Another early early morning due to an excursion, ugh. We were looking forward to it, of course, but man I hate early mornings, especially after late nights. Thank heavens for room service.
We were able to get on an earlier tender than we had hoped, so were off about 8am along with our new friends John and Erica (the couple from California that we met on the beach after ziplining), headed for our cave tubing excursion. We were a bit hungry so Tom and John went off to find us some food—and came back with a delicious assortment including two croissants, a piece of johnnycake (not cornbread, almost a biscuit), and a cinnamon roll…for a total of $2!
There were three guys running the cave-tubing show, and they were all a hoot. On the 35-45 minute drive to the caves, we got some comedy and local flavor along with a few history lessons. Oh, and a taste of a local beverage—cashew wine (jokingly called the poor man’s whiskey). It was interesting, but nothing I needed (or wanted) to bring home with me. They always asked if there were any questions, so I asked if there were restrooms, and they said no, they had “quicklies”—you want to quickly go in and quickly come out. And when someone asked if there were snakes, he said oh yes, Belize has something like 58 varieties of snakes, 35 of which are poisonous. “Just kidding, just kidding.” The whole 40 minutes was like that, it was really fun.
Once we got to the caves, we were handed headlamps, tubes, and life jackets, and were led down the trail toward the river. They said it was going to be about a 30-minute walk, so we were all surprised when we hit the river after no more than five minutes. Yeah, that was just the starting point—we had to cross the river to get to the trail. They also wanted us to get wet so we’d get the feel for the water and wouldn’t be surprised later. We were all a little shocked at how cold it was—on the bus, someone had asked what the water temperature was and he said it was “refreshing” and when pressed, said between 72 and 78 degrees. MY ASS. That water was nowhere near 72-78 degrees, LOL. Maybe 70 at the tops, I’m guessing. But we all got in and some even jumped off a high rock formation.
Then it was back on the trail, where we got an unexpected surprise about 15 minutes in…the guides told the women to drop their tubes, and they would carry them the rest of the way! (I had read in their reviews that they did that, but I didn’t realize it was an all-the-time thing.) At first I was like “I can carry my own damn tube” but as the trail got a bit rougher, I was glad I didn’t have to worry about it—especially with my ankles. As it was, I was barely taking in the surroundings—I was more concerned with watching my every step, as the trail we were on was all dirt, big rocks, and roots. And a stupid kid in front of me kept shuffling her feet and kicking stones into my path. GRRR. I finally made a break for it when there was room to pass. Anyway, the guides all looked like the Michelin man—each carrying like five or six tubes, and flying over the trails with ease. They would stop us to point out interesting trees like the one that produces the avocado and one that helps prevent the onset of a poisonous snake bite if you chew the bark.
At about 25 minutes we hit a fork in the path and they told us that the cruise ship excursions took the path to the right—and they only got to go through one cave. If we wanted to walk about another six minutes, we would be able to tube through two caves. Of course, we opted for the additional six minutes. When we finally reached the destination/starting point, we were split up into groups of about nine and we all kerplunked into the river and were tethered in a human chain—you tucked your feet under the armpits of the person in front of you.
It was actually a little chilly going down river—you were not in the sun at all (because you were underground in the caves) and your butt was in the water! The guides would point out neat things, and keep us moving in slower water or steer us in the right direction if we started to get off course, but the most important thing they did was yell BUTTS UP at us when the river got too shallow (it varied from 28 FEET to 4 INCHES) so when they yelled BUTTS UP, it meant get your butt up out of the water, at least higher than the tube bottom, otherwise you would scrape your butt on the rocks. There were a few times we did hit bottom—you could hear the rocks scraping on the tube—but we never got fully stuck. Butts up was hard because you had to pretty much lay flat on top of the tube, which sort of unlocked your feet a little from the person in front of you, but you had to keep hold of them so you didn’t come unattached…meanwhile trying to hold your head up out of the water—unless you wanted a cold, wet head. Oh, and the head lamps didn’t do much to help us see into the vast darkness, but were actually more for the guides to see where we were and to keep track of us.
Of course the guides were just as much of a riot as they were on the bus, and they made the whole trip worthwhile. They definitely appeared to love their jobs and take pride in what they did. On the way back to town we stopped at a place to get snacks and t-shirts, and I actually had an orange Fanta out of a glass bottle (we also both got shirts). The strangest yet neatest thing about this trip? You didn’t pay until you were done—and satisfied! Which, we have to say, we were COMPLETELY satisfied. In addition to getting a better excursion for about half of what Carnival was charging, I am sure we got much more personality and personalized service as well. Definitely worth the money and we would recommend Cave-Tubing.com to anyone.
Once back in town, we only had a short amount of time to do some shopping. We dreamily priced Hearts-On-Fire solitaire earrings and a necklace at Diamonds International. When we were done choking on the prices, we searched for some affordable souvenirs but nothing hit the spot so we just went back to the ship where we did our usual quick lunch and then relaxed on the balcony while the ship left port (it was a neat, meandering course, as we had to wind around the protected barrier reefs).
Soon it was time for dinner… and another few starters for me, LOL. I had to have the Thai Beef Salad (Sliced Prime Beef, Onions and Peppers, Marinated with Oriental Dressing) and the Crepes Filled with Spinach and Ricotta Cheese (Parmesan and Cold Pressed Olive Oil Dressing, Cucumber Confit). I also wanted the Lasagna Bolognese which sounded DIVINE (Baked Casserole with Layers of Pasta, Lean Ground Beef, Tomatoes, Spinach and Mozzarella, Served on a Lake of Pomodoro Sauce). About half our table thought the same thing—except when it arrived, it was NOT nearly as good as we had hoped. It wasn’t horrible tasting, but it was all ground meat with barely any tomatoes or sauce—just very strange. (Many thanks to Earl, our headwaiter, who told me ahead of time I didn’t want it for my main course, and to try it as a starter instead. He rocks.) Tom also had the Crepes for a starter. We both had the Mixed Garden and Field Greens Salad.
For our main course, Tom had Coq au Vin de Chambertin—Supreme of Chicken Marinated and Cooked in Red Burgundy Wine Garnished with Silver Onions, Mushrooms and Wine Dough Crisps. I had the Blackened Fillet of Tilapia, Topped with Shrimp and Seafood, Served over Jambalya Rice. Tom said his was good, and mine was okay—the best part was actually the seafood topping and the unmentioned very-thinly-sliced fried okra strips.
I was off my game again, and forgot to take a picture of the dessert menu, but I had some Apple and Nuts wrapped in Phyllo thing, with vanilla sauce and ice cream, which was probably my most favorite dessert so far (aside from the vanilla ice cream in the buffet line). Tom had some chocolate chocolaty chocolate fudge cake thing, which was just a little rich and chocolaty.
After dinner we took photos with our friends, we walked through the casino on the way back to our room, and I proceeded to lose another $5—but I had fun doing it:
Then it was back to the room to change and relax a bit while waiting for our late-dinner-seating friends to finish eating. Everyone was having fun drinking and chatting, except me (the alcohol just wasn’t going down well). Then it was off to the Lido Deck for the Midnight Mexican Buffet—and a live band. It was quite fun—we were just hanging out and chatting with all our new friends. Everyone (except me) was getting a little drunk, and they were all a riot. I actually called it a night before everyone else, because what little alcohol I had had wasn’t settling well and I just wanted to go to bed. And I was thrilled to know I could sleep in as late as I wanted the following morning, as it was out last sea day and we didn’t have to be anywhere!