I have wanted to visit Belize since I was about 11 years old, so when the opportunity finally came for me to do so, I jumped on it. The seven day cruise was supposed to take us to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Belize, and Honduras. Sadly, Cozumel and Honduras were both canceled, leaving only the middle two destinations. In Belize, we had 8 hours to do everything we needed to do, which was not nearly enough time in my mind. 

The ship parked itself next to two other cruise ships a good four miles off the shore, due to the massive network of coral reefs that make getting any closer an extreme hazard for a cruise ship. My group was arranged to be the first one off the ship at 7:45am, and we hurried into the tender ship that got us docked on shore in less than 10 minutes.

We then met up with our tour guides who were going to take us to the Mayan ruins of Lamanai, and they sent us aboard their dilapidated school bus. With the quickness, we began speeding down the highway for the next 50 minutes until we reached our first destination: The river dock. 31 of us boarded the boat that was propelled by twin V-6 engines, and we began speeding down the river at an alarming pace.

The 22 mile boat ride took about 35 minutes, and it was an absolute blast. The virgin fauna of Belize was remarkable, and we saw many varieties of exotic birds, including one of the tallest in the world, the Jabiru Stork, standing 5 feet tall.

We finally arrived in the lagoon that Lamanai sits next to, and the ship was docked. We made our way off the boat, and began trekking through the jungle path that would lead us to our first building.

After about ten minutes of hiking, we arrived at the first breath taking site of the day… the Mask Temple.

The climb to the top was easy as pie, as we actually did not have to do any climbing. There was a path along the hillside that went around the back of the temple, and once there, you only had to climb a dozen or so steps to get to the top. But once there, the view was quite charming.

Yet this beautiful location had nothing on the next. The High Temple, which is the second tallest known Mayan structure. 

This was actually a little bit scary going to the top, as the steps were very narrow, about 10 inches, and very tall, about 18 inches. We pretty much had to crawl up, and the tour guides yelled at us constantly to make use of the rope that was anchored to the top of the structure. Once we arrived at the summit, the view was incredible. 

We then began making our way down the treacherous descent, and back into the jungle to the final stop. The Jaguar Temple.

After kicking it around there for awhile, we made our way back to the boat, and left Lamanai. 

We arrived back in Belize City with about thirty minutes to spare before the last tender left for our ship. It was not enough time to really gauge the place, however there was some stuff to see during the bus ride. Belize is an exceptionally poor place, and many people there are so desperate, the port area is actually cordoned off and protected by walls topped with concertina wire, to keep unauthorized persons out. There apparently is a big trade in kidnapping, similar to Mexico. Inside the ’safe zone’ prices are geared towards American tourists, which basically means everything is jacked up through the roof. However, the shopkeepers are more than willing to haggle, and I was able to take one shop owner from $60 down to $30 on a piece of jewelry, before I finally got bored and left. A friend haggled a tanzanite and opal ring down from $500 to $100, and confirmed it at an independent jewelry store after the fact, as being authentic.

After reflecting on Belize over the past few days, I am not quite as sure about wanting to live there as I used to be. I feel that I need to take another trip there for a much longer period of time, and spend most of it in Corozal, which is where most of the Americans there live.