After a night spent sailing
lazy-eights in the Gulf of Honduras, we arrived at our anchorage off Harvest
Caye on schedule. Our guide yesterday told us that both Honduras and Belize
were only a 30-minute boat ride away. So there you go.
Harvest Caye is an NCL-owned island
for the use of it and its sister cruise lines. We booked an excursion to the
mainland today. It was a cluster cuss of misinformation but at the end of an
hour we had arrived at Malacate by riding only one big 2-deck catamaran. It
took 2 boats with a forced visit to Harvest Caye to return to the Riviera
though.
The pier at Malacate is also
NCL-owned and a docking facility for the cruiselines to access the mainland. It
is beside the community of Mango Creek and Independence. From there we boarded
a bus for the hour-long, 52 mile drive to the Mayan ruins of Nim Li Punit. It
was a good tour with a Mayan archaeology expert guide and a regular Belize
guide. Also, there were handrails on all the slopes and stairs so walking was
not as difficult as advertised. Lunch was good and the walk from there to the
Rio Grande was a bonus. We paid $99 each for the 5 hour tour. It was money well
spent. I hope tomorrow's Mayan ruins tour is as good. Our guide today said that
Belize exports oil, bananas and Valencia oranges. Belize is the next to
smallest country in Central America behind El Salvador. They have a population
of under a half million. That is compared with over 6 million in El Salvador.
Belize is a former British Colony. English is the official language. They drive
on the right. Tour description is pasted below.
Nim Li Punit With Lunch (HAR-002)
Port: Harvest Caye
Tour Length: Half-Day
(Approximately 5 hours)
Tour Description
Wander through the well-preserved
ruins of a Mayan city.
See carved stone stelae that reveal
the history of the ceremonial site.
Climb the temples’ stairs for
panoramic views of the jungle.
Behold an astronomical observatory
where the Mayas tracked the sun’s movement.
Wander through the well-preserved
ruins of an archeological site full of royal tombs and stone monuments that
commemorate important events to this Mayan community. The complex of buildings
within this ceremonial center is rather compact and well-shaded, so exploring
should be quite comfortable and easy. As you meander about, you can expect to
see a ball court with celestial representations, numerous plazas, tombs of the
royal families and monuments with carvings that offer a glimpse into the
ancient Mayan civilization. Dozens of these monuments, known as stelae, can be
found in Nim Li Punit. The name of the site, which means “large hat” in the
Mayan language, refers to refers to the large headdress that one of the rulers
is shown wearing on one of the stela. Oil prospectors discovered Nim Li Punit
in the 1970s and excavations started shortly afterwards.
HELPFUL HINTS
Dress in weather-appropriate
clothing.
Wear flat comfortable walking shoes
with non-slip soles.
PLEASE NOTE
This tour includes significant
walking with some uneven natural surfaces and steps to negotiate, which may be
slippery when wet. The tour is not available to wheelchair guests and not
considered suitable for those with mobility concerns or pregnant woman who are
past their first trimester. Participants should be in good physical health to
climb the temples and stone steps unassisted. Participants must weigh less than
300 pounds. It is a 30-minute boat transfer from Harvest Caye to the mainland
of Belize and a 1- hour scenic bus ride to the Mayan site. No lunch is
provided. A hearty breakfast is recommended. Snacks are available for purchase.
End of tour description. Obviously,
lunch was actually included. It was at Big Falls on the Rio Grande. It was
traditional Belize food of rice & beans with chicken and plantains. It was
good.
This morning after breakfast but
before tendering ashore, we got a letter with our instructions for turnaround
day in Miami along with a pair of new keycards for immediate use. They are good
until Feb. 26. That letter with details of procedures in Miami makes no mention
of the new coronavirus temperature screening by the way.
This afternoon we got a letter
explaining that no guest or crew who'd visited mainland China in the past 30
days had been allowed onboard. Also they are eliminating self-service food and beverage
temporarily while the coronavirus spreads.
Tomorrow morning we'll be back in
Mexico for this cruise segment's last port day.
Tonight we're going to give
Riviera's Grand Dining Room a try. It was better than our past attempt's at O's GDR but service fell apart after we quickly received our main course and we struggled to get our dessert and be out before 8 pm. We won't look to return.
We move the clocks ahead by 1 hour tonight. So it is already late! Sorry again about the delay with photos hopefully Internet service will improve as we head North. That's Clay's theory anyway.
