Vacations

So, I've pretty much officially decided that cruises are my preferred vacation. Tricia and I just got back from a week long cruise to the Western Caribbean, including stops at Colon, Panama; Limon, Costa Rica; and Belize. It was an 8-day cruise with only 3 ports, so it probably wasn't my ideal cruise, but it was still amazing.

In Panama we got to see two oceans in one hour, watch a ship go through the Panama Canal, and visit the ruins of old Panama City. I learned that Panama is the only country in the world where the sun can rise in the Pacific and set in the Atlantic (or Caribbean). Just watching a giant ship go through the Panama Canal was amazing. Even more amazing is the fact that the whole system hasn't changed that much in almost 100 years.


Costa Rica was probably the least impressive stop, although I loved the whole thing. We got to visit a banana plantation, or at least the banana packing part of it. We also took a jungle river cruise. It was almost exactly like the Disneyland ride, except the animals were real, the river was real, and there were a lot fewer animals. We did see crocodiles, howler monkeys (those things make some funny sounds), a lot of cool birds, an iguana, and some basilisk lizards. We also got within about 10 feet of a baby two-toed sloths. It sounds like a lot, but it was a two hour ride and most of the animals were in the first half hour or so. Most of the ride was up a river through the jungle without seeing much of anything.

Belize was definitely my favorite stop. We went snorkeling off Goff's Caye and it was amazing. I've never been snorkeling anywhere tropical, or actually anywhere where there are fish, so I was just loving everything. Belize has the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world, and Goff's Caye is an island right on top of it. The water is crystal clear and the reef was beautiful. I saw all kinds of fish, a spotted eagle ray, and a barracuda. The barracuda was only about a foot long, so I wasn't afraid to get right up next to it to get a good picture.

Anyway, I guess I didn't really talk much about why cruises are my favorite way to go, but I definitely enjoyed this one. Tons to see, and lots of tropical-ness. Amazing.