AK Amputee Cave Tubing in Belize

[jenischmeni]

Hi, I'm reasonably new to these boards and will be taking a 1st time cruise 6/11/06 on The Valor.

 

My husband is an above-knee amputee w/ a prosthetic leg. He's had this leg for about 25 years, so is well-accustomed to making adjustments and performs most duties as well as an AB traveler.

 

I've not seen any posts regarding this, so I'm starting a new thread. (I hope I didn't commit any wrongs!)

 

We REALLY want to go cave tubing in Belize! I've emailed Yhoni through cave-tubing.com and he's stated that we can tour through him, and my husband could use a "banana boat". He seemed quite accomodating and friendly.

 

My questions are these: 1). Since Belize is such a time-constrained port, should I worry that Yhoni will get us back to the boat on time? 2). I'd feel more comfortable using Carnival's excursion (in case the tour is late - they have to wait). I've not really received any definitive answers from my PVP at Carnival.

 

I don't want to give my PVP a bad rap, he's a great guy. He just doesn't really know and has tried really hard to get information on this. (And has been very frank about it, not just lying and saying what we want to hear.)

 

Does anyone have first-hand knowledge about how this can be accomplished? I should state that it's impractical for his prosthetic leg to get soaked. It's okay for a little splashing (no more than say, being caught in a the rain). And at 22K a pop, he'd never consent to "sending it in a tube by itself". (And justifiably so, we're not financially comfortable enough to run out and "pick up a new one". (I say this because a lot of people just don't realize that this isn't something you can just buy at Target! LOL)

 

Thanks for any help!

[OldNavy]

We just returned from taking Cave-tubing.com's tour while in Belize. Yhoni will take very good care of you, not to worry. He does a MUCH better tour than those that the cruise ships use. (alot of folks have already commented elsewhere on this forum). One thing to be aware of tho, there is a river crossing just when you start out on the hike up-river, so your DH may need some assistance there. Yhoni also takes his tour thru 2 caves where I believe most of the regular tours only go thru 1. Not really a problem. If your DH doesn't want to make the trek for the additional cave, he can wait for you and the group before the 2nd cave. We had a few do that. The hike is a comfortable walk that I'm sure your DH should have no problem with after 25 years. ;) Don't worry about getting to the ship on time, I'm sure Yhoni will get you there. Have fun, it's a blast!

[jenischmeni]

OldNavy, thank you for your response. Yes, I read very nice things about Yhoni, it's what prompted my email to him. The 'banana boat' I referenced is what Yhoni would have DH use to cross the river. DH may also use that same banana boat to 'tube' down the river. Did you see a banana boat, by any chance? But, thanks for the reassurance. (Now, if I can just convince DH. He's so stubborn and independent - probably why I married him in the first place!)

[kingclick]

Just went on this tour....you might want to check out my review in the Ports of call section.

 

The only concerns you should have is that no matter what your husband will be IN the water. It's also imperative to let Yhony know that the leg isn't usable in the water. I'm not sure how you would walk the trail without the leg and then I'm not sure how they would get the leg back down the trail. But if they can figure these few things out I say go for it!

 

One idea that could be considered is to have them bring one extra person that can walk the leg back to the "crossing" point.

 

While in the water your husband will not need his leg, Yhony and his assistants do all the work.

[jenischmeni]

Thank you, kingclick, for your reply. As stated, I've been having email conversations with Yhony regarding this subject. I do feel that Yhony is aware of the water restrictions faced by the leg. That is why he offered the use of the 'banana boat'. I apologize for not being clear enough in the original post. (It's hard to be clear and concise, yet keep the post reasonably short!) Yhony said in one of the numerous emails that he's familiar w/ this, and that he'd provide a 'banana boat' for DH to use to cross the river and then use the same boat to 'cruise' along with us tubers.

 

I think this would be a good alternative to using the Carnival excursion, as Yhony's tour groups are much smaller and probably more accomodating. I was just hoping I'd find some other above-knee amputee who had utilized this method.

 

I reserved this excursion with Yhoni last night. I guess the worst that could happen is that it doesn't work out. At least I haven't prepaid it, which is what would have happened w/ Carnival! But, hopefully, it will work out and since DH will be reasonably dry, he can be the official photographer and 'stuff carrier'! LOL (It's about time someone did it beside me! Just kidding!) I think we'll take along several garbage bags and that ever-useful roll of duct tape (that I've read so much about here! LOL) just in case!

 

His most current leg (it's only a few years old) is not made of wood any longer, and luckily the knee hydraulic unit is actually sort of encased inside. We'll just keep our fingers crossed and it's not like we haven't faced these 'adventures' before!

 

Thanks again for your helpful posts!!

[montgomeryfamily]

When you come back from the excursion, please post about your experiences, especially what the banana boat looks like.

 

The only boats I had ever seen were the banana boats that you see at Princess Cays and some other island beach locations. These are boats which are shaped like a banana (hence the name) that are like a float--you straddle it and then it is towed. So you cannot get inside of the boat and you do get wet. If they have a boat that you can get inside of and ride down with the group, that might be of interest to us too.

[jenischmeni]

Montgomeryfamily, absolutely! I will definitely post after we return. I hope to write a review as well. I know the reviews were extremely helpful. I'm so thankful to have found this site. I wish they had sites like this for other aspects of my life! LOL

[jenischmeni]

Got an email from Yhony today with a picture. Yes, it is the type that is towed behind a boat. What we locally call a torpedo. I don't think it's going to work. I'm really disappointed. This shouldn't be so hard to work around. I'm wondering though, couldn't we purchase one of the one person blow up boats? They're cheap enough, easy enough to pack BEFORE inflating, and we could just leave it there when we are finished?

 

Before I throw the baby out with the bath water, I may send Yhony a picture of one and see if that could be utilized.

 

Let's keep our fingers crossed!

 

When do you cruise, Montgomeryfamily?

[montgomeryfamily]

That's a tough break about the boat. I was concerned about what it might be like, since the only banana boats I had ever seen were like the torpedo boats. I think that because it is the Caribbean, maybe they call them "banana" boats instead of torpedo boats.

 

A regular plastic blow up boat/raft probably wouldn't work because I have read there are a lot of rocks on the river. People talk about their tubes hitting the rocks and being told to lift their behinds out of the tubes in the shallow water areas due to rocks. So the plastic boat would probably get punctured. If you got one of those canvas type or the inflatable rafts that self inflate that are used as life rafts or something, that would probably work, but those are quite expensive. If the tour company can't come up with an alternative, I would say you're probably out of luck on being able to take this excursion. But please let us know if the tour company is able to come up with a workable alternative.

 

Our next cruise is August 19, 2006--the Cruise Critic group cruise on the Caribbean Princess. It is a great ship and we have a balcony accessible stateroom. It is an Eastern Caribbean itinerary, so the only tendering is Princess Cays (the Princess private island) and they are supposed to have a beach wheelchair there--hope it has been replaced since the last hurricane. We have accessible excursions booked for St. Thomas and St. Martin too. So we are really looking forward to our cruise.

 

We are also booked for the Grand Princess in November right after Thanksgiving. So we will be heading to Belize on that cruise.

[jenischmeni]

Great news on your vacation and securing the hc cabin. (I've read ALOT about that, here! LOL) I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

 

Hubby and I have been discussing this tubing thing quite a bit. I just can't believe that there isn't some way to do it. I wish I had been there before, so I'd know first-hand exactly what to expect.

 

Most people are pretty naive to artificial limbs and don't really understand the restrictions. Fortunately, DH works very hard for it not to be a hindrance. So much so, that we as his family, forget it's there. But, in reality, there are obstacles, luckily not as many as other handicaps.

 

I wonder if I could pay some belizean to carry it? (I think you had suggested something similar.) I'm not sure hubby would consent to that. There have been amputees who have had their limbs stolen, just as a lark. (I'm certain that the thiefs truly didn't understand how expensive and uniquely fitted these devices are.) Well, I still have about 10 weeks to work it out.

 

Thanks again for all your suggestions and support. Please send me an email same as my user name @gmail.com and let me know how your cruises went! (I'd love to hear about the various excursions w/ the wheelchair. Who knows? In our retirement, we could very well be faced with it ourselves.)

[FrogLover215]

There's a product called Xerosox that provides waterproof arm and leg cast covers. Their testimonial page gives feedback from a lot of people who have used it for their artificial limbs as well. We used this product last year when my son broke his leg at the beginning of summer and "pool seaon". It really did work for us, and the cost is reasonable (I think about $50). It's very portable, since it is just a thick rubber cover and a little tool that sucks the air out and makes a vacuum seal. Here's some info from their website (www.xerosox.com):

 

The Stay Dry Pro Pump by XeroSox offers the only leg and arm cast protection in the world with the patented vacuum seal to keep your bandage or cast dry.

It is so completely and totally waterproof, between the waterproof latex and the vacuum seal, that you can even dive off a diving board or ride the ocean waves and still have your cast stay completely dry.



The Stay Dry Pro-Pump by XeroSox cover fits snugly yet comfortably against the skin offering cast protection during showering, bathing, swiming or any other water activity. Unlike "modified garbage bag" products, the limb protection offered from the Stay Dry Pro-Pump by XeroSox is unmatched, it cannot slip off. You can't even pull it off!

[jenischmeni]

Froglover, I will check it out. Thank you very much!

[jenischmeni]

Froglover, this certainly looks like a great idea. The sizes they have listed don't go large enough, though. (DH has a full prosthetic leg.) We've emailed this company, though, and will follow-up with a phone call tomorrow.

 

Thanks for the link, I really appreciate it!

 

If they can make one long enough, this could certainly prove to be something useful. Not only for cave tubing, but many other activities, too!

[FrogLover215]

I hope this does work out for you. The company is very helpful over the phone. Hopefully they can suggest something that will work for your husband!

[jenischmeni]

Xerosox didn't return phone calls, but did reply to the email. They say they do not make one longer than 37". This isn't long enough to cover hubby's leg. But, the product did show a lot of promise.

 

I guess we'll just go with the plan we had worked out w/ Yhony.

 

We're taking a nylon golf club cover/bag (that we've waterproofed), plastic, duct tape, and an inflatable one-person boat. Hubby will hike w/ his leg, and when we're ready to tube, he's going to place his leg in plastic, secure it w/ duct tape, place in nylon water-proofed bag, place bag in boat. Voila! It's not the most convenient, but lacking any other solutions, it's the best we've got. I've emailed pictures of all components to Yhony and he's in agreement. (At first, he just wasn't understanding the need for the leg to be dry and removed.)

 

So, it's not all lost, but that cover should would have been convenient.

[FrogLover215]

I admire your creativity and flexibility. You obviously don't get discouraged easily, which is so great.