for this program. Sometimes the tuition for the kids is for the family to donate corn. It is a co-ed school and the day we visited was International Women’s Day. The boys cooked lunch for the girls and sang to them as they paraded up the mountain with giant leaves and vines twisted overhead to adorn them. Most of the students there are going into hospitality type jobs, such as hosts or hostesses in hotels or tour operators. The students cooked our meals which were fabulous and some played the marimba for our entertainment. I will include a website so you can contribute to this school. It really warmed my heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haKRNrGWQYU
To get to the school we took a River Boat ride back into the Jungle. At one point our boat slowed so we could take some pictures of beautiful water lilies, and then about 6 or 7 rowboats showed up with some children who live in the jungle selling their wares. We saw a gentleman cast his net out in the water to catch fish and he showed what he’d caught so far that day.
Our last port of call was Cozumel, an island near Cancun. We had been there a few times on other cruises so this time we decided to do something different. I mentioned before that we like to go to cooking classes when we are on vacation and especially if in a different country. It was a good call to do this in Cozumel. There was a horrendous rain storm that day so the beaches weren’t the place to be. I will share some pictures and a site for you to check out should you want to learn a local dish there.
Holland America Cruise Lines owns their own private island, Half Moon Cay. We always love going there. We enjoy their BBQ and their Clam Shells for laying on the beach. We read and swim in the Caribbean Blue waters that are the perfect temperature. We have cruised on other lines before but we only cruise with Holland America now, in fact we are 3 star Mariners. (lotsa perks in that) Here is their website to check them out. http://www.hollandamerica.com
We just booked an 11 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean to set sail in March for our Anniversary in 2020. Check back will you………..?
