This morning we called for an early in room breakfast and
then headed down to the theater to join our tour group. Leaving the ship we boarded a tender for a 25
minute ride into the dock. Once there we
boarded our tour bus and headed for Xunantunic, a Mayan ruins. The bus ride to the site was two hours long
and then we crossed a river on hand cranked ferry. Arriving on the other side we were loaded in
to vans for the two-mile ride to the site.
Yea, we finally got to some restrooms. From the drop off point it was another two
hundred yards up hill to the actual site.
The area contains the remains of the Kings palace, a religious pyramid,
a place of worship and sacrifice and some building having to do with astrometry.
The history of the area was interesting and our guides were
quite well informed and did a good job of presenting the stories to us. The area is not as nice or as extensive as
Chichen Itza or Uxmal.
There are many theories as to where the Mayan’s came
from. One is that they came from China
across the frozen Bearing Sea, another that they are survivors of Atlantis, or
that they came from outer space. The
latter may not be so far fetched as we think.
They have found a carving on the back of a door in one of the ruins with
an exact replica of the backside of the moon.
The guides explained to us why the Mayan empire collapsed. It was caused by two things, over working the
land and denuding the forest and sanitation, which brought on disease. During the Mayan reign there were ten times
the number of people living in this area as there are now. The Mayan people today are still very superstitious
and still use their Shaman’s for cures.
After our tour of the ruins we re-boarded our bus and headed
to a restaurant for a typical Mayan lunch.
It consisted of broiled chicken, rice and beans (cooked in coconut milk,
and fried plantains. I tried some Habanero
sauce. A little goes a long way. Think fire ants in your mouth.
Belize is a stable country that speaks English as a first
language. That being said it is one of
the poorest places we have ever visited.
The minimum wage is $1.50 and hour.
With an associate degree you can earn $4.00 to $5.00 and hour. All children are required to attend school
through the 8th grade.
Returning to the port we caught the last tender back to the
ship. Arriving back in our cabin, Judi
and I both decided we need a shower and we were not leaving the cabin to
eat. It had started raining again, so we
had room service in the cabin.
The weather is warm and the sea is smooth, so it should be a
good night for sleeping. Tomorrow we
will be in Cozumel. We are not planning
on doing much other than just getting off the sip for a while.
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