Brett and I had a great time in Belize. If you are as old as I am, you will remember Belize as British Honduras from grade school. It received its independence in the late 70s or early 80s. It was a pleasant country; not quite as impoverished as Costa Maya. It was still pretty poor with a low cost of living. Our tour guide explained that a new house would cost $20,000 and most apartments are around $75 a month.

We spent most of the day on a cave tubing excursion. We travelled by bus about 1 hour outside of Belize City into the jungle. After arriving at our base camp, we hiked about 2 miles up the river. We put our inner tubes in the river just above the caves we would travel through. We floated about 30 minutes through a large cave. The current was pretty gentle and we had lights on our heads to see our surroundings. After about a mile, we were in  the open jungle where we tubed for another mile. We had a really good  time. It was so relaxing.

We returned to Belize City but did not shop much. The deals were not the best and most of the stuff was cheap trinkets. I bought a few Belize handmade wood Christmas ornaments. At the tubing camp, we also bought  bottle of cashew wine. That’s right… cashew wine! We were curious of the taste. Our tour guide told us it  can give person a 3 day buzz. We shall see.

About the post’s title… “Butts up!” is what the cave tubing tour guides yell as you approach shallow water. If you don’t get your butt up, I can tell you it does indeed hurt dragging the river’s rocky bottom.