A quick walk for the dogs at dawn this morning so that I could make a last, quick, shopping trip to Placencia before Christmas. This was what I saw before the sun came up:
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| Cruise ship on the horizon. You night have to zoom in to see it. |
Tourism, which is the lifeblood of Belize, has been recovering slowly. It is good to see tour boats go by everyday taking visitors on guided trips up the Monkey River. One of the guides from Monkey River Village has the major contract with Norwegian Cruise Lines for Monkey River Boat Tours. He has 2 large and several small boats, each of which must have a captain/tour guide and a "sailor" - an important source of income for quite a few families in the village. Anyway, when I was walking the second dog, I saw a second cruise ship coming in. A welcomed sight after almost 2 years of no ships at all. I took a few more photos on the trip to and from Placencia this morning.
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| Two cruise ships. |
The larger ship is docked at the NCL private island "Harvest Caye". The ship dwarfs the little caye. The smaller ship is anchored at sea and passengers are tendered in to the island and to Placencia and Independence for land-based tours.
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| The smaller cruise ship and one of the Monkey River tour boats full of passengers. |
I ran my usual errands - bank, pharmacy, grocery stores (2), gas/petrol fill up, produce stands (2) - then was on my way back home. The gracious owners of the grocery store we frequent included a small holiday gift in our order.
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| A Chinese calendar wall scroll, Christmas Canes, cookies, and - my favorite - fancy loose tea leaves. |
