Well, it happens to be the place where I bought the engagement ring for Colleen. She was there to pick it out herself, actually. This was on our second cruise. We sailed on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas with a bunch of friends to celebrate the 30th birthday of one of our cruisemates. It seems like so long ago. It has been nine years or more, as I recall. The memories of our stop came rushing back a few weeks ago when I cruised to the Central American nation again -- this time on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas.
This time, it was for a freelance writing assignment. And this time, my brother Bart joined. This marks our first cruise together.
This time, I cave tubed again.
But this time, the vehicle didn't blow a tire and risk flipping over in a ditch.
Yeah, that happened to CMac and me on that first visit to Belize -- after our tubing outing. Perhaps that's why we decided to buy the ring right after that harrowing experience -- realizing just how short life can be.
Ha! I'm kidding. No I'm not.
It was all a blur. We stopped into Diamonds International at the pier. I can remember picking out the ring, making the purchase, celebrating with a couple beers the salespeople brought to us (it was a nice touch, indeed), then watching tender after tender head back to the ship while the jeweler tried and failed to get the setting right (it was very crooked). Well, with the last tender ready to leave, we told them we had to grab the ring and go. We planned to get the setting fixed at our next port in Costa Maya, which also has a Diamonds International (it came out fine, probably because the jeweler wasn't so rushed).
Anyways, Bart and I also enjoyed some cave tubing as well as zip-lining and much more as part of my assignment in Belize.
Here are the highlights of our day spent with the Caribbean excursion company Chukka . . .
We arrived, we zipped, we tubed (slide show below).


