You Better Belize It - Chapter 4

Next stop on the Carnvial Cruise.....Belize!  I heard a lot about the fantastic snorkeling, and was really looking forward to this one!

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Belize greeted us with a warm sunset.

...or should i say a hot, sticky, humid sunset ;-)  This shot was taken from inside the cabin.

...and this is what happens to your camera when your camera hits the humidity.  It's very frustrating.  This was taken from the tender we had to take to our excursion right off the ship.  Apparently the coral reef is so shallow that the ships have to stay away from the island.

This was the shot I intended to get after I wiped my lense (and before the thick humid air got inside the camera, rendering it useless for about a 15 minutes.)

Our tender ride led us through some mysterious plantlife that rose above the ocean.

That mysterious plantlife provided some hangouts and homes for native birds.

After snorkeling, we arrived at an isolated beach paradise where we would relax and explore the space.

We parked the tender boat to enter into paradise.

There were more than enough lounge chairs, but most people, like us, were too busy looking around this tiny island.

A dock amidst a beautiful place.

These tiny needlenose fish (or whatever they're called) were barely visible, but they certainly weren't afraid of us.

Now this is what I call a picnic table!

The shore was simply a bed of shells...it was truly amazing and beautfiul to see.  I've never seen anything like it!  You might want to click to enlarge this one.

This was a long-lost ocean picnic table (I think) and dock that was no longer functional. 

Here's a shot of a hut where they kept their kayaks.

A self-portrait of sorts, perhaps?  See the fish in the middle?

The unusual trees framed our tender boat in a fascinating way...had to get a shot of it of course!

Aha!  Our first and only starfish sighting of the entire trip.  We looked down while walking on the dock and spotted it.

On the way back to the ship, I spotted this lonely bird watching us go by.  At first I thought it was a statue ;-)  Fortunately I caught the shot before it flew away.

We approached our ship, the Carnival Legend, and you can see another one, the Carnival Triumph.

This HDR shot truly reveals the massive power and size of the ship.

I snapped a shot upon our entry back into the ship from the tender boat.

We went back up to our room to relax a bit.  You can see we had a balcony room...if you ever go on a cruise, make sure to get one.  It's totally worth it.

The sun hid beneath some clouds and I was able to catch this shot looking out from the ship from a different angle.  I love the way it spotlights the water.

After a little bit of rest, we decided to catch another boat to explore Belize City.

Take a look at that water and compare it to other photos throughout this cruise adventure.  The water was pretty disgusting...very brown and not welcoming to say the least.  Belize is beautiful in the water (the blue water while snorkeling, not the brown stuff), but I must confess it was a bit disappointing on the mainland.

I caught this sunset that night as we headed back out to sea.

This is another closeup of the clouds minutes after.  I love the color it cast in the sky.  I'm a sucker for sunset pictures.

One last confession. I stole this article's title from a T-Shirt.  "U Better Belize it!"  I Belized it!  So should you!

Make sure to check out the other chapters of the cruise excursion including many intriguing HDR images:

Carnival Legend Photos - Chapter 1

Cozumel Excursion Photos - Chapter 2

Carnival Legend Elevators - Chapter 3

Roatan Island Photos - Chapter 5

Inside a Carnival Cruise Ship - Chapter 6