Adventures in Cozumel, Mexico

January 5, 2026 ~ JodiLea ~ 2 Comments

OR, how I was cursed by an ancient Mayan village…

We have all heard about how you shouldn’t drink the water. So, of course, I didn’t. But nobody tells you about how the war paint & watercolors, which contain local water. That may have been how I contracted dysentery. Or not.

Regardless, ignorance was bliss, and we enjoyed our excursion to the Mayan Village very much. It was the last stop on our cruise before the two days at sea to reach Fort Lauderdale. We took an hour bus ride to the Village. Instead of a tour guide, we were escorted to the different areas of the village by the local Mayan people.

The village was not very large, but the different tents and huts hosted activities. The first hut was a large area with tables. We were seated in the chairs around the tables. Natural items were sitting on top of the table. It turned out that we were in the music hut, and those items (rocks, pieces of wood, etc.) were our instruments. We were taught how to play them, and we accompanied the band.

I hoped we would learn some dance moves, but there wasn’t enough time. We needed to move on to the art room. There, we painted on a version of papyrus. We must not have pleased the art God because a deluge of rain hit us and washed our paintings away!

The Path of Skulls. These skulls are protecting the garden

Both sides of the path were decorated with skulls. So spooky that I photographed the same side twice.

The four of us travelers all got this awful cold/sinus infection during the last half of the trip. It hit me very hard the afternoon of the trip to Cozumel. I knew my sinuses were infected, but this was no ordinary infection. For one thing, the thought of eating turned my stomach. I spent the last days at sea in bed, in our cabin, instead of sunning by the pool. I would have been heartbroken if I weren’t semi-conscious.

I should have gotten a clue or spotted a red flag when everyone else could function and use their brain. They could play cards, eat meals, and communicate. I could not use my brain correctly. I struggled to answer questions – even yes or no questions. I sensed that hubby was getting annoyed with my lack of participation, especially the last night when we had to put our suitcases out in the hall by 9pm, so we would not have to lug them to the airport. I should have asked him to pack up for me, but alas, no brain.

I will spare you what happened at the airport. I don’t care how curious you are. There are just some details you can’t unknow.

We have had enough adventures for now. Time to stock up for the winter and organize things around the house.

TTFN

Mars: Belize

December 27, 2025December 27, 2025 ~ JodiLea ~ Leave a comment

This excursion had many different things going on. First off, the ship could not dock in this port because of the fragile coral reef. The Mars had to anchor over 30 minutes away from port. This meant we had to get into little boats and get taken to shore. Then, we were gathered by group # to get on a bus. Our tour guide, Shanna, was quite the bubbly fountain of information. We know more things about Belize than we ever wanted to know. I mean political, economic, you name it. A few things struck me as surprising…

They are the only Caribbean country where English is the primary language.

They have security checkpoints that we had to clear before we could proceed. Shanna told us that they are constantly looking for contraband. Things like Ham, Turkey, Alcohol, Cigarettes, anything from somewhere else. They tax all imports 12.5%. If you bring anything in that doesn’t go through customs, it’s contraband. She explained that because Belize did not produce anything, everything had to be imported. Tourism is the country’s number one industry, supported by cruise lines, snorkeling, and deep-sea diving companies.

The purpose of our 1 1/2 hour bus ride was to see the Altun Ha, Mayan Temples. These were not ruins, but partially excavated pyramid-like buildings.

These temples are only 2 of the many temples that were built in a circle surrounding a large flat area. I would have liked to take a photo of all the temples, but alas, there was no vantage point. There may have been one after climbing one thousand stairs, but we had to get back on the bus. We did have 10 minutes of shopping time on the way to the bus. I was disappointed that the wares were mostly trinkets and not clothes or hats.

Stay tuned for our last port, Cozumel, Mexico.

Mars: Tabyana Beach, Honduras

December 9, 2025December 8, 2025 ~ JodiLea ~ Leave a comment

We docked at Roatan – An island off the coast of Honduras. I love it here already because the tropical air is heavy with humidity and that special feeling you get when you are in a place for the first time. Anyway, that is how I was feeling.

The skies were threatening a storm and I felt great. The rain would be warm if it came along. Rain would not keep this girl from the beach and sweet & warm, blue Caribbean sea. The bus had to take us all the way to the other side of the island, where Tabyana Beach was located. Probably an hour bus ride, both to and from. In fact, all of our excursions involved a long bus ride, now that I think of it. The cruise line loaned us beach towels that could cover the uncomfortable plastic loungers along the shoreline. There were many loungers & people. It was a private beach, but 2 cruise ships worth of people crowded things a bit.

I was so jazzed about being in the Caribbean sea again. My excitement dimmed as soon as my toes hit the water. It Was Cold! COLD! I pouted and whined. I’m not proud of this, but I was a huge baby that things were not perfect. So, I sunned myself and stayed out of the water. Sue did the same. The men braved the cold and got in up to their shoulders, staying there and yakking.

As tropical islands tend to do, it became VERY HOT, changing my resolve. Sue and I asked our hubbies to join us into the water. It was agonizing to wade in, and I decided that once I got up to my waist in the water, I would drop the rest of me under. Yikes! It was still a shock, but I made it. Sue did not get her hair wet, so she looked great on the bus ride home. Mine was completely trashed, of course. Did I care?

Absolutely not.

These photos do not show how brilliant the sun was shinning. Or how the background island music sometimes would play waaay too loud.

I toyed with the idea of adding audio to these posts, but that would be so awkward to drag my laptop with me on our adventures, especially when it was tough enough to keep track of my hat, sunglasses, and water bottle.

Let me explain how these “Shore Excursions” work. A couple months before your sailing date, you login to your online account with Viking. And you can look through every tour offered for each stop. Unfortunately, some of the descriptions of these tours are lacking some important details. For example, lengthy bus rides were the way to get to the tour sites. Often a 3 or 4 hour adventure is really only 45 minutes to an hour, and the rest of the time is on a bus.

TTFN – stay tuned