Mayan Ruin #2 Xunantunich

11/21/201312/01/2013globegazers 2 Comments

On our third day in Belize we took a trip to visit the Mayan ruin of Xunantunich. This is an easy 11 km trip to the west from San Ignacio. We caught the bus from town for a pretty short and easy ride to the small town of San Jose Succotz. It is impossible to miss because the road there is blanketed with touristy trinket stalls. It was fun to catch the hand-cranked ferry which transported us across the Mopan River.

From there, it is about a mile hike up a relatively steep road. Like many of the ruins in Belize, Xunantunich is accompanied by a small archeological museum. We enjoyed learning a bit more about the ruins and their excavations. Xunantunich struck us as being quite different from Cahal Pech (a smaller ruin practically inside San Ignacio) because there were open spaces that the jungle had not encroached upon.

We walked around several of the smaller structures and enjoyed learning more about the native plants. Though, by learning more, I mean that the park had labeled several of them with nice wooden signs.

The main site is the large temple called “El Castillo.” The climb is beautiful and we spent more than an hour on top enjoying the cool breeze and amazing views. Xunantunich is only a couple of km away from the Guatemalan border so you feel like you can see almost all of Belize and then stare beyond into Guatemala.

Overall, we loved Xunantunich. Compared to some other Mayan sites, there was not that much to see, but the peaceful views from the top of El Castillo make for a fantastic day.

From Denver to San Ignacio via the Belize Zoo

11/12/201311/13/2013enjean2013 1 Comment

Flying

To get to Belize, we first flew to Miami on a red-eye flight from Denver. That meant that we didn’t have to leave our house until the sun was setting. We took the Denver RTD bus to the airport, which was a helpful preview of managing our packs.

Red-eye flights are never fun, but we did manage to sleep a little bit. We got to the Miami airport at about 5 AM local time and found a relatively quiet corner to try and sleep. However, it was tough because the airport was really cold! And we didn’t think to pack anything for warmth in our bags, because we were heading to Belize…

Travel Advice: Never underestimate the probability of over-air conditioning in a public space.

The flight from Miami to Belize City went pretty quickly. Upon arrival and clearing customs,we caught a cab into Belize City. The cab was $25 (US), which seems like a big rip-off, but there aren’t really any public transportation options unless you are willing to walk quite a distance to the highway.

Taking the Bus

We hadn’t heard that there was any great reason to stay in Belize City, so we had to cab take us straight to the bus station. After getting out, some people came up and asked where we were trying to go. We assumed they had nefarious motivations, but it turned out they actually were very helpful and took us straight to our bus which was about to leave!

In Belize, the public buses are old school buses, so it felt very familiar to us to be riding one. The bus was pretty full, so we had to ride with our bags uncomfortably on our laps. We told the “conductor” where we were headed and he said he would tell us when our stop was coming up. Then, he cranked up the reggae on the bus sound system and we were on our way down the Western Highway.

Travel Advice: In Belize, you don’t pay for the bus when you get on. The conductor will come by at some time during the ride itself and ask for your fare. We never determined if there was a formula for when he decided to make his rounds or not.

Belize Zoo

Our final destination for the day was San Ignacio all the way on the western border of Belize. Belize is so small that this means that it is only about 120 km away. Since it was still early in the day, we decided to stop at the Belize Zoo.

The Belize Zoo had the reputation of being one of the premiere places to see animals in Belize, so we thought it would be a good introduction to the country’s natural wonders.

The Zoo is very easy to get to. The bus dropped us off right at the entrance (it is just off the highway). The Zoo had lockers for us to store our big bags. The entry fee was a little steep though.

The Zoo is smaller than the one in Denver but had quite a bit of diversity of animals. Our favorites included:

Tapir (The national animal of Belize.)

Ocelot

Jaguar

Harpy Eagle (Della’s new favorite bird!)

To San Ignacio

After finishing looking at all the animals, we headed back out to the highway. A westbound bus came by pretty quickly. We flagged it down and headed on to San Ignacio. We made it in plenty of time to find lodging and get some dinner.

A long 24 hours of travel but a fun introduction for our trip!

Why Belize?

11/10/201311/10/2013globegazers Leave a comment

Our visit to Belize was almost an accident. We had been planning to visit Ecuador all year. To that purpose, we had both worked hard to gain American Airlines miles so that we could get there! But as the summer grew closer, we found that there was just no availability to Ecuador. So, the research began. It was nice to have a slightly narrower focus – Where could we get to on our American Airlines miles? Belize quickly became the front-runner. A small country known for great water activities including snorkeling and diving as well as amazing Mayan ruins.

After further exploration, we found that Belize is a very easy place for Americans to visit. It is relatively close and inexpensive. In addition, the official language of Belize is English! U.S. dollars are widely accepted. The exchange rate couldn’t be easier to calculate – $1 to BZ$ 2.

We were sold! And, we loved it!