There were all kinds of excursions offered from the ship. The ship anchors four miles out to sea. The excursion seemed to be designed to prevent one from actually stepping foot on the mainland. A boat picks you up from the ship, takes you to a small island or up a river or to a landing where you are picked up by a bus. We wanted to see Belize. We waited until all the excursion people had their turn to leave the ship and we took a tender to shore. There is a tourist compound on the shore. This is nothing more than a place where you can by souvenirs. Note: There is an open-air market outside where you can get slightly better deals. But you can’t just leave the compound unescorted. We saw a small woman holding up a sign that informed us that we could be driven anywhere we wanted to for a fee. After talking with her we decide that we wanted to go to the “Baboon Preserve”. We asked if we could see the driver and the vehicle before putting down $40 each. She said that she would take us herself. For $80 we had our own driver take us to the jungle and there a very knowledgeable guide took us in to see Howler monkeys. This was a trip of a lifetime. Howler Monkeys are indescribable. http://208.55.3.170/spanish/guide/pa/pa05.html http://www.watauga.k12.nc.us/staff/felkera/Howler_3.JPG This was not a “Preserve” in the way you might be thinking. This is just an area of 25 sq miles with as many people as monkeys. (About 1500) The tour through the city and the 30 mile drive from town, along with all the strange animals that are in Belize made this one of the highlights of the entire cruise. We are ready to go back to Belize for a week. But don’t misunderstand; Belize is a very impoverished country. There are only three traffic lights in the entire country. They had four until a hurricane damaged one. This is an adventure. Our driver was Marcia Garcia. She attended the most prestigious high school in the country and went to university. Her website is: http://www.cbelize.com