Welcome To The Jungle

So now we're in the Jungle.

We went zip-lining, cave tubing, and monkey playing.

First a little background. It was insanely windy the first four days of our trip. I can't overstate this. It was like a hurricane on the beach. If you walked on the beach, it felt like you were getting hit with a sand blaster. After a few days on a five mile island, you run out of things to do if you can't do island things. So there was a slight break in the wind so we made a break for the mainland. The whole time we were on the island, as I looked out at the horizon I thought, "wow, I didn't know Belize had such a mountainous coast," because waaay in the distance towards the mainland all you could see were these craggy shapes. So we get into our boat, and the captain has, no joke, the Morton's Fisherman outfit on (yellow hat and yellow rain jacket, only the Morton's Captain didn't have dreadlocks). Everyone was sitting at the front of the boat and Sander starts heading that way, but having grown up in FL with the severe handicap of getting sea sick in a mud puddle I know a thing or two about boats, I tell Sander to sit in the back. At which point all the other people in the boat rush to tell me that this is a bad idea. And by "rush" you would have thought I told Sander to grab a rope and jump off the side to be towed to the mainland. Literally, people getting up off the bench and walking towards me to urge me to put him forward. Why you ask? Because "you'll get wet in the back." I'm looking at the waves and Morton's Fisherman and thinking, "We're ALL going to get wet." But I wanted Sander in the back because the boat moves least by the engine, its the smoothest ride. So me and Captain Marley exchange knowing nods and he smiles at me as I put Sander in the stern, or "back" of the boat for you land lubbers. So as we get going, everyone in the front is getting pounded and I, for the first time this trip, begin to feel like a fit father. Until...

As we get close to the reef that sits between the mainland and our Island (Belize has the worlds second largest reef) I realize that those "craggy mountains" I saw from our hotel room were actually waves breaking on the reef. Oh, and we're heading right for them. "Holey smokes, we're going to jump the waves!" I think to myself. I don't know if any of you saw "The Perfect Storm" or saw the movie poster, but that's what it looked like, and you know how THAT ended. So now I'm sitting there with my 8 year old boy thinking, "Nope, back to being an unfit father. No wonder the guy at customs wanted to make sure his mommy knew we were here, I'm clearly a moron." Just as I'm getting ready to say something, we veer parallel to the waves of doom and Captain Marley says, "Hey mon, we are going close to da reef fer smooth water, an den we cut trew da channel." "Yeah, that's what I figured, cool" I reply. Remember, me and him have a bond, and I couldn't let him see that I just about to knock him down and take the wheel because I thought we were going to plow through the waves. Best part? As we're sitting on land talking about the ride over, Sander says to me, "I thought we were going to go through those big waves." "Me too buddy," I say. I think its important to scar kids at an early age. It better prepares them for life.

But the trip over was very nice, Captain Marley and the Wailers did a great job of captaining, and we made it to the zip line center. The first picture is of Sander in his gear. The raw excitement on his face is enough to warm the heart. The next one is of him zip-lining and the last is of him rappelling down from the last station. Overall it was very fun. You really get moving and I guess its kind of what Tarzan felt whipping through the jungle. Sandman loved it. But even though it was 8 stations, it went by real quick. But I have to say, after the boat ride it felt a bit tame.

Next the cave tubing...