Day 4 Travis' Make-A-Wish

We woke up Monday morning at Belize (formerly known as British Honduras) excited for our first excursion. After much research and reading many reviews, we chose the Altun Ha Mayan Site and River Wallace shore excursion. The reviews stated that one would not have to climb the Mayan ruin, thus allowing us to split and take turns climbing and staying with Travis. We all looked forward to exploring Belize. First, breakfast...

She greeted everyone with a smile and "Washy, washy" for the hand sanitizer.

We waited for our excursion's turn to board the ferry to take us to Belize, as our ship anchored offshore. That process is pretty efficient given all the people on the ship that want to disembark. We boarded the ferry and were on our way to Belize.

View of "Independence of the Seas" from the ferry

Welcome to Belize!!

The excursion company divided this tour into two groups, Altun Ha first or River Wallace first. Our group took the River Wallace tour first, we boarded our boat and headed out to see the wildlife. Travis boarded early on and most made sure he could see out the boat, some even recognized him as the Wish kid or kid with the power chair/walker. As the boat approached the mouth of the river, we started looking for manatees. You have to be quick to spot them and most of us just missed seeing one. However, you could hear "oohs" and "aahs" for those who found some.

Boating by Belize City

Belize municipal airport and stadium

Looking for manatees

Travis took in all the sights as we made our way up the river. While the bridge in the following picture seems like any ordinary bridge, Travis recognized it later in the day when our bus traveled across this bridge on the way back from the ruins.

Bridge over the River Wallace

Fun on the River Wallace looking for wildlife

Travis loved hearing that river dolphins were commonly seen on this excursion. The possiblity of seeing dolphins in their natural environment twice on his Wish brought much excitement. Apparently one dolphin hangs out and waits for boats to pass so it can play in the wake. What an amazing sight!!! The dolphin played in the wake for several minutes to the delight of all on board.

River dolphin

Travis developed a friendship with our tour guide Maude. She took special care of him making sure he saw all the animals he could and answering his questions. She was just as great will all in our group throughout the day. Thanks Maude!!

Travis and Maude

Throughout the boat tour we saw many different animals living alongside communities; including, but not limited to: howler monkeys, iguanas of several species, bats, crocodiles, manatees, and more. Maude also told us that the locals call iguanas "bamboo chicken". We saw so many just walking around in yards, so different than the world we live in.

Howler monkey in the tree

Iguana (aka bamboo chicken)

Bats

We arrived at the Iguana Stop for lunch and souvenir shopping. The chicken was incredible...we quietly joked if it was "bamboo chicken". ;)  They also served Coca Cola in glass bottles made from real sugar, so good as it's been a while since we've had one of those.

Good chicken and fries

T loved the Coke

Legendary local beer

Booths with creations from local artisans edged around the cafe and time allowed for shopping. Many unique hand-made creations from the different vendors. We collected wood carvings from the Marshall Islands and Micronesia, so naturally the carvings caught our eyes. Elvis, one of the wood carvers, struck up a conversation with Travis and our family. He invited Travis to try wood carving under his supervision.

T working on a wood carving

Love the smiles

Some of the amazing handiwork

Time came for us to board the bus and head out to the Altun Ha Mayan Site. We passed by local schools, one even run by the Methodist Church, on our way there. We were all thankful to be in a cooler bus for the warmer half of the day.

School kids playing

We learned about Altun Ha on the trip over. As best as they can tell, these ruins served as places of trading and ceremonies. The discovery of these ruins in 1963 makes them a "recent" find. The remnants of jade among the ruins and no local sources of jade, supported the trading hypothesis. Altun Ha is one of a few places left where you are allowed at climb on the ruins, at least at the time of our visit. We explored the open areas and lots of great views. Scott stayed with Travis while I climbed up the ruin with Nolan and Barrett. We then switched places so Scott could have a turn. The views from up top were pretty amazing.

Altun Ha

Amazing ruins

Geographical marker

View from the top with Barrett & Nolan

It's amazing to see the details remaining in the designs and that they have lasted since an estimated 250 BCE. Informational websites list this as a the Temple of Masonry and stands 54 feet tall.

Panoramic view from the top

Lots of work to build this

Some of the designs

Scott on top

On the drive back to Belize City on the tour bus we crossed the bridge went under earlier in the day. Travis definitely remembered this bridge from the boat tour, which amazes me given some of the intense learning challenges he faces. He talked with Maude throughout the bus tour and learned Belize has NO racetracks. I think he started forming a business plan to bring racing to Belize that day. ;)  T also asked Maude what we could do to help Belize, she replied to tell people Belize is a great place to vacation. T occasionally asks about the people we met in Belize and wonders how they are doing.

The bridge crossing the River Wallace, we passed under this bridge earlier in the day

We spent a few minutes in the stores purchasing souvenirs and hot sauce, really good hot sauce. We caught a ferry back to the cruise ship and got ready for another delicious dinner. That night Nolan first tasted a banana split...surprised he hadn't had one before.

First banana split

Dennis, our room attendant left great towel creations in our room as the Scott, Nolan, and Barrett got ready to go ice skating...YES! ice skating on the Caribbean Sea. We did tell Nolan he couldn't pack his skates, the ones they had on the ship would work.

Monkey, saw several today

Sea turtle, would see some the next day

Nolan skating

Barrett skating

Scott, Nolan, & Barrett on the ice

Travis wanted to go to the Kids Program and Nolan met up with his Teen Program friends. Scott, Barrett, and I had fun spending time together on the ship. As we walked through one area, we were able to see Ricky, our fantastic Cruise Director.

Barrett and Ricky

We made many wonderful memories today in Belize and Travis hopes to make it back there again. Just this week in school he told me he read about the "Great Blue Hole" in Belize and he would like to go see it one day.