CO2 + H20 = H2CO3 H2CO3 + CACO3 = CAVE

C-Day + 4 Belize

Uggg, another really early day. We had to get up at the butt crack of light so we could be among the first groups off the ship since we had to go quite a bit inland for the cave tubing trip that was set up. The ship was of course late in arrival, so we sat around the hall for a while talking and trying to catch up on a bit of sleep. We finally make it to shore, push past the street peddlers, and load up on the waiting bus. Pretty much everyone in our group of 70 went on the trip, so it took 2 full-sized buses to cart us all to the site. We convinced our driver to make a stop at a gas station where we loaded up some coolers with some local beer (the Belkin brew was pretty good) before heading out. The trip was long though made more fun by constant banter and singing and soon we arrived at the park. We grabbed our tubes and headed on a mile trek through the forest (after lathering up with bug spray) to the starting point. We had to line up in a single file line of tubes before setting off together. The whole trip was a blast with quite a bit of riding being done within the caves. There were shallow spots that required bringing the butt up else one would be rudely intruded upon by some rather large boulders. The trip ended way too quickly it seemed and we soon were back at the buses. We stopped at a small outdoor diner for some food and drink, but just looking around it seemed more people were interested in napping. One the way back to Belize City I laid out in the bus aisle and conked out until just before we got back to the terminal. Even the bumpy roads and dirty floors didn't keep my from some much needed shut-eye. There was about 20 minutes before the last tender left, so I walked around the streets for a short time check out some of the tables of trinkets and picked up one last bottle of local brew before heading back to the ship.

After resting up a bit I started calling all the hashers' rooms on the ship and set up a ghetto hall party on the 6th floor elevator lobby. Within about 20 minutes of the set time, most of the group had shown up for some drinking, chatting, and a few rounds of Twister! For added flair, I brought out the music with the iPod, an extra Twister mat (so we could play with more folks) and some beers. It was great fun for a while as we got a lot of strange and curious looks from passengers and crew that passed by, though unfortunately none of them would join the game. After playing for a while, we broke up and headed to see the hypnotist show. I tried getting up on stage and giving it a shot and we indeed quite relaxed, however I just didn't get to the point of hypnosis and eventually excused myself from the stage. It was a decent show and apparently one or two in our group seemed to succumb. After the show we headed back to dress up in our theme for the evening, 'Pirate Invasion'. We all met up at dinner and though we got some strange looks by the other diners (we were fast becoming used to that) we were pretty much left alone. Coincidentally enough, this was the night there the dining staff entertained us with a 'congo line' which of course meant that we all had to join in the parade around the room. After we finished eating, we met in one of the lounges for a private party for an hour of open bar and some other themed games that were set up by KIDDIE. I was definitely out classed by some of the outfits that people put together, but I guess that is what I get for waiting until the morning of the 7-day trip to start packing. After our event, many of us wandered up to the Lido deck where there was and official ship party. Apparently the theme was a bathrobe party since everyone was dressed accordingly, except of course our group as we quite literally invaded the area. Arrrggggg

We had quite a hoot dancing away for about an hour and a half, and I just so happened to have the twister mats with me in my camera bag and proceeded to lay it out. We were actually able to get in a few lurkers to play and at least gave people a chance to spin the board. It took a while to train those that were spinning. They did not seem to understand that one doesn't call out what is actually on the board, only the placement that would make the game more interesting. Once this concept was grasped, things went much more smoothly. We played until about 2:30 before heading off to bed to get some rest. I cannot 'Belize' what a packed day it was!

C-Day +5 Costa Maya

Finally we get a chance to be able to walk on and off the boat instead of waiting for tenders to make their rounds. Costa Maya seems to be a place that sprang up out of the middle of nowhere and exists only for cruise boats. It consisted of a one road town lined with trinket shops and street hawkers. We had a trail set from the gangway by one of the hashers and had a great time. At one point the trail went around one of the concrete walls. Security must have noticed the hares going by previously and were a bit befuddled when the pack came tearing around the corner. Before they could say anything some of us were already bouldering the sea well to get to the other side. When we thought we might have lost the trail I went back, only to be met by the walkers showing up and a few more security type folks. They seemed to have an issue with us crawling on the wall and one yelled at me to come back as I made my second attempt to get back around. Umm, no, I don't think so. I only returned when one of the hashers wanted to get an idea of where the trial went. A supervisor showed up and said we could not climb on the wall. I mentioned that the high water point usually marked the property boundary and if swimming in the area was allowed. He answered that it was and, from what I was told later, became astonished when I and one other person was off in an instant wading around and apparently stated that he really didn't think we would do that. Trail ended up in the 'downtown area' at the warehouse of the local beer distributor. We ended up buying a few hundred dollars in beer and hanging out at one of the beach side huts. I walked around for a while as the food was getting ready and ran into various other groups of hashers shopping. I was a bit exhausted and was nodding off quite a bit and decided to head back to the ship. After a very lovely nap I got dressed up again for the last of the formal nights. Before heading to dinner we all got together for a final group shot in the main atrium. After a little karaoke, we headed to the theater for another hypnosis, this time supposedly a 'R' rated version. A couple of our group members were apparently taken in by the show and provide a great source of entertainment to the crowd. After the show we pretty much headed to bed after another satisfying day in the Caribbean.