Cruising to the Sun Part VI: Scenic Highlights Beyond the Resorts

If and when you get beyond the shops of downtown and the lavish resort hotels of Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman has some fascinating secrets to share with you. We got to visit a few of them on the tour I took two days ago. 

Right off the bat, Grand Cayman is probably the busiest port I've ever visited where all ships still have to get their guests shuttled to and from the shore. Thankfully, since my last visit in 2018, the shuttles are now provided by a fleet of two-decked tenders operated from the island. The last time around, we had to use the smaller and slower ship's lifeboats.

With as many as four ships in port at once (today) the ships have to be anchored offshore from the capital of George Town in a fairly orderly manner. To me, it resembles a row of cars in a parking lot with angle parking. Today, the resemblance was spoiled a bit when the first of the ships was anchored at a different angle. Anyway, here they are. Our larger fleetmate Nieuw Statendam, and Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas in the first picture ...

... and then Brilliance again, along with Carnival's Carnival Horizon and our own Eurodam partly concealed beyond the loaded tender at the pier.

So many ships, of course, means bigger crowds everywhere for the day. The  tour I chose, covering the scenic highlights of the island's East End, was operated in small European-style tour buses with only 20 seats or so. This trip turned out to be an inspired choice -- we got clear away from all the mass market tourist "attractions" and stores and out into the parts of the island where you can still get an authentic Caymanian cultural vibe. 

 

As we headed south and then east out of George Town, we still had to make our escape from the big city as we passed two surprising examples of Canadian genius at work. The first one is financial...

 

 ... and the second one, well...

 

We found out that the majority of the passengers on our coach were Canadian, when a chorus of voices urged the driver to pull over and turn in! The driver laughed -- the first of many hearty laughs he would give during the day. As he explained it later: "I love my job. That's it. I love my job!" With an attitude like that, I'm sure a lot of people come away from his tours smiling. 

 

Our driver/guide, John, explained to us that with a total of eight buses operating the tour that day (between four ships), we had to vary the order and we'd been asked to start with what was supposed to be the third stop -- lunch. So there we were, climbing out of our bus at the Eastern Star Bar and Fish Fry at 10:00 AM! Mind you, having had breakfast at 6:30, I didn't consider lunch at 10:00 a huge imposition or disruption of my day -- especially in surroundings like these.

The meal was a choice of fried chicken or fried grouper, with pasta salad and rice & beans, and the fish was lightly coated and tasty. Iced tea or lemonade were included, with bar drinks for sale. It was the setting and the view around the broad patio that made this lunch special.

From there,  we drove on to the historic site dedicated to the "Wreck of the Ten Sail." The name is a holdover from the days when a fleet would be described as "ten sail" instead of "ten ships." This was a usage which the British Royal Navy kept up long into the nineteenth century, abandoning it only when those newfangled stink pots, the steamships, finally drove sail out of the Navy for good. At this site, we  learned the story of how a fleet of ships came to grief on the offshore coral reefs, but it was hard to make the connections with that wild, stormy night on such a placid day of sunshine and breezes. 

Our next stop, a short distance back along the coast towards George Town, was at a roadside viewpoint where the right wave conditions would produce a fountain of water out of a blowhole. I got one so-so photo from closer at hand, but the best one shot up after I had gotten back up to the bus. Naturally.

Our next stop was, oddly enough, the least memorable. The Tortuga company, a distillery and rum cake maker, gave us all free samples of their rum cake and their rum. The rum was rum, the cake was bland and ho-hum, and the tour facility (a small one) was completely overrun by getting hit with three bus loads at once. The crowding was severe, and I was grateful to get out and back on the bus in one piece.

 

 

On the other hand, the arrival of a small family of mama chicken and her babies entertained us for a few moments in the outdoor patio area. Grand Cayman is another one of those places, like Key West and Kauai, where the chickens run wild all over the island, and the song of the roosters runs on "Repeat Play" nonstop from an hour before sunrise and all the way through the day.

That was the official end of the tour, but as we headed back to the pier, John explained that he had gotten permission to add on an additional stop at the end for anyone who really wanted to go to Hell. I wasn't quite sure what this might entail, but I'm always up for an adventure so why not? In the end, only three of us hung on -- Chris and Terry, from Saskatchewan, and me. The rest of them chickened out. Their loss.

A little quote from George Bernard Shaw, just because. 

 

 

"As saith the poet, Hell is a city much like Seville." 

 -- Man and Superman, Act 3. 

 

 

I just threw that in because it's been ages since I quoted Shaw, so why not? And here we are in Hell.

The post office will gladly stamp your outgoing mail, or your passport (Chris got her passport stamped).

 

 

And this yellow shirt would certainly be a, well, unique clothing item at any and all future occasions. If it were a bit more orange in colour, I might have bought it for the Orange Party that night, haha!

 

 

In reality, once you get past the kitschy post office and souvenir shops, Hell does appear rather sinister.

It's not a volcanic formation (in case you were wondering and didn't bother to read the sign shown above). The Cayman Islands rank among the very few non-volcanic islands anywhere in or near the Caribbean Sea. It's limestone formed under water from ancient corals at a time when there was no island. I've seen similar rock formations, although only by the seashore, in Bermuda -- which is actually very like Grand Cayman with hills added. That's Grand Cayman's defining characteristic for me. It's flat. The highest elevation is a resounding 60 feet (18.2 metres) above sea level.

All day, I kept getting reminded of Bermuda. The stuccoed and colourful houses, the white or grey painted roofs which looked so reminiscent of the white stone roofs in Bermuda, the beautiful matching walls along the roads, Grand Cayman and Bermuda certainly share some similarities among their many differences. 

 

That little private tour to Hell added an extra hour to John's workday, but he plainly loved every minute of it.  So did we. If there were any jokes about travelling to Hell, experiencing Hell, returning from Hell, which Chris and Terry and I didn't crack and then laugh at, I can't imagine what they might be. We were still laughing about it the next morning!

And so to my favourite night of any Holland America cruise -- Orange Party night! You know it's time when the daily newsletter, at the heading, solemnly states:

 

Dress Code: Casual, with a splash of orange.

 

Orange is the national colour of the Netherlands. The long-standing Dutch royal family is called the House of Orange, and that's the origin of the colour and of this tradition on the Netherlands' national cruise ship line. It's the only time you'll ever see me wearing a T-shirt into the Dining Room in the evening! 

 

There's always an Orange Party with music and dancing later in the evening. It was up at the Lido pool on this warm weather cruise, but after my bedtime. The real feature of the Orange Party evening for me is the Dutch menu at dinner. Dutch menu? Even the table napkins are orange! Many people dress in orange clothes. If you don't have any, you can get a silly little orange hat or other orange accessories in the gift shop. I didn't see any orange hair this time, but several ladies went that route on my last Holland America cruise. People who are familiar with Dutch traditional cuisine can spot the Dutch dishes here and there on the bill of fare.

 

 

For the record, I started with the traditional pea soup, then went on to the Bami Goreng (an Indonesian/Dutch fusion dish), and finished off with the Tompouce. And it was a great meal -- especially the Bami Goreng!

Cruising to the Sun Part V: Why Not Jamaica?

There are many excellent reasons why tourists should avoid Jamaica. Levels of violent crime, including robbery, gang gunfights, and murder, continue to rise at dramatic rates. Many areas in and around Montego Bay (our port of call) are especially afflicted. Both Canada and the USA warn their citizens in strong terms about the risk levels here. 

LGBTQ2S people are particularly at risk, due to hateful local attitudes. Historically, the police have ignored or even tacitly supported violence against these communities.

All of which gives me more than ample reason to simply stay on board.

It seems a pity, in a way. Montego Bay, with its backdrop of dramatic mountains, and foreground of sparkling waters and swaying palms, is a far prettier place than Falmouth -- the north shore cruise port where we docked the last time a cruise I was on made a port call in Jamaica. Even with the presence of working cargo docks, the scenic attractions aren't impaired to any great degree -- as you can see in these pictures taken from the ship's decks.

It also amuses me to note that Montego Bay is at least completely upfront about what awaits you when you  step inside the Cruise Terminal -- much more so than many Caribbean ports!

So what did I gain in company with the others who stayed on board this morning? I got to sit through all the alarms of the Crew Emergency Drill, that's what! Oh, what a thrill! This one took the crew right through all the steps of the procedure clear up to the order to abandon ship. If you were sleeping late, and got woken up by the first alarm signal -- that is, after the announcement that this was all a drill for the crew -- you could quite easily get yourself into a War-of-the-Worlds state of panic. When I came back to my cabin after a long sit on the outer decks, it was to find a sign stuck into the keycard slot in my door stating that the room was evacuated. Every cabin had one by that time. 

 

It's certainly good to know that the crew are being properly and frequently drilled in safety procedures. There's a drill like this, of some sort or other, on every cruise I've ever been on. The lessons of the Titanic, where no one among the crew or officers was prepared and no one knew where to go or what to do, have not been forgotten.

And, of course, I got a nice sunny morning out on the sundeck by the Ocean View Pool at the stern, several swims in an uncrowded pool, another delicious pizza and Strongbow Cider for lunch, and a long and restful afternoon nap. Truly, there is a time for everything.

Cruising to the Sun Part IV: Close Encounters of the Mayan Kind

Few of the world's ancient empires and the ruins of their greatness are more awe-inspiring, more mysterious, and more downright weird than the Mayans in the centuries of their ascendancy.

 

From their complex pictographic writing to the strange images carved on their temples and preserved in their sculptures, the great Mayan civilization of the Classic periods raises new mysteries at every turn. As more and more of their ancient records are painfully deciphered and interpreted, we have gradually pieced together a picture of a society ruled by an incredibly powerful priesthood, a priesthood which demanded not merely the rituals of human sacrifice to the gods but even more the slaying and entombment of other men inside the successive layers of their ever-growing pyramid temples -- layers which were memorials to the deceased priests.

 

It's now generally believed by the experts that this society came to a crashing  halt some nine centuries ago as the combined suffering of the peasant class and the anguish inflicted by years of drought led to revolts which brought down the priestly class. But are these the only reasons that their monumental cities were abandoned? We do not know even now.

 

What we do know is that their trade and cultural networks spread across the whole region from south-central and south-eastern Mexico through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The impressive monuments which they created are dotted in multiple locations across this entire region, waiting not so much to be discovered as to be released from the choking embrace of the tropical jungles which swallowed them whole after they were abandoned.

 

Which brings me to the subject of our third port call of this cruise: Belize City, the largest commercial centre and port on the coast of Belize. This is my new country for this cruise -- Belize, known ages ago in my youth as British Honduras. Belize City is no longer the capital, though. It was replaced by the purpose-built inland city of Belmopan after the Category 5 Hurricane Hattie in 1961 flooded and destroyed Belize city with great loss of life, flattening most of the coastal region into what little solid ground it sits on.

 

This was our first lesson. Our ship was anchored far offshore, farther away than I've ever stopped at any port call on any previous cruise. That was as close as we could safely come in the bewildering maze of reefs, sandbanks, shallows, and islets. Although a fleet of fast catamaran ferries served as tenders to shuttle passengers to and from the land, it was still a good solid 20-25 minute ride each way. Here's a view of the ships in the distance (Eurodam at left, alongside a Crystal Cruises vessel, Crystal Serenity) seen from the harbour. 

 

Our first look on entering the harbour showed a colourful but very low-lying tropical port, with nothing that could fairly be described as a high-rise building. 

 

 

 

 

In fact, the tallest buildings I saw all day were seven storeys high, and that could be described as "pushing your luck." Belize City isn't just low-lying. It is, like Venice and many other coastal cities, actually located several feet below sea level, and built on painfully drained mangrove swamps -- which, of course, makes for a scarcely-firm foundation. Large amounts of earth have to be methodically packed down into a solid footing for even a normal house. A seven-storey "high rise" would require a footing of multiple pilings driven deep into the soil until they are resting upon a firm enough layer to carry the weight.

All of this we learned from the guide on our tour coach as we were being driven from Belize City out into the countryside to visit our real destination. Belize, like all other countries in the region, has multiple Mayan archaeological sites. The one we visited was the heart of a once-thriving ceremonial and commercial trading centre, known today as Altun Ha.

Although it was my last stop of the visit, I'm going to start with a few pictures I took in the small museum,where the displays give visual illustration to the city, its layout, and its history. First, a map classifying the many known Mayan cities according to the products they produced.

Here's a site plan of the excavated part of Altun Ha, showing the layout of the two plazas which have been uncovered and somewhat restored -- at least restored enough to forestall further deterioration.

Next is an aerial photo of the site, which shows clearly how some of the buildings depicted and labelled on the plan are still grassy, tree-covered hills.

The tour we took saw us walking between No. A7 and A5 on the diagram to enter Plaza A. The biggest sights here were the buildings on the south and east sides, although the large mound on the west side would clearly be an impressive structure as well if it were to be uncovered in the future.

In some of the pictures, you can clearly see the white layer of cement spread on top of many of the steps to prevent further deterioration.The immense open space of Plaza A was most likely a marketplace, reinforcing the important commercial role of Altun Ha, as opposed to some other Mayan cities which were purely ceremonial. A glance back at the museum map will show how Altun Ha's location placed it in the middle of a nexus of major trade routes radiating in multiple directions -- and close enough to the ocean for the sea trading routes to contribute to the mix as well.

The structure of the temples is significant. According to our guide at the site, each place where there is a setback or terrace and a new structure of stonework begins, marks the death of another powerful priest and the entombment of one or more other bodies to accompany him on his journey to the land of the dead.

 

The temple which members of our party were allowed to climb if they wished was No. A3.

Plaza B, by contrast, seems to have been purely a ceremonial plaza. We entered it through the gap between A3 and A4, and stood in front of B2 for a while, under a tree, while our guide explained the main features of the plaza. 

 

The most impressive structure of the entire site is B4, the so-called Temple of Masonry Altars. It was in this temple that the archaeological team led by Dr. David Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum discovered the carved jade head of a god during the extended excavations of Altun Ha in the 1960s. Its significance as a result of trade lies in the fact that jade would have been brought for some distance, the nearest source being many kilometres to the west-southwest in modern-day Guatemala.

The head was originally believed to be a sculpture of the sun god, but some experts now incline to the theory that it was actually the jester god. Whichever theory is correct, this is the single largest and best-preserved jade carving from the Classic Mayan periods, and is a renowned national treasure of Belize. It is kept in a climate-controlled secure vault at the National Bank, and rarely is exhibited in public.

The Temple of the Masonry Altars stands an impressive 16 metres high. These pictures show the complicated structure with multiple layers and extensions, most of which contain separate burials. The tomb in which the jade head was found was at or near the summit of the pyramid.

These two immense plazas joined together with three more to complete the centre of the city. The suburbs radiated for some eight kilometres in all directions, housing many thousands of people.

 

After our guide's talk, we were then given a half hour or so of free time to roam around, take pictures, climb on any building that wasn't roped off, visit the museum, or shop. And it was in the museum that I found a real treasure, an actual-size replica of the famous jade head.

The photo, by the way, makes the head look much larger than it actually is. The true size is 14.9 centimetres tall, and 45 centimetres in circumference.

The whole experience of visiting Altun Ha was remarkable. No doubt the immense monuments of Chichen Itza and Tikal are far bigger, but with much smaller numbers of visitors we were able to get a far more personal and detailed learning experience here than was possible among the crowds of people when I visited Chichen Itza seven years ago. This ranks as one of the most valuable tour experiences of my entire travel career.