Belize City was the second stop on our Caribbean cruise, and Edith and I were on our own. Paul had scheduled a cave tubing excursion for himself, and no way were she and I doing that!
Paul met his tour group before 9 a.m., but Edith and I didn't make our way to shore until about two hours later. The sea is too shallow along the coast, so the cruise ships anchor five miles out and guests tender from ship to shore. We got to the city about 11 a.m.
We had an 11:30 open-air train tour of the city, but when we arrived we were told to meet instead at 11:50. We browsed the many tourist stores near the dock, and Edith took what looked to be an uncomfortable nap in the umbrella stroller. The tour started even later, but no matter -- we had no plans the rest of the afternoon.
The trip started with a brief overview of the city and country, and we exchanged our tickets for a bag of plantain chips that Edith loved. Just before we boarded the open-air tram, it started to pour -- so it was hot and wet. But we didn't get too wet, particularly after a kind worker switched seats so we could be further inside. The rain stopped soon anyway.
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| Edith and her favorite snack in Belize City. |
Edith was excellent during the hour tour, sitting nicely on my lap and letting me listen to the guide. I was nervous since I was in a strange city without Paul's help! The train took us through the rich and poor areas of town, though none looked too fancy to me. But I learned lots of interesting info -- English is the official language but Creole is spoken at home, there's no fast-food, no Pepsi, and the country is home to the second-longest barrier reef.
I was glad we took the tour instead of sticking to the ultra-touristy Tourism Village near the dock. Yes, the tour was touristy too, of course, but at least I got to see something of the city.
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