FROM COZUMEL TO BELIZE

COZUMEL:  Cozumel is a Mexican island that has developed in recent years as a tourist/cruiseship Mecca.  There are many beautiful beaches, and the city is clean, safe and great for shopping.  We decided not to do a beach day but instead walked into town, through several shopping areas, had a couple of cold beers, and returned to the ship for an afternoon of sleeping by the pool.

Wheras Key West's shopping district specializes in tee-shirts and sunglasses, Cozumel has endless jewellry stores, most of which feature the gems Zultanite and Tanzanite.  Prices are very, very good. Of course, they also have something on offer for the men.  There are tiny pharmacies on almost every corner, each with large signs letting the men know that they sell Viagra.

COSTA MAYA (MAHAHUAL):  Twelve of us (from two different cruise ships) contracted with a local tour operater for a visit to Chacchoben, about one hour from the pier.  At Chacchoben there are the ruins of an ancient Mayan city which dates to around 400 B.C.  Mayan civilization peaked around 600 A.D.  They built large cities, grew corn, were the first to grow tomatoes and to eat chocolate. They were very sophisticated mathematically, having developed the concept of zero (something the Romans never did).  They also developed a calendar as accurate as ours.  Although they abandoned their large cities around 900 A.D. Mayans still exist today in several Central American countries. Incidentally the Mayans preceded the Aztecs.

Our driver and our pure lineage Mayan guide were very pleasant and helpful.  Upon returning to the van after a couple of hours of walking in the heat we were presented with ice-cold beers to sip on our drive back to the ships.  When we ran out of beer the driver stopped in the middle of the highway, ran across the road and purchased more cold beer.

On Saturday evening we had another great meal at Jacques.  Our four dinner companions were what Trump calls Coastal Elites.  The political discussion at dinner certainly had a different tone than that at the meal I described in my earlier blog.

HARVEST CAYE:

We thought we were going to visit Belize on this trip.  However, it turns out that our stop was at Harvest Caye, an island off the coast of Belize that is owned by the cruiseline.  Despite the disappointment of not seeing anything of the country, the day turned out to be very pleasant.  The island/caye is quite beautiful, the weather was sunny and warm and the 7 km beach had enough umbrella-shaded lounge chairs to serve a dozen cruise ships.

We spent most of the day on the beach returning in time for an enrichment lecture which was followed by a Captain's reception.  We ended the day with a dinner for 10 made up of on-line friends with whom we shall be touring in Costa Rica.

CENTURY CLUB:  I went on line to see if Betty and I were eligible to join the Century Club (not the one for really, really old people, but the one for travellers who have been to at least 100 different countries).  Not eligible, we miss the critical number by 4.