A Tour of our Stateroom on the Jewel of the Seas
	February 5, 2008: Cozumel, Mexico
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Getting to the Jaguar Paw Resort

Tendering In to Belize City

After having docked in Key West and in Cozumel, we understood that the harbor at Belize City was neither deep enough nor large enough for ships of our size to actually dock anywhere. So the 'Jewel of the Seas' anchored about two or three miles out in the Caribbean, and tenders (small ferries) were used to bring people from the ship to the shore. So we were looking forward to this new way of departing the ship.

Fred and I had some breakfast in the Windjammer and then returned to our cabin to collect our cameras and stuff and then headed off to the debarkation point on deck 2. To get there, the easiest way is to go up to deck 5, head back to the atrium, and then take the main staircase down three decks to deck 2. (It's possible to walk all the way back on deck 3 itself, but the stateroom hallways are fairly narrow, and with all the passengers coming and going progress might be slower.)

On deck 2, we found ourselves directed to the port side where the tender was waiting. In line to have our ship cards scanned, we met up with Greg and Grant and Joe and Virl, and we all boarded the tender at the same time. When the tender was full, our pilot pulled away from the ship and headed into Belize City.

While we were traveling, we got a few good pictures. Of course, Fred had to take a picture of our group (his picture looking forward), and I also took a picture of our group, looking backward towards the stern of the boat. You can look at my picture here.

We also took some pictures looking back towards our ship, and you can look at the best one here.

The trip in to the dock took about fifteen minutes, and when we left the tender we were met by the guide for our excursion to Jaguar Paw Resort- a well-spoken black girl about thirty years old.

On the Bus to the Jaguar Paw Resort

The bus we took to Jaguar Paw Resort reminded me of a school bus; it was not one of the new motor coaches such as you might see in Europe or elsewhere, but I didn't assume that Belize didn't have any better to offer, either. It was just a bit old and a bit run down, with a cranky air conditioner that Virl said didn't seem to work very well.

Our tour guide used the PA system from the front of the bus to chat with us throughout most of the trip, giving us a bit of history about Belize (formerly the British Honduras), pointing out some of the things we drove by on the way and also giving us a lot of information about what we'd be doing today- the ziplining and the tube rafting.

Fred and I sat across from Greg and Grant, while Virl and Joe were a row forward. During the drive, which seemed to take about an hour and a half, there were some forms to fill out (mostly releases and stuff like that- NOW they tell us), but mostly we just chatted, listened to the guide and looked out the window. While we were in the city, we passed a number of interesting buildings and houses, but once we got out into the country, there was not a great deal to see. There did seem to be a number of very small farms and orchards; it reminded me somewhat of rural South Carolina. But as we headed further into the interior, the farms and such gave way to thicker jungle growth, until eventually we followed a narrow winding road off the main highway into the Caves Branch Archaeological Reserve- the site where the Jaguar Paw Resort (not our destination) was located and where the river tubing and ziplining would be our activities of the day. We finally came to a parking area where there were many other tour buses parked.

It did not occur to us that there would be a lot of other people here; I guess we assumed that since ours was the only ship we could see in the harbor, that only our own tour group would be here. But we found out later that this is one of the most popular areas in all of Belize, and that not all the tourists that come here come by ship; some come overland from some distances away in Mexico and elsewhere, and some are people staying in Belize at the hotels and resorts. Belize is quite a popular destination for skin diving and snorkeling, and this attracts lots of people as well. I guess we saw a couple hundred people during the course of the day, but I have no idea how many were actually here.

Our Ziplining Adventure at Jaguar Paw Resort

There was a bit of confusion when the bus reached the parking area; our guide was not sure whether we would be doing the ziplining first or the cave tubing first, and she had to check with some of the other folks running the excursions. We found out that this is the most popular place to come to in Belize, aside from the activities along the beach, and that on an average day they run up to 700 people through both activities taken together. During the day, they try to balance the number of folks doing each thing at any one time, and we found that we would be doing the ziplining before lunch and the cave tubing afterwards.

So we left the parking area and headed up a path towards the staging area for the zipline. About halfway up the two-hundred-foot path was the lunch pavilion and the facilities. Most everyone in our group stopped there briefly before continuing up the path to the base of the zipline. There were already some people there who had completed their cave tubing and were already eating lunch. On the way up the path, Fred, as is his usual, found a lot of interesting flora, and I wanted to include some of his pictures here. Just click on the thumbnails below to view the full-size pictures:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

The path came out eventually into a wide open area that was the staging point for the zipline. I didn't know much about the arrangment of the thing until later, but I can now point out that the treetop platform that you can see at the right is actually the last platform in the zipline system. From that platform, participants rappel to the ground (with the aid of the folks running the attraction), where they shed their harnesses and head back down the path.

When we arrived here, there was already a group from some other tour waiting to get helped into their harnesses and head on up the hill to the first zipline platform. Taken from this staging area, here is a closeup by Fred of some of the riders who have completed their adventure and are on the last platform out of six waiting to rappel down. Moving the zoom out just a bit, he could bring into the picture fourth platform. From that platform, riders go along a line that heads out to the right (you can see a rider beginning that segment) for about 300 feet to the fifth platform, and then a line leads back to the sixth and last platform.

Anyway, that's some of the arrangement. While we were waiting for the previous group to get fitted and head out, we just stood around and watched the procedure, and I got a picture of Fred and a rock overhang that formed a back wall for the staging area. Then it was our turn to get fitted. Each of us had one of the operators fit us into the harnesses (much rather have an expert do it than try to figure it out myself- consequences of mistake: very high). Here, I am being fitted into the harness. The harness basically belts your waist and also has straps that support your seat, so that when you slide, you are kind of half sitting down. There is a main belt that attaches to the zipline, and two safety belts in case that one might break. Finally, you have a heavy leather glove on one hand that you use to brake yourself. The glove has an extra, thick rawhide pad in it that is in actual contact with the zipline cable. To brake yourself, all you have to do is close your hand as tightly as necessary. You don't want to brake too soon (as many people seemed to be doing), for then you'll come to a stop short of your destination platform.

We eventually got all harnessed up, and we took a few pictures before heading up the path to the first jumping-off platform. I am sorry for the quality of the pictures, but here are some thumbnails for them:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

Once all six of us were ready, then we continued up the path towards the starting platform.

When we got up to the end of this path, we found ourselves at the end of a queue of about fifty people waiting their turn on the zipline. The queue stretched ahead and around a curve, but from our vantage point we could already see the first destination platform, where you can see one of the operators waiting for someone to zip in for a landing. As we moved up the line, people fell in behind us, and soon we got to a point where we could watch people departing from the first platform. You can see a couple of good pictures of the first platform, taken from our position in line, here and here.

While we were in line, I took a few movies of people departing the first platform and landing on the second. Our still pictures didn't turn out all that well and, besides, they don't convey what ziplining was really like. I've chosen a couple of the best movies we took and put players for them below:

Zipline Movie 1

Zipline Movie 2

After about a 45-minute wait, our group got to the head of the line, and Fred snapped one last photo, this one of Greg ready to depart. Then, it was our turn. Unfortunately, the way you have to ride the zipline takes both your hands- one to hold onto the straps from which you are hanging so you can keep yourself upright, and the other to hold loosely onto the cable so you can brake when necessary. This left zero hands free for taking pictures. What we really needed was a "camera cap," or some sort of strap around our heads that we could attach our cameras to. Such things are available, but we just didn't think about it.

So there are no actual pictures of US on the zipline, nor were any of us able to take pictures of our own rides. These would have been great, as riding the zipline was a lot of fun. All of us got the hang of it in the first segment, and we all arrived at the destination platforms without having braked too early (or too late). There were five segments, with the distance increasing from one to the next. The last one was over 300 feet to the final destination platform, and it was really awesome. If you ever get the chance to do something similar, take it.

From the last platform, we each rappelled down as we had seen people doing when we arrived. I was the last one to come down, and Fred did then get an opportunity to film my descent.

When we'd all gotten out of our harnesses, we headed back down to the lunch pavilion, where we had a barbecue lunch. And then, it was on to our cave tubing.

Cave Tubing at Jaguar Paw Resort

When we were done with lunch, our group headed up the road on foot for about a quarter mile, over a hill, and down to the staging area for the cave tubing. At the staging area, there was a little store and another place to eat, some changing rooms, lockers where we could put our stuff and, of course, big inner tubes and life vests. I debated taking my camera but, in the end, decided against it. I thought that the river would be rougher than it was, and I thought there might be fewer opportunities for pictures than there were. As it turned out, I probably should have taken it. It might have gotten splashed, but in the ziploc bag it probably would have been fine.

So, there are no pictures of this part of the excursion- at least no pictures that I took. We followed a short path down to the river and then waded across it (thank goodness we'd all bought waterproof shoes). From the other side, a stairway led up to a path that took us about a half-mile through the forest heading upstream until we came to a wide, cleared area on the riverbank where we could put our tubes in the water. At this point, the river was just emerging from one cave and about to go into another.

We got our inner tubes in the water, and a number of our party immediately set off downstream, but Fred and I and Grant paddled ourselves a bit upriver into the upriver cave just to see what it was like. (We'd all also been given head-worn headlamps, so there was light in whatever direction you looked. Paddling around was a lot of fun, but eventually we had to follow our group downstream. Actually, the only rough water (and it really wasn't very rough at all) was right here at the beginning. From then on, the river current carried you pretty slowly through the long cave. There were actually a couple of places where you had to pull your butt up to keep from scraping on the gravel; the water was quite shallow in many spots.

In the middle of the long cave there was a sinkhole off on the left bank where light and vegetation had come in, but it was deep enough and the forest thick enough that it looked like twilight, even in the middle of the afternoon. The rest of the 90-minute trip was just lazy floating down the river, sometimes paddling with our hands one way or another to see something particular. Finally, the cave opened up again and we found ourselves back at the point where we'd forded the river originally.

While we didn't take any pictures, I didn't want to leave you with no visual idea of what it was like, so Fred and I have searched the Internet and have found a set of four pictures that will give you a good idea of what we saw. The pictures were taken at the same spot and following the same route we took, so they represent what we would have taken pictures of ourselves. I've put these four pictures below:

Where We Put the Tubes In the River

The Upriver Cave Portion

Inside the Downriver Cave

Reaching Our Starting Point

The Cave Tubing was certainly an experience. Had we known more about it, we might have signed up for the day-long excursion, if it were offered on the cruise. But perhaps we'll come back again. Anyway, we made our way back to the staging area and turned in our equipment, picked up our stuff, and hiked back to the bus parking area. I had enough time to change out of my swimsuit for the ride back, but in about a half hour we were on our way.

Returning from Jaguar Paw Resort

The ride back to the Belize City pier was pleasant but uneventful. We chatted and read or just watched the scenery go by. Fred took a number of pictures on the way back; I've selected two of the countryside scenes near Jaguar Paw and six Belize City views to include here. There are thumbnails for each of these eight pictures below. To view the full-size image, just click on the thumbnail:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

The tour let us all off right at the pier where we could catch the tender back to the ship.

The Jewel of the Seas Leaves Belize

We got on the tender that was waiting at the dock and, as soon as it filled, we headed our for our ship, which was anchored about three miles out into the Caribbean.

Leaving Belize City

We also took a bunch of still pictures as the tender was taking us out to the ship, and there are thumbnails for some of these pictures below:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

As soon as we were away from the pier, I walked around the top of the tender where we were seated to take a look ahead at our ship, sitting in the harbor about five miles away. The trip to the ship took about fifteen minutes. I changed my position and got up near the pilot on the main deck of the tender so I could see our approach to our ship, now less than a mile away.

Finally, as we docked with the ship, I filmed the entire docking process so that you could see what it was like.

We boarded the ship after a full and interesting day on the best of the shore excursions we've done thus far. As I said, the only regret was in not taking my camera on the tubing trip, but maybe next time.

Fred and I relaxed for a while in the cabin and then paid another visit to the gym. Tonight was the second of two formal nights aboard ship, so Fred and I eschewed the dining room in favor of the Windjammer Cafe. But the highlight of the evening was the show in the Coral Theatre- illusionist Charles Bach. His show was a lot of fun, although this time I did not bring my camera to record any of it. We also took our normal walk around the ship, sticking our noses into nooks and crannies. I did take a number of pictures walking around, but I've put them onto the various pages dealing with the ship itself.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	A Tour of our Stateroom on the Jewel of the Seas
	February 5, 2008: Caribbean Cruise Day 3
	Return to the Caribbean Cruise Master Index