lounging lizards

There are enormous basket chairs on the top deck – six feet across, with wicker quarter sphere covers to shield you from the sun if you so desire.  Lots of pads and cushions, with relaxing music on the speakers.  DH and I claimed one first thing in the morning yesterday, and spent the whole day in the shade, with the warm breezes tickling our skin.  We napped.  We took turns going down to the Lido deck for juice and snacks.  We  smiled nicely at the pretty young people who wished they had gotten up earlier than those ugly old farts who had the best basket chair on deck.  And we forgot that, in the tropics you can get a sunburn from light reflected off the water.  I was wearing a t-shirt and a long skirt.  My face, arms and ankles are crispy.  I didn’t really notice till I took a shower and the hot water hit the hot spots.  Yowzer!  DH has a rosy glow from the mid thighs down.  Hope he can get into his sandals tomorrow.  The tops of his feet are crimson.

            The ship was anchored off-shore from Belize City.  We had planned to take the tour that takes you inner-tubing through limestone caves, but one of our room stewards warned us that you have to carry your own inner-tube for forty minutes through the jungle to get to the start of the route.  We decided that lounging sounded funner.  Later we talked to folks who had done the trip and they said the jungle walk was bad enough, but the bugs were way worse.  And the river was colder than they had expected, so they wound up weary, bug-bitten and chilled.  But the caves were really neat!

            Today we are headed for Roatan.  There is a strong East wind, and we don’t know if we will be able to enter the harbor.  Roatan is a day at the beach sort of resort.  No exciting activities, no historic artifacts, no developed resort activities like parasailing or shopping malls or zip lines.  Just glorious white beaches next to serene blue ocean with palm trees and breezes.  I have already claimed our basket chair, and been glared at by any number of later arrivals.  And today, I brought my tube of factor fifty sunblock..

            Later: We got docked, walked around the little compound of approved shops, strolled over to the beach and back, and I just about collapsed from the heat and humidity.  What a wuss I am.  People do manual labor in this weather. 

            So now we’re sitting on our balcony in the shade, looking at the folks playing on the beach, and catching up with the e-mail.  I’ll be loading any number of photos when I get back home.  This is so Paradisical!