16th Anniversary Vacation Photos

Now that I've learned how to upload photos from my new camera here is a brief run down on our trip:

We spent a week on Ambergris Caye, Belize with a group of friends. The weather was perfect and the company even better. One of the more relaxing vacations I've had in a long time. The only down side was that our resort was a long boat ride from everywhere we wanted to go.

On the day Rocky went bonefishing I went to see one of the Mayan ruins with other people in our party. I think Rocky really missed out on this. It started with a long boat ride across the sea to a river. In the sea we had a bottle nose dolphin encounter that was a real treat. The guide stopped the boat and the dolphin swam all around us.

In the river we saw a Jesus Christ bird:

Named for its ability to walk on water using the lily pads.

Oops; this photo is out of order. It is a bird that hung out at our resort.

Here is what our boat ride looked like as we rode through the mangroves:

Somewhere along the river we got off the boat, onto a bus for a long bus ride, and then onto another boat for another long boat ride up another river where we saw interesting plants and birds:
This is a barge built by Mennonites. The Queen of England invited them to Belize in the 1950's because of their ability to farm, weld, and construct. Apparently they have been a great asset to the country.

This plant was at the ruins:

Another photo out of order. This is a hermit crab that lived under the steps to our cabana during the day and came out in the evening making what looked like bicycle tire tracks in the sand.

At the ruins Will and I were the only ones to climb one of the structures. It was a lot of fun and we both appreciated that the other was there to enjoy it and not be the only one holding up the rest of the group.Our bus ride included Evelyn, the bus driver's 2.5 year old daughter:

Here's Will passing out rum punch, trying to get us all drunk on the way back.

Here's the group from the ruins trip. From left to right around the table: Dick and Deanna, John, Clella, me, Will, Pat, and Marlis.

I did that geeky thing of taking my own picture in the mirror to show you my hair after a day in the salty Belize wind:
A braid was a must. If I lived there I would probably have to keep my hair short. Every evening I had to spend extra time combing and ripping knots out of my hair.

Several of us were celebrating anniversaries on this vacation so on our last night the resort baked us a cake and decorated it with the ingredients they had on hand.

Back home. Here's Rocky, Lera, and Carly having a visit: