Five days in Florida

After our western Caribbean cruise, we had another 5 days in Florida before flying home. We spent most of this time on the west coast of Florida, staying with Nathan's grandparents - Levi and Ruth - in a town called Venice (3 hours north-west of Miami). Venice's claim to fame is that it is the shark tooth capital of the world!

Ruth and Levi (many thanks!)

One day we drove half an hour north to the town of Sarasota, FL. We went shopping, ate cupcakes, admired the scenic beaches, and hunted down a Costco to buy some mangoes that we thought might be nearly as good as Australia's Bowen mangoes (they weren't though). Sarasota looked like a great town for a family vacation... lots of kid-friendly attractions and a laid-back beach vibe. We'll have to return someday!

The only photo we took in Sarasota was of this fantastic piece of work...

Another day, Finley and I went to the beach in Venice while Ben had his first experience with the American health system (don't worry, he's fine)...

The most interesting thing we did during our stay in Venice was go to the Myakka River State Park and take a narrated tour on the world's largest airboat to see some alligators. We saw lots! Did you know that you can tell how many feet long an alligator is by judging how many inches from its snout to its eyes?

Myakka River State Park

The airboat

Our tour guide and airboat captain

Gators!

Yikes

Keeping an eye on the tourists

The day before our flight back to Seattle, we drove back to Miami in our rental car and stayed overnight at the same motel we'd used before our cruise.

The next day, we passed the time before our flight by relaxing in a quiet park near the airport.

Then, it was two flights back to Seattle (again via Charlotte, NC), and a 3 hour drive back to Canada (via Trader Joe's and Wee Ones Reruns in Bellingham, of course).

In his own seat for the first time as the plane wasn't full

From my window seat, I saw another plane overtake us in the distance!

It was a fun and relaxing holiday!

Caribbean cruise, Post 5: Honduras (Ben)

For our stop at Isla Roatan, Honduras, we did the opposite to Cozumel: I got to go diving and Anna looked after Finley. However, as my dives were booked through Carnival's Shore Excursions (first time ever for us - but the price difference was negligible, so why not?!), Anna and Finley were not able to accompany me on the trip. So, while they slept in and had a leisurely breakfast, I dashed around then headed ashore for my designated 9am meet-up in the sparkly new "tourist village" at the port.

After signing my life away on the usual forms, and waiting for the stragglers to arrive, we all piled into a mini-bus to travel across the island to our dive resort. It was worth the wait! The resort looked awesome - gorgeous views, stunning water, and the option of staying in cute little bungalows right on the water. I would definitely be up for a vacation there! And all this was before I went diving.

Very helpful and professional crew sorted us out for gear. I just had a few pieces of my own stuff, and as is not uncommon, especially in marine parks, I wasn't allowed to wear my gloves. Because I wasn't with my usual buddy, I was paired up with a middle-aged gent from the States, who turned out to be a pretty good buddy (though not as pretty as my usual good buddy :)).

The dive boat

My temporary dive buddy

Our first dive was a reef dive at Overheat Reef. A very nice reef, with great visibility and lots of life. We saw grouper, lots of parrot fish, including the biggest I've ever seen, eels, crustaceans, and TURTLES!!!

Turtle...

Turtle, turtle...

Turtle, turtle, turtle...!

Our second dive started at a wreck, which was surrounded by multitudes of huge groupers - literally dozens, many of which were over 4 feet long. Visibility was once again fantastic, and though there was less life (other than the groupers), the wall and coral formations were pretty cool.

The wreck

Lots of groupers...

Really big grouper...

Really close grouper...

Some kind of crustacean

Still lots of groupers

Me

Anthony's Key Resort

After coming up, we headed back to the resort and cleaned up. Then we piled back in the bus and headed back to the ship. It was a great day, and the water was fantastic - Isla Roatan is definitely added to my "to go back to" list.

Caribbean cruise, Post 4: Belize

Thursday's port stop in the small country of Belize was another one where we didn't do much except wander around, and we don't have many photos to show for it!

There was a serious tourism zone in Belize - the port area was fenced off and had security personnel posted at the exit. They didn't stop us as we did our usual beeline out of there though... it seemed that the purpose of the tourist zone was more to keep locals out than to keep tourists in!

Outside the touristy complex of generic souvenir, jewellery and t-shirt outlets, there were locals manning makeshift stalls along the streets near the port, selling souvenirs, offering to braid hair, etc. One man followed us for a while, trying to sell us hip hop CDs and then circular Belizean number plates.

There was a school where all the children playing in the yard were wearing school uniforms (a sight that stands out to us now, as it's not the norm in Canada). There were horses and carts taking cruise ship passengers on tours of the area. Mostly, I remember it being very hot, and fairly run down in the residential streets.

We stopped for a cool drink and dessert at a restaurant, and then headed back to the port to line up for a tender to take us back to the ship. I don't feel like I learnt much about Belize!

To be continued...

Caribbean cruise, Post 3: Cozumel

On Day 4, Wednesday, our second port of call was the island of Cozumel, Mexico.

Long-time blog readers may recall that Ben and I once spent 9 days there, scuba diving with two other couples (see blog entries starting here). Thus, in advance of our cruise, I had arranged to meet up with Felipe, my dive instructor from 3 years ago, and go on two dives with him while in port! (Ben would look after Finley while I dove, and two days later it would be his turn to dive in Honduras. Diving with a little one in tow takes some forethought, but we managed it!)

Once we disembarked in Cozumel, we took a taxi to the marina and, after a while, Felipe showed up. He seemed to have forgotten who I was and what we had organised via email the week before, but luckily he was flexible and it worked out anyway!

After Felipe and his employees had the tanks and dive gear organised, the other divers and I (along with Ben and Finley) piled into Felipe's boat captain Fernando's boat (the same boat and captain as 3 years ago), and motored to a beach a few minutes away.

While the more experienced divers went out on the boat with another Dive Master, the newbies and I sat through Felipe's theory/safety talk for about an hour. (Since it had been over 2 years since I'd last dived, on our Kwaj trip, I wanted a refresher before (ha) diving in.) After the talk, we geared up, entered the water, did some practice exercises, and set off on an easy dive.

I can't remember many specifics about what I saw during the dive, since it's already 2.5 months ago and I didn't write any notes afterwards. I do remember being entertained by wriggling my outstretched fingers towards all the Christmas tree worms I saw, and watching them instantly tuck their Christmas tree-shaped "crowns" out of sight!

I'm afraid I don't have any underwater photos to show you either. I know my limits thanks to an amusing incident on our Kwaj trip: I am NOT capable of operating a camera whilst maintaining my buoyancy, breathing, and balance under water!

After the first dive, we spent some time back on the beach before heading out to do a drift dive along Paradise Reef. I remember enjoying this dive and seeing a lot of interesting fish and coral... but again, the specifics elude me. (Blogging these recent holidays a few months late is a real eye-opener regarding how sieve-like my memory has become!!) Oh, but I saw one of the coolest sights I've ever seen underwater: I watched a large fish completely change its colour and pattern right before my eyes!

By the time we eventually reached the surface, Ben (waiting in the boat) was getting quite worried, as the time we needed to be back on the Conquest was fast approaching.

We hadn't realised until just before the second dive that "ship's time" was two hours different to "local time", so we had a lot less time than Felipe had been assuming. It was 1pm local time, 3pm ship's time, we were about to do a 1 hour dive (followed by boating back to the marina, taking off my dive gear, paying Felipe, driving back to the port, getting through the tourist zone, and making it up the gangway)... and we needed to be back on board at 5pm ship's time! This discrepancy may also explain why Felipe was "late" to our prearranged marina meeting that morning... although if we HAD arrived 2 hours later, I think he and the others would have been long gone in the boat!

Anyway, we made it back with a few minutes to spare, and the food at dinner that night tasted extra delicious after a day spent on the water!

To be continued...

Caribbean cruise, Post 2: Grand Cayman

On Day 3, Tuesday, our first port of call was Grand Cayman, the largest of the three Cayman Islands. As a British Overseas Territory, the Cayman Islands didn't count as a new country for Ben and I (see our rules for counting countries in this post)... but it DID count as a new country for Finley, since he hasn't been to the UK. This meant it was Finley's 10th country!

During our few hours on Grand Cayman (which we accessed via tender, as our ship was docked a little way from the shore), we strolled the island's back streets, getting out of the tourist zone. It was a hot day and we didn't find too much of interest in the area, except for a few chooks...

On the tender

View of the Conquest from the tender

Taking a break on shore

An island resident

Street art

Our two priorities were finding a barber shop and a pharmacy. We achieved both!

Ben got a very thorough haircut for $10

Soon it was time to take the tender back to the ship.

Tourist zone

Immigration office at the dock

A tender

View from the tender

On the tender

Back at the Conquest

I can't remember too much else about Grand Cayman, but we've always said that visiting somewhere for a few hours off a cruise ship isn't the way to really get to know a place. :) At least Ben got a haircut!

To be continued...