Belize . . . and thank you.  Belize City was the only stop where a ship does not having docking access.  Passengers are “tendered” to land from from offshore anchorage postions.  This reminded us, of course, of cruising the Chain on the Moby Obie. 🙂  At this point it’s probably a good idea to remind these stops exist almost entirely for the tourist trade.  They are not wealthy places.  Ruth advised us when we were in Roatan that the electricity goes out every day – which makes it pretty difficult for refrigeration and air conditioning.  So every place we landed, we were very much the object of the locals’ commercial attention.

[And speaking of tenders, here’s one now!]

[Tenders hanging around like cabs at an airport.]

[Belize City]

[We’re tendered and leaving the mother ship.]

[The Biddies thoroughly enjoyed their ride in – now accomplished islanders!]

[“ALEX” – a reminder of home!  😉  ]

[Now that we’re all here?]

[Here I have to give all the credit to The Biddies.  Folks always raise concerns about stepping outside your comfort zones – or in this case, leaving the cruise ship compound once on land.  As soon as you do, you are put upon by all manner of vendors hawking various goods and services.  The transportation guys were offering tours of the city at $15 a head.  Now The Biddies, based on their vast experience in commerce, a/k/a, shopping, didn’t think that was a very good deal.  So they went back to the little shops inside the compound and made some inquiries.  A woman with a small gift shop advised them that if we took a left outside the compound, walked several blocks and crossed a small bridge, took a left and walked another couple of blocks, we could ride a city bus all around the city and return to our starting point for $1.  That was all The Biddies needed to hear!  So even with her bad foot, the supervisor charged off in search of a bus.  The following photos were along the route.]

[When you come to the fork in the road, take it.]

[We found the bridge!]

[Rita photo.  In an attempt to be a “cool guy,” literally and figuratively, I’m now wearing my recently purchased Bob Marley bandana.]

[There’s suppose to be a bus stop around here somewhere.  And now there are several forks in the road.]

[Aha, a park!]

[ . . . and a map!]

[And it was by this church we found our city bus – an old Bluebird school bus, and it was blue, but it only cost a buck!  🙂  ]

[A real space saver – put the cemetery in the boulevard.]

[We all sat in different seats for visibility and photo ops.]

[Statuary in the traffic circles.]

[A favorite facility for older people everywhere!]

[Hi!  We really enjoyed our company on the bus.  They obviously figured out we were tourists!  Ha!  So, one guy, who once lived in Chicago and is in the import/export business, gave us a nice commentary on what we were seeing – then wished us a good cruise when he got off.  Then another fellow picked up the tour guide banter until he got off.  Then an older couple got on – and similarly wished us a nice visit.  One of the highlights of the whole trip!]

[A Rita photo.]

[Our favorite restaurant – because it says so!]

[Back to the compound after the city bus circular tour of Belize City.]

[Back dockside – awaiting the next tender.]

[The Biddies are setting records in FUN!]

[The local brew – I believe Rita took them all home as souvenirs.]

[Rita teaching the finer points of FUN!]

[The supervisor claims to be ready for the forever cruise.]

[Tendering back to the mothership.]

[Back to the Grand Atrium for people watching before dinner.]

[Jami’s gluten-free dinner!  Hmmmm!  🙂  ]

[And her gluten-free guy!]

[A hard day of touring creates a dessert entitlement!]

[Somehow got back on board despite state-of-the-art security.]

[A Cheesehead and a Viking.]

[A little deck walk before retiring.]

[It was my turn to model with the origami towel – the supervisor said I ruined the picture as the beds spread!  😉  ]

[Tomorrow – MEXICO!]