I'm totally new to blogging and can't guarantee this will be an ongoing thing, but I thought since I have some free time (for the first time in three years!) this would be a cool way to share the amazing trip Dave and I just took to Belize and Guatemala. Be warned, this is a LONG post.
We arrived in Caye Caulker exactly 24 hours after I finished taking the bar, so needless to say I was ready for laid back island life, and Caye Caulker did not disappoint. Although Caye Caulker relies on tourism it is also a fishing village, and is not built up with resorts like Ambergris Caye. There are a lot of backpacking hostels and guest houses and its a very low key place. It was incredibly hot, so when we weren't out on a boat or on a day trip inland, we spent the days either searching for shade, water to swim in, or air conditioning. Swimming was a little bit of a challenge because there is very little beach and no real designated swimming area. The boats fly by close to shore and don't really care about watching for swimmers, so it was definitely a swim at your own risk situation. However, we found a dock with a ladder half way out leading into the water where we could get into the water in a relatively protected place. We couldn't actually swim anyway, but I wasn't complaining. On the next dock over we were able to spot a barracuda and a large ray, as well as enjoy a beer when it cooled off enough to sit outside.
If you are a person who can spend a day happily cooking in the sun, or if you dive or can take multiple snorkeling trips in the span of a couple of days Caye Caulker is a great place to spend a vacation. Since I am none of those things, I got bored after two days. On the second day we went on a snorkeling trip with Carlos who offered the most ecologically focused snorkeling trip available. He took us to Hol Chan marine reserve and shark and ray alley where we swam and pet nurse sharks and rays. We also saw four manatees which was amazing. It was a fantastic day, but by the end of the day I was exhausted and pretty much snorkeled out. I will say the reef was beautiful, and Belize is certainly doing its part to keep the reef alive and healthy.
By day three the heat was kind of getting to me, so we decided to locate a tour inland for the following day. We considered Lamanai and Altun Ha, but decided on Cave tubing as were planned to head to Tikal next and knew we would be seeing Mayan ruins. Although I was unhappy to learn after we booked the tour that we were heading to the same cave that all the cruise ships head to, I got over it as soon as I met our guide. He was a retired general of the Belize military and a very politically and culturally knowledgeable guy. He gave us a great background of the Maya in Belize, and also did not hold back regarding the political problems afflicting the country. Although I think the other folks in our group did not really want to hear about the political corruption in the country, we were glad to hear about as much of the country as we could. As a traveler in Central America it is possible to shield oneself completely from the social and political problems that exist there, but in my opinion doing so is irresponsible. Belize is not a cheap place to travel, yet these tourism dollars do not benefit most people in that country who still live in what we would consider shacks. All of the money in the country apparently belongs to 12 families and the middle class although growing is still very small. Most people belong to the lower class and do not benefit from the country's seeming wealth. The cave tubing itself was pretty fun, although I had difficulty steering the stupid thing and ended up ramming into cave walls and brush by the side of the river. Once inside the cave our guide showed us natural stalactite formations as well as rock carvings created by the Maya. We saw the Corn God with the monkey and the turtle both of which were very significant in the Mayan culture.
I will say of Caye Caulker that the food was amazing. We ate more snapper than I have in my entire life as well as grilled lobster and lots and lots of fresh tropical fruit. I think my favorite was the grilled snapper with spicy banana chutney at the Sandbox. Dave took a liking to the rum punch and Belkin beer while I went in the weaker direction of banana daquiris. Although Caribbean rum is great and I enjoyed the light rum with pineapple juice made at the rooftop bar at Caribe, for better or worse I can no longer handle more than a few drinks especially in the hot weather.
From Caye Caulker we took the water taxi back to Belize City which on a side note is a pretty depressed place where the exhaust is so stagnant and thick that I developed a headache that accompanied me for the entire day. Once we docked at Belize City we caught the express bus to Flores, Guatemala. The express bus although pretty luxury for Belize did not have either air conditioning or windows that opened. The 4 1/2 hours we spent in the bus were sweaty and uncomfortable, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We saw the country side of Belize and got a real idea of how the majority of people live. We also got to see the INCREDIBLE contrast between the standard of living in Belize and the standard of living in Guatemala. From the moment we crossed the border we went from paved roads and small cement and wooden houses to unpaved roads and shacks with palm roofs and tin roofs. In Guatemala the families often have multiple small structures in which they live. They will sleep in one building and then cook in a more open palm covered structure. The bus ride was much bumpier and the driver had to dodge chickens, dogs and horses and cows that wandered free. Since we were staying at La Lancha which was on the north side of Lake Peten Itza, we decided at the last minute to get off the bus in El Remate instead of taking it all the way to Flores which is an island city on the south side of the Lake. The bus didn't actually stop in El Remate but rather let us off by the side of the road that the driver insisted was only 2km from our hotel. With all of our bags it was too hot to walk and there was a french family who were going to a hotel that they insisted was very near to ours who also got off so we shared a taxi instead. Since the hotel ended up being 10 km away, we definitely made the right choice.
La Lancha is an absolutely incredible place. It is an ecologically focused resort on the shores of Lake Peten Itza surrounded by the jungle. While there is fine dining and a beautiful pool, there is also a family of howler monkeys living in the trees surrounding the rooms which are built like tree houses either facing the jungle or the lake. We lucked out and had a jungle facing room that also had great views of the lake. After arriving we decided to head straight to the lake where we went canoeing and swam in the clear and very clean water. We were assured there were no crocodiles because the water was too cold, but there were fish and fresh water clams as well as lots of birds.
The following day we took a private tour to Tikal with a guide named Jesus Antonio provided by La Lancha. While I am NOT a tour person, I don't think there is any other way to really
see Tikal. It is immense and so rich in history, culture and wildlife. It would be a shame to cruise through just looking at the structures which are certainly impressive, but also only represent a small part of the Mayan city-state. The Maya were such an amazing and advanced people. They had calculated the days in the year to a tenth of a decimal point to what we know it to be today. They understood that the world rotated on an axis LONG before the Europeans had any idea. Tikal has buildings that are lined up so that at each of the solstices the sun rises directly over the building. There are also striking similarities between the Mayan civilizations, those in Cambodia and those in Egypt which are also all located right around 19 degrees latitude. We learned so much more, but since this posting is already getting extremely lengthy, I will just urge reading up more about these amazing people. Also at Tikal we saw wild turkeys, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, green parrots, a gray fox, and a quetzal - the Guatemalan national bird. We got caught in a rain shower just as we were finishing up which actually was a nice relief from the oppressive heat. All in all, Guatemala was the highlight of our trip.
After leaving La Lancha we crammed into a minibus heading for the Guatemalan border city of Melchor Dominga. From the border we took a cab into San Ignacio which is only about a 15 minute drive from the Belize border. From San Ignacio we took another cab out to Bullet Tree Falls and to our final guesthouse. We stayed at Parrot Nest a unique place located in the jungle along a river. Our room was a literal tree house with a roof made of palms. We woke each morning to the sound of easily 20 different types of birds. The bathroom and showers were in a separate building, the bad sagged a bit, and we had to sleep with a mosquito net, but I don't think we will ever experience a place quite like it again.
On our last full day in Belize we took a trip to Caracol, Belize's largest Mayan ruin. Caracol was actually pretty different from Tikal and we were there at a later point in the day, so I got much better shots there because the lighting was better. All of the remote tourist destinations around San Ignacio are now accompanied by a military escort due to the robberies that occurred earlier this year. It was quite an experience to drive up into the mountains on dirt roads, stop at a military post and then form a convoy to reach a Mayan ruin. Belize has taken a very proactive approach to these tourist targeted robberies, and its good to see. At Caracol we got to see a number of impressive structures, although amazingly only 1/10 of the buildings have been uncovered, the rest remain under ground cover. They only know about them due to infra red satellite pictures. The excavation of all of the Mayan sites in Central America have been slow due to lack of funding, and sadly a lot of the artifacts have been destroyed or taken by looters because the funds are not available to build museums to properly care for them. While on the one hand these items should be in Central America and not in museums in the U.S., the facilities to properly care for them are non-existent in Central America, so it creates a real problem. Visitors to Caracol and not always respectful of the fact that these are artifacts of an ancient civilization and because the artifacts are left out in the open many of them have been damaged. Tourists decide to take pieces home for souvenirs or take pictures of their children standing on original artifacts, its really unfortunate.
From San Ignacio we took the "chicken bus" - an old school bus which is the national transportation of Belize - back to Belize City where we caught a taxi to the airport. It was an incredible trip and we didn't want to come back. We were able to learn so much about the Mayan culture and see amazing things. I would highly recommend it!
at the mouth of Belize Harbor. Interestingly the water taxi station is only a stone's throw from the America's only remaining manually operated swing bridge. Twice a day local traffic in Belize City comes to a halt while three men crank the bridge open and then closed. Sadly we did not get a chance to view this spectacle in person.
The day of snorkeling was fantastic! The following morning we headed out with a guide and eight other vacationers to Hol Chan Marine Park which is an reef nature reserve two miles northeast of Caye Caulker. On the way out to the reserve we stopped to jump in the ocean and snorkel with a three foot diameter lager head sea turtle. Hopefully the pictures we took with the underwater camera come out well. On subsequent stops we saw numerous fish and other marine life including manatees, nurse sharks, rays, two varieties of lobster, moray eels, groupers, snappers, baracuda, tarpon and dozens of varieties of other brightly colored fish.
bus ride from Belize City to El Remate, Guatemala but well worth it at the end. Guatemala is a beautiful country with lush rolling hills and colorful people. La Lancha is beatifully landscaped and perfectly situated on a hillside overlooking Lago Petan Itza. We spent the afternoon swimming in and canoeing on the lake watching birds and listening to the howler monkees.
were on the move for the whole day and saw numerous temples, pyramids and dwellings but still only saw a small portion of the site. We also saw a good deal of wildlife including a crocodile, spider monkees, and a fox.
