DAY 16: THE MAYAN WORLD -- Another day in port, this time visiting the small country and city of Belize, where I was particularly anxious to experience the Mayan ruins there. The harbor is too shallow for our ship to dock, so we are met by small (50 or so passengers) tenders that ferry us back and forth.

Being in Belize (that might be a good song title!) was different from all the other
stops we’ve made on this trip. For one thing it’s a smaller city than all the others, for another we had to be tendered in, but most importantly is the fact that the country was originally a Crown colony known as the British Honduras, hence English is the common language.

It’s amazing what a difference that makes to my comfort level, being able to talk
to people and to read the signs. Having to communicate in Spanish (or, for that matter, in any unfamiliar language) is an exhausting and often frustrating experience,
and I kept thinking about all the Hispanic guys working on the homes back in Wilmington, finding myself to some degree in their shoes.

Ann’s shoulder and arm were hurting pretty badly this morning, so she opted to
stay with the ship to do some reading, some sketching, and treat herself to a pedicure. That turned out to be a wise decision, for we had a one hour bus ride, at breakneck speed, over a single lane, potholed street which tested the endurance of everyone, let alone someone nursing a bad back.

I was looking forward to visiting the ruins of Altun Ha, a tremendously impressive
site which housed 8,000 to 10,000 inhabitants 200 years before the birth of Christ, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Over 500 structures are still evident, and was an important link in the coastal trade routes. It was in many ways a well-developed, wealthy, sophisticated culture which created engineering feats far more complex than anything else in existence at the time.

To stand in the middle of one of the two ceremonial yards or plazas, surrounded
by stone “bleachers” rising over 100 feet, it didn’t take much imagination to conjure
up thousands of townspeople gathered in that plaza for some ceremonial purpose.
Our guide did make clear that it was not a ball field or park, but scholars differ as to its primary purpose. Many of the structures were tombs, others were for purposes
we’re still not certain, but it was obviously “home” to many generations of people, and it gave me cold chills to reflect on all this.

I’m sorry Ann missed all this, but since we have a similar stop tomorrow in Costa
Maya she may get that opportunity, and perhaps her pain won’t be quite as debilitating as it was today. A day of painting and pedicure, she reports, is good for what ails a body!