Snorkeling in Caye Caulker

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One of the things that Belize is known for is being a premiere destination for diving. We don’t dive, but we do like to snorkel, so we figured we had to try it out while we were in Caye Caulker. Spoiler alert: it was awesome!

Our traveling partners from the Caracol journey had been to Caye Caulker a week earlier and had recommended a variety of places to us. For snorkeling, they gave a big recommendation for Blackhawk sailing tours. We decided it looked good to us as well, mainly because it seemed like a smaller, more personal experience than going with one of the big companies.

We set up the snorkel trip a couple of days in advance with captain Steve. We were also able to get our friends from Hopkins to come along, and they also invited along four people from their hostel. No one else had signed up for the day so we would have the boat to ourselves.

The day of the tour it had rained early, so we worried that the tour might be cancelled, but Steve said we could still go out.Steve fitted us with snorkels and fins and we went out to the boat, named the Seahawk.

Our crew for the day was Captain Steve and his helper / snorkel guide Charlie. The boat had a sail, but the conditions dictated that to get out to our snorkel destinations we had to use the motor instead.

Stop 1: Manatee Viewing

The Caye Caulker area is known for having a small number of manatees in some areas of the reef. It is hit-or-miss on whether they will be there on any given day, but Steve had heard that they were there on this day so our first stop was to where one was supposedly hanging out. When we got there, Charlie hurried us into the water because he could see the big tour on its way. We rushed out to the spot and saw the manatee! This was especially exciting for Della because she had written a big report on manatees in grade school. We weren’t supposed to get too close, so we kept our distance. But then the manatee swam towards us! We had to back up quickly. We then left the area and got back on the boat.

Stop 2: Shark Ray Alley

We then travelled along the reef to our next stop, called Shark Ray Alley. This was a place that local fisherman had used to clean their daily catch, and as a result nurse sharks and rays had known to congregate there. They get so excited when they hear a boat coming that they swim right up to it. Charlie just had us jump right in with them, which was a little scary! Luckily, they are not aggressive towards humans. We spent some time swimming among the sharks, some big rays, and a lot of fish.

Stop 3: Conch Shell Graveyard

The next stop was only a short distance away. Here there were a ton of empty conch shells that fisherman had discarded. The highlight of this stop was getting to swim with a giant sea turtle! After this stop, we had a provided lunch on our way to the next stop.

Stop 4: Hol Chan Marine Reserve

The final stop was in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, a part of the reef where the wildlife is protected. Our snorkeling stop was near the “Cut,” a channel that goes through the reef. The wildlife is especially vibrant here. You do have to be a little careful because there is a strong current coming through the cut, so we stuck together with Charlie. We saw a lot of different fish and even some more turtles. Some of the fish would even get close enough to touch!

After we were done snorkeling, Captain Steve and Charlie put up the sail and we sailed all the way back to Caye Caulker. They also put on some reggae music and passed around some rum punch. It was a very relaxing end to the day.

The only negative of the trip for us was that the cloudier conditions early in the day resulted in us not putting on much sunscreen. Bad idea! Eric wore a shirt so his main issue was the backs of his legs, but Della had a bad back burn herself.

Looking back on the trip,  we thought was perhaps the best snorkeling trip we had done. It certainly was the widest variety of marine life that we have ever seen snorkeling. Plus, the water was a pleasant temperature, the currents weren’t too bad, and the boat ride itself was not too long or bumpy. Highly recommended!

LobsterFest!

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From Hopkins to Caye Caulker via Belize City

We decided to leave Hopkins by taxi. At this point, we had begun to travel with the couple that went with us on our crazy day in Placencia. We figured that with four people, the taxi expense would not be too bad. Plus, it might be hard to catch a hitch all the way out to the main road. We were leaving on a Sunday, which unfortunately meant that the bus to Dangriga straight out of Hopkins was not running at all. We could have waited until Monday, but we knew that LobsterFest was big in Caye Caulker and it would still be going on through the weekend. We really wanted to make it! We had some sketchy information that the bus on the main road would pass by the Hopkins turn off at about 7 am. So, we woke up early and grabbed our taxi. The driver wanted to take us all the way to Dangriga, but we decided to risk it and see if the bus came. We were shocked when the bus showed up… exactly on time!! It was an easy bus ride that stopped in both Dangriga and Belmopan all the way to Belize City. We arrived at 10:30 am and got a cab to the water taxi terminal headed for Caye Caulker (~45 min boat ride).

LobsterFest!

We are so glad that we made it to Caye Caulker for LobsterFest. It was such a fun day. One whole end of the island was set up with stalls of trinkets or food… soooo much lobster! We wandered through the activities enjoying music, beer, and ice cream.

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There was also an entertainment tent set up with music and some dancing. We enjoyed several silly songs by a man who called himself the “Donkey Man.” But, then it really got good! They did several silly games.

Limbo! Della played but didn't win.

Limbo! Della played but didn’t win.

A weird game involving swinging a banana between your legs to hit a ball into a hula hoop.

A weird game involving swinging a banana between your legs to hit a mango to roll it into a hula hoop.

Tug of War!

Tug of War!

Largest Lobster! Wow! That's a lobster!

Largest Lobster! Wow! That’s a lobster!

Climbing a greased pole. There was a bag of money on the top. Four teams tried over and over again, falling increasingly far and scaring the crap out of us. No one made it in the end. =(

Climbing a greased pole. There was a bag of money on the top. Four teams tried over and over again, falling increasingly far and scaring the crap out of us. No one made it in the end. =(

It was a great day! IMG_8390

Hopkins Overview

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The second major town we stayed in on our Belize trip was the town of Hopkins. We had read in the Lonely Planet that this small fishing village was a good place to chill out at the beach and to experience the unique Garifuna culture.

Where We Slept

The Funky Dodo.This is the main hostel in town and seemed like a good place for the cost. We paid BZ $38/night for a private room (shared bathroom). The setup felt appropriate for the beach location: instead of a rooms in one big building, the different rooms were in their own small buildings that are connected with a wooden boardwalk over sand. The common areas are basically just tables scattered around the sandy courtyard. There are some nice hammocks as well, although we got seriously eaten by mosquitoes when we tried to use them. (This was common throughout Hopkins – we seem to have hit the high mosquito season). There is also a bar in the hostel with reasonably-priced drinks that we went to a couple of times. The hostel isn’t on the beach like some other properties, but it is a quick walk there. The shared bathrooms are accessed via the boardwalks as well, so they felt a bit rustic. Same with the communal kitchen, which is located outdoors.

Favorite Place to Eat

Driftwood Beach Bar & Pizza Shack. After our stressful 24 Hours in Guatemala and our adventures hitchhiking into Hopkins, we were ready to relax for a while. On our first evening in Hopkins, we made our way through town and eventually found our way to the Driftwood. The pizza is a little on the pricey side, but it is very good. Since it was the low season, we were the only patrons for dinner that night, so we got to take the best beach chairs and sit by the ocean, enjoying the nice cool sea breeze (good for keeping the mosquitoes away!) and some rum cocktails while the sun set. It was a perfect introduction to Hopkins. We enjoyed the vibe so much that we came back two more times.

Things to Do

Go to the Beach

Hopkins is a beach town, and has a reputation for being one of the better white sandy beaches in Belize. Unfortunately, we can’t really confirm this reputation. There had been a storm the previous week, and most of the beach was covered in driftwood and some trash. A few places that had been cleaned up were nice, but this wasn’t the case for most of the beach. We spent one day exploring the beach – first walking quite a ways south to some resort areas. We felt out of place there, so we headed all the way back and then up in the opposite direction to the Driftwood, which had cleaned up its stretch of beach. We spent the rest of the day lounging in beach chairs, reading, and exploring the water.

Garifuna Culture

Only spending two and a half days here didn’t really give us enough time to learn too much about this culture that is quite different that we had experienced in San Ignacio. If we had more time, we would have enjoyed sampling a few more local delicacies or learning more about the Garifuna drumming. Still, we enjoyed the friendly nature of the people, who gave us plenty of greetings on the street. It was also fun to buy some homemade snacks from a group of kids who rode around selling them from their bikes.

Placencia

A nice beach town not too far away. Just think carefully about your transportation options…

Summary

Hopkins provided a nice opportunity to relax on the beach and get away from the hustle and bustle of the first week of our trip. In the end, there wasn’t as much to do there as we had hoped, but sometimes it is nice to just relax!

Crazy Day in Placencia

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We find ourselves in the bed of a pickup truck, speeding up the highway from Placencia to Hopkins after having just watched our driver conduct a drug deal. The truck weaves back and forth over the middle line. We’re not particularly surprised given that the driver has stopped at least twice for a beer for the road. We look at each other and know we’re both thinking the same thing: “This is it… This is how we die.”

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How did we get here?  Well, a series of pretty logical-at-the-time choices that we would probably make again. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

Setting the Scene:

We arrived in Hopkins expecting a relaxing few days. We also knew that some of the bigger coastal towns were celebrating a yearly event called LobsterFest. We were slightly disappointed knowing that we were going to miss it, but had made the decision that going to Hopkins was the best use of our limited time despite knowing that there would be no partying or lobster-eating there.

Act 1: Successfully Being Backpackers

Upon arriving in Hopkins the prior night, we successfully found our way to the hostel The Funky Dodo. Despite the humidity and bugs, Eric decided to do the social thing and read his book in the shared courtyard. He meets another young couple and begins to chat. They are on their honeymoon here in Belize and seem like fun! After a nice conversation, they explain that they met an American expat in town at dinner. They had struck up conversation and he had invited them to drive down to Placencia with him for the LobsterFest! They admitted that the expat (who I will now call Bill for simplicity’s sake) was potentially a little crazy in the not-unusual American expat in Latin America way, but he seemed friendly enough. He had offered them the drive for company, gas money, and a few beers. They seemed to have done sufficient reconnaissance, even asking around the restaurant to several locals, who assured them that Bill often enjoyed the company of tourists, and that he was a good guy. It sounded like a great opportunity to us, and we were thrilled when our new friends asked us to join them and Bill on their day to Placencia. We went to bed congratulating ourselves on successfully meeting like-minded backpackers and finding our way to LobsterFest after all.

Act 2: The Trip Down

It rained all night, and when the sun rose sullenly the next morning, we weren’t sure whether the trip was on. Our new friends still planned on it and we all headed out to the appointed intersection to meet Bill. After waiting for about 45 minutes with nothing to show for it, our friends went back to the restaurant where they had met him and had the owner call.  He showed up a few minutes later in a 4 door pickup truck. He hadn’t been expecting to drive 4 tourists down so he had brought his own guest and the rest of us crowded into the back. Here we had our first hint that perhaps we were in for an adventurous day. It was about 9:30 am and Bill’s companion (and we will continue to refer to her as such because we were never formally introduced) was starting the morning with a beer and a joint. Oh well, we thought, we’re all on vacation today!

Bill explained a lot about the areas we drove past as we headed south toward Placencia. We learned a lot and enjoyed his stories and various opinions about the changes he had seen in Belize in the past years. Though, we were slightly concerned again as we stopped about 45 minutes into the trip at a road side bar where he purchased a beer, which he chugged quickly while we checked out the bathroom, and then on we went!

Some of the huge mansions outside Placencia

Some of the huge mansions outside Placencia

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Act 3: Placencia

We arrived safely in Placencia before noon. Placencia was a nice, but touristy town. We were shocked as we passed some of the outskirts with enormous mansions. It seemed a stark contrast to most of what we had seen in Belize so far as well as the smaller hovels closer in. It turned touristy again near town center with a lot of shops and little restaurants. Bill took us straight to the beach where our LobsterFest plans began in earnest. We immediately saw a small shack where a Belizean woman was cooking up lobsters. She took our orders and told us to return in 25 min for a delicious lobster lunch. We were confident that we were getting completely fresh lobster cooked in a local way – score! While eating, we met yet another couple on their honeymoon as well. The 6 of us hit it off, and they invited us to walk the beach with them. Bill told us to have fun, enjoy the day, and find him when we were ready to go home. We was a little concerned about leaving him with no super apparent way to get back in touch, but the laid back Belizean attitude eventually overwhelmed our worries. We left him and his companion and a waterfront bar and off we went to enjoy a lovely walk along the beautiful sand beaches of Placencia and a short dip in the warm water. We relaxed, ate icecream, drank beer and rum, and overall had a lovely time… until Della looked at her watch and realized it was past 3!

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Act 4: Where it got pretty weird… and potentially dangerous

By this point, the original couple we had traveled with were a little tipsy and having a really good time. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry to find Bill again. We felt that we needed to, as we weren’t quite sure how far his laid back attitude would go. In fact, we somewhat suspected that if we weren’t back when he felt like leaving, we just might end up with no ride back to Hopkins at all, especially that had likely been drinking all day. So, with several bouts of gentle nudging we got ourselves back on our way toward where we had left Bill. It turned out that we were right, and we actually ran into Bill a few minutes later… He was in his truck, heading out of town!  Luckily he did stop and we breathed a sigh of relief that we wouldn’t have to figure out alternative transportation. We had been so cramped on the drive down, and it was now much hotter, so we decided to ride in the bed of the truck and give the other couple the seats. And I think we were really glad that we did. The first hint of problem occurred when the truck took an unexpected turn off the main road and began its way into a clearly more impoverished part of Placencia. Here is what occurred as we saw it from the bed of the truck without hearing any conversations:

We stop and Bill’s companion gets out of the car.  She stumbles over to where there are several kids sitting in lawn chairs by the road. Words are exchanged along with what looks like a wad of cash. We start to feel uncomfortable as several of the local adults and kids around glare at us. The kid who took Bill’s companion’s money ran off down the street as we waited. At this time, the same thought went through both our heads: This seems a lot like the Wire!  Uh oh…  We continue to wait, but the boy does not come back. After awhile, Bill’s companion gets noticeably perturbed and begins to yell at the girls still with her. They yell back. After watching for awhile, the only thing we can guess is that they took her money but did not transfer any product. We still don’t know exactly what happened, but after a lot of yelling and Bill getting out of the car to grab his companion, we were back on our way. Phew.

Oh yeah, and Bill stopped another time on the way back to get a beer to go from one of the highway side pubs. He was almost stumbling by this time.

Act 5: Reflection

It turns out we were lucky to be in the back of the truck- though if there had been a drunken crash, we surely would have died. But the couple who rode in the car said that they had it even worse than fear of the death- because Bill and his companion argued forcefully the entire way back. The day makes for an interesting story and there were definitely some enjoyable moments, but we came back feeling exhausted and just relieved that we were alive. The trip soured the time so much for our companions that they debated on leaving Hopkins several days earlier than they planned.

Lessons Learned: It is always wonderful to work the normal backpacker adventures into a trip, though it is probably advisable to have backup plans in case something goes wrong.

Pros: We bonded enough out of the experience that we traveled with the other couple for the rest of our trip and quite enjoyed them. (We ultimately convinced them not to leave Hopkins early, and I think they appreciated that in the end.)

From Guatemala to Hopkins via the Hummingbird Highway

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After our 24 hours in Guatemala, our next stop was to go all the way to the coastal town of Hopkins in Belize. This would involve traversing a decent portion of the country, but luckily it’s not a big place!

Still, it would have been a long travel day to try and do it in one day, so we decided to break the trip up by stopping along the way on the Hummingbird Highway.

From Guatemala to the Hummingbird Highway

As stated in the previous post, to get out of Guatemala we re-traced our steps from the day before. We walked back from El Remate to the main highway, then almost immediately caught a colectivo back to the border. At that point we actually had leftover Quetzales, so we bought some drinks and snacks before crossing over.

Once we were in Belize, we took a series of transportation options that actually flowed together smoothly:

  • A shared taxi from the border to the town of Benque (just 2 km away)
  • A bus leaving from Benque headed east
  • Got off the bus at the transit center in Belmopan. We had time here to take a bathroom break.
  • Got on a bus headed south along the Hummingbird Highway

Hummingbird Lodge

The Hummingbird Highway goes through the most mountainous part of Belize, so it is quite pretty. We decided to spend a night in this part of the country but Lonely Planet didn’t really list any good budget options. Then we randomly found a a cheap place listed on Trip Advisor called the Hummingbird Lodge (website, Trip Advisor). However, since our schedule was flexible, we had never actually contacted the place to make sure they really existed / were open, so we weren’t sure it was going to work, but we decided to give it a go anyway!

The website is pretty vague about directions to the place – all we knew to tell the bus conductor was a mile marker and some random business signs. Luckily he knew what we were talking about! Still, we were apprehensive about being at the right place… but it turned out we were!

The Hummingbird Lodge turned out to be a pretty neat place to stay. There were only a few other travelers there, but they all had interesting and varied stories to tell. We took advantage of the swimming hole on the property (although the temperatures in the mountains were noticeably cooler  than those in San Ignacio and Guatemala).

We did make one big mistake though: we didn’t have any food with us. We were assuming there would be some sort of market nearby, but we weren’t counting on this place being as isolated as it was. Luckily, the fellow guests let us share with the meal they were cooking.

We only spent one night at the Hummingbird Lodge, but it definitely helped recharge our travel batteries after the Guatemala whirlwind.

To Hopkins

The next morning we headed back out to the Hummingbird Highway and waited for the next southbound bus to continue our journey to Hopkins. We were unclear of the schedule so it felt like we waited a while, but a bus eventually came.

We got off the bus in the town of Dangriga because we knew we needed to transfer to a separate bus to the smaller town of Hopkins, since it is not on the main highway. However, we quickly realized that we had missed the morning bus from Dangriga to Hopkins, and the next one would not be coming until much later. A taxi driver offered to drive us there, but we declined while we thought about our options.

After heading into town briefly to restock on cash, we decided to catch the next southbound bus out of Dangriga. It wouldn’t go to Hopkins, but it would drop us off at the turnoff to to the town. And we had read that plenty of people hitchhiked from there, so again we would take a leap of faith.

As it turned out, there were a few locals who were also doing the same thing, so we didn’t feel like we were doing something too outlandish. It was interesting to try and figure out the etiquette in who took the limited spots in cars that stopped to offer a ride!

Unfortunately, the number of cars that did stop was pretty low. Even the locals said that it was taking abnormally long to find a ride. Eventually we did get a ride in a van that was passing by. It turned out that the occupants of vehicles were on a mission trip from the Dallas area of all places!

We got the van to drop us off at our hostel in Hopkins, and then the next phase of the trip began…

24 Hours in Guatemala

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When we’re writing these blogs, we hope to pass along our stories in part that they may help others in the future with their travels. Most of the time we hope our decisions provide examples of what one should do… but this will be more of an example of what not to do. Seeing Tikal was great… but seeing it in 2 hours is not really recommended.

Decision Time

As we were planning our time in San Ignacio, one of the selling points was the fact that Tikal, one of the most impressive Mayan ruins, was located just across the border in Guatemala. Della had been there previously and really wanted to share it with Eric. Tour companies offered day trips there, but we decided it would be cheaper and more flexible to use public transportation to get there.

Our original plan had been to get to the Tikal area in one day, do Tikal, and then head back the next. However, as our time in San Ignacio wound down, we began to question if we should do it differently. We spent one less day in San Ignacio than we originally planned, so we could spend two nights in Guatemala. On the other hand, we were starting to feel a little bit jaded by Mayan ruins, since we had seen so many in San Ignacio already. So maybe we should just not go at all?

We dawdled a bit in the morning as we tried to decide between the two options. In the end, Eric decided that he didn’t want to miss seeing Tikal so we decided to do the two-night option. We bid farewell to San Ignacio and headed west.

Into Guatemala

There are a few different options for getting to Guatemala from San Ignacio. The main public bus only runs as far as Benque, a town which is still 2 miles from the border (so you would have to take a cab once you got there). The other option is to take a cab from San Ignacio directly to the border. We were able to negotiate a reasonable fare, so we chose the latter option.

At the border, we made a decision which was the main contributor to our later travel mistakes. At the border there are many money changers who would convert Belizean dollars to Guatemalan quetzales. We hadn’t really thought about how much to convert, so we tried to quickly calculate how much we thought we would need for two nights in Guatemala plus Tikal entrance. The money changer was helpful in telling us how much things would cost, plus Della felt that Guatemala was very cheap based on her previous visit, so we felt pretty comfortable with the amount we exchanged…

Quetzales Left: 700

We then crossed out of Belize and into Guatemala on foot. On the Guatemala side we found the building for people coming in (not immediately obvious), paid a fee, and got our passports stamped.

Quetzales Left: 660

As soon as we were done, we were asked by a cab driver where we were headed. We told him El Remate, a small town that is on the way to Tikal. He wanted to drive us all the way there, but we declined since our plan was to take a cheap colectivo (shared minibus). Eventually we agreed that we would pay him to drive us to the place where the colectivo picked up. There was still some confusion at the end because he thought we agreed to 10 Qs per person, but we thought 10 total. As we pulled up, it appeared a colectivo was about to leave, so we rushed out of the taxi and only gave him 10. This left a sour taste in our mouth though.

Quetzales Left: 650

The colectivo conductor threw our bags on top and we piled in. Riding a colectivo is quite the experience! The vehicle is about the size of a normal passenger van, and they cram as many people as possible in them for each trip. We were some of the last ones on, so we had to ride on a tiny bench facing backwards, knee to knee with another row of seats. We got to dust off our Spanish skills to communicate with the conductor about the cost (English is not very widely spoken in Guatemala – quite a shift from Belize). The cost was 30 Qs per person, which was more than we had budgeted. We wondered if we were getting a tourist upcharge but there was no easy way to tell.

Quetzales Left: 590

The colectivo did not go all the way to El Remate, so we had to ask to be let off at a highway junction called Ixlu (also called El Cruce). We then hiked a mile or so along the side of the road into town. We then had an unpleasant surprise when we discovered that the cheap hostel listed in Lonely Planet was closed. So we continued on to the next listing we liked in the book, Hostel Hermano Pedro. We decided to get a room there, because the one we were shown was nice and spacious. We probably should have tried to negotiate a lower deal, since we seemed to be the only ones there, but the desk clerk didn’t speak English so we didn’t try.

Quetzales Left: 490

At this point, it was only about noon. We talked it over and decided that it didn’t seem like much was going on in El Remate, so we decided to try and go to Tikal after all. This would mean switching back to our original one night plan, but it seemed like it would be a waste of an afternoon not to go.

Plus, we were starting to worry about money. We knew that the entrance fee to Tikal was 150 Qs per person, so that would leave us with 190. Then, we needed to reserve 30 Qs per person for the colectivo back to Belize – so 90 Qs left for transportation to and from Tikal plus dinner that night. Also, the only ATM in town was broken. Everything in Guatemala so far had been more expensive than Della remembered, so we didn’t have much optimism about being able to survive on such a low amount. And we knew we didn’t have enough for another night’s worth of lodging, so our best thought at the time was to go ahead and go to Tikal.

An Afternoon in Tikal

We headed out to the main road in El Remate to catch a colectivo to Tikal. We thought they ran fairly regularly, but a local expat did come by and warn us that they ran less frequently in the afternoon. We waited… and waited… and waited,… and just when we were about to give up we see the colectivo coming up the road. We decide to take it. It is also 30 Qs per person, but only crowded instead of ridiculously crowded.

Quetzales Left: 430

Unfortunately, the colectivo took a long time to travel the distance to Tikal. Since these are shared buses, they stop whenever anyone wants to get on or off. This one made a lot of stops, including two where we had to spend about 5 minutes waiting for bags and bags of dry goods to be unloaded for the passenger getting off. We didn’t get to the park until almost 2:15. We knew the park stayed open until 6, so while not ideal, we still had some time to explore. But… the conductor told us to be back by “cuatro y media”. Once the translation hit us, we realized we only had two hours to explore Tikal! But, at this point we didn’t have any choice. We paid the entrance fee and started race walking into the park.

Quetzales Left: 130

We made it to the Gran Plaza, took a few seconds to catch our breath and admire the tall ruins surrounding the courtyards, and then dashed off on a loop of what seemed to allow us to see the highlights. We walked at a brisk pace past the many impressive ruins, pausing only briefly to read something about them. Certainly not enough time for any sort of reflection, although at the same time we had just seen a bunch of other Mayan ruins so we could somewhat justify a quick glance.

One big difference between Tikal and the ruins we saw in Guatemala is that you are not allowed to climb to the top of most of the ruins in Tikal. The one exception is Templo IV, which has a steep wooden staircase going up the side. We took this up and finally paused for a moment. The shade and breeze from the top of the 210-foot tall structure were a welcome relief, especially since we were getting pretty worn out from walking so fast in the summer afternoon heat. The view from the top is pretty neat because you can see the tops of the other tall temples just barely sticking out of the thick jungle. When we were there, we could see and hear a thunderstorm in the distance as well. That plus the grunts of the howler monkeys made for a fun aural experience.

We eventually regained some stamina and headed back down. We completed the loop back to the Gran Plaza and did a little exploring there.

We made it back to the colectivo pickup point with 15 minutes to spare. The ride back to El Remate also cost 30 Qs per person.

Quetzales Left: 70

Food, Food Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Eat

Back in El Remate with only 70 Qs left, and knowing we needed 60 to get back to Belize, we were at a loss for what exactly to do about dinner. We decided to walk around and see if we could find a place that would accept a credit card. We walked up and down a few times trying to find the places listed in Lonely Planet, and we struck out at multiple – no credit card machine or closed due to the low season. We thought we had found one place but their machine was broken!

We almost lost hope, but then Eric remembered on the walk into town there was a fancy resort, so we decided to take a long walk down there as one last hope. As it turned out, this was our saving grace. They would take a credit card for dinner, but we decided it was an even better deal to use their money changing service to change some US dollars into quetzales. Even though their restaurant didn’t look to be the cheapest option in town, we were so worn out/relieved that we just decided to eat there anyway. We had a Gallo beer and some decent food and watched the sun set over the lake.

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The next morning, with fresh quetzales in our pocket, we left El Remate and walked back down to Ixlu. A colectivo came by almost immediately. We hopped on and rode back to the border. At this point we actually had a few extra quetzales left, so we bought some snacks and then changed the rest with a moneychanger on the Guatemala side. We got our passports stamped and headed back over the border, just about 24 hours after we had done the reverse.

Conclusions

We really regret that in the end, we only were able to spend two hours in Tikal. Such a rich site deserves to have much more time devoted to it. Reflecting back on the experience, we can say

  • We should have given more thought to how much money we got in the first money exchange. It was bad to assume that Guatemala was going to be so cheap. Plus, it was bad to try and cut it so close with what we did get. A buffer is always better.
  • We should have thought more about the decision to go to El Remate in the low season. The cheap hostel being closed affected our budget. Plus maybe in the high season the ATM would have been functional, or there would have been fellow travelers to provide some advice. We still enjoyed El Remate as a base to visit Tikal, but we should have budgeted more money to cover these incidentals.
  • Sometimes it might make sense to pay attention to when everyone else is going someplace. We had heard that more people visited Tikal in the morning, but we figured it would be better to go when it was less crowded. But, if we had stuck with the plan to go in the morning, there would have been more transportation options,and it would have been more pleasant.
  • It’s not good to let panic drive your decisions. When we started to get worried about money, we charged ahead with plans to go to Tikal instead of sitting back and really working through our options. Perhaps if we had not tried to immediately go to Tikal, we would have remembered sooner about the fancy resort where we eventually changed money.
  • Fast travel is not necessarily the best travel. We got to “see” what we wanted to see, but it wasn’t nearly as fulfilling as the rest of the stops on our trip.

San Ignacio Overview

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We will try to give an overview of the cities that we stay in on our travels. Our first stay in Belize was in San Ignacio. It is probably the best place to stay in the Cayo District of Belize (where the majority of the Mayan ruins of Belize are).

Where we slept: Hi-Et Guesthouse. We choose to spent all 6 nights of our stay in San Ignacio here. We enjoyed a very small double room with a shared bathroom for BZ$ 25/night. Our room had a small balcony overlooking the town which we loved and ate breakfast on every morning. Hi-Et is not a hostel, so we did not have use of any common area, though there was a shared refrigerator. We were there in low season so we did not have many people staying with us. It was quiet and comfortable.

Favorite Place to Eat: Our favorite place was a small Belizean place right across the street from the Hi-Et Guesthouse: Cenaida’s. We returned here twice because of the good, affordable Belizean food and the friendly service. It was never too crowded and did not feel as touristy as some of the restaurants/bars on the main drag.

Things to Do: (Note that these are in the order that we did them, not ranked in any way!)

  • Cahal Pech (Our Mayan Ruin #1): This ruin is within easy walking distance from the center of San Ignacio. We walked south of town up some rather large hills. We did need to ask for directions a couple of times. Cahal Pech is the oldest ruin in Belize and looked a bit different than several of the others we visited. It was generally smaller and more covered by jungle.
  • Branch Mouth Swimming Hole: We heard about this from our Lonely Planet guidebook. It touted it as a beautiful swimming hole at the confluence of the Mopan and Macal Rivers, just outside of town. The walk was definitely longer and we expected, and the swimming hole a little less nice. But, the great benefit was that we felt like we were completely outside the tourist zone of San Ignacio. We walked for a long way down a less used dirt road beside large plots of farm land. When we reached the confluence, it was definitely nice to take a quick dip in the river. We were the only ones there! There was also a hanging rope bridge across the Mopan. We enjoyed walking over and briefly exploring the other side. There would be a lot of cool stuff to see on that side, though we did not feel like we had the time to explore too much more.
  • Saturday Market: We enjoyed wandering through the market on Saturday morning.  There were many stalls selling local foods and crafts. We enjoyed some freshly made empanadas and burritos. There is nothing quite like watching them make the tortillas right in front of you. Yum! We also really enjoyed buying some fresh cheese from a Mennonite. There are many Mennonites in Belize, but it is always a surprise to see them. They definitely stand out, often being tall, blond, blue-eyed, and speaking low German. They also drive horse-drawn buggies. It definitely reminded us of being in Amish country a little bit.
  • Xunatunich. See Post.
  • Music in Town Square: There were several nights were we experienced free music in the town square. There was multiple performances by local groups which we quite enjoyed.
  • ATM Tour. See Post.
  • Caracol Tours. See Post.
  • Tikal Tours. See Post.

Overall, we really enjoyed San Ignacio. It is a great place to stay to really get a feel of the Belizean Mayan ruins. We definitely recommend it!

Mayan Ruin #3: Caracol (and more)

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When we were researching various Mayan ruins near San Ignacio, there was one that kept popping up that sounded amazing: Caracol. It was one of most recently rediscovered ruins (1937) and the biggest in Belize. In fact, it was a real rival to neighboring Tikal in Guatemala. Not something to be missed! However, it was not very easy to get to, so we had to come up with a plan!

Step 1: Decide whether or not to take a tour.
Not nearly as many people visit Caracol as do the other nearby ruins (in part because there are no easy cruise excursions here). But, several of the tour offices do offer day long trips to Caracol. The cost seemed outrageous. Up to $100 per person for trip of only 40 km outside of San Igancio. Decision: No Tour

Step 2: Explore how to get there without a tour.
The guidebook made it clear that it was perfectly possible to get to Caracol on your own. Only a few problems: there is no public transportation available AND you are going to be traveling through undeveloped jungle near the Guatemalan border and there have been reports of hijackings along the way! The good news is that it had been approximately 15 years since any of those had been reported, in part because the Belizean government had set up a military convoy into and out of Caracol. If you want the safety of the convoy, you must arrive at the starting point by 9 am and you must leave the ruins by 2 pm. Decision: It shouldn’t be too bad – let’s do it!

Step 3: Rent a Car.
We wandered around San Ignacio one afternoon visiting various rental car places listed in our guidebook. We pretty much went with the first one we found and were able to talk with someone (Matus Car Rental). Renting a car in Belize is an amazing experience compared with the US. It went like this: We ask for a car. They quote a price for the day. We say we will do it and go to sign the papers. They give us one easy to understand paper to sign. We ask for what the hidden fees are. They look at us like we’re crazy and confirm that it indeed the quoted price for the day, no more. We are shocked. Decision: Rent cars in Belize!

Step 4: Find Travel Friends!
We have discovered through our past trips that some of the best days happen when you rent a car, find some new friends, and strike out to something off the beaten path. Going to Caracol was the perfect opportunity, so all we needed were some travel buddies. Luckily, our prior trip to Xunatunich provided us with what we needed. We met a really wonderful couple on the top of El Castillo. He was from South Africa, she was from Slovakia, and they were amazing travel companions. Decision: Travel friends are one of the best reasons to travel!

Step 5: Go For it!
We picked up our rental car early in the morning. The first challenge was that the front tire seemed to be flat.

“No problem,” says the rental owner, “you can grab some air at the gas station down the road.” Suspiciously, we ask, “How much does that cost??” Long silence… “Air? Air is free!” He looks at us like we were insane. Who in their right mind could possibly charge for air? Oh…

We filled up the tire, retrieve our travel companions and head off towards Caracol. Della had to drive because Eric still hasn’t learned how to drive a stick shift! 😉 The road became pretty bumpy quickly, but not too bad when you compare it to some roads in Gilpin county. We made it to the military checkpoint with plenty of time to spare. The guards looked a little bored and were definitely not worried about anything bad happening. They told us we could wait for the convoy if wanted… or not. We took this as a good sign, but still decided to wait. When the convoy actually happened, it really wasn’t very regimented but we definitely made it safely to the ruins. The last 10 miles in were actually on paved road which was a wonderful change the from the gravelly, washboard road we had been traveling on prior.

We enjoyed a marvelous day at Caracol. We climbed to the top of Caana, which at about 141 ft is still one of the tallest man made buildings in Belize. We saw some great stellae ruins and the Temple of the Wooden Lintel which has an original wooden lintel! The great thing about how hard Caracol is to get to is that not very many people go. We often felt like we were the only ones there.

We left as recommended, with the military convoy at 2 pm. We were pretty tired, but our traveling companions suggested two stops on the way back that were supposed to be lovely: The Rio On Pools and Big Rock Falls. Rio On Pools were very easy to find and provided an excellent way to cool off on the hot Belizean day. Big Rock Falls were a bit of a harder challenge. They ended up requiring us to drive into what turned out to be an expensively exclusive resort and then to wander aimlessly through till we made a good guess as to where to park. But, despite the difficulty finding the place, it was amazing! We arrived back in San Ignacio after dark, exhausted but content!  Decision: Get yourself to Caracol! It is fantastic day!

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One of the tallest man-made structures in Belize!

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Climbing Caana

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We made it!

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Top of Caana

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Beautiful Stella

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This is what ruins looks like before their excavated. It’s a wonder they’re ever found!

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Wooden Lintel – original!

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Our trusty rental car

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Enjoying Rio On Pools

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Beautiful way to end the day: Big Rock Falls

Click here to see the route we took. 

Cave Adventure: Actun Tunichil Muknal

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One of the activities we were most looking forward to in our time in San Ignacio was a visit to the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave (called ATM for short). This cave is undeveloped so it is quite an adventure just to explore. Plus, there are also Mayan artifacts and skeletons in a large chamber inside. We enjoy cave formations and we enjoy Mayan ruins, so this was an excellent activity for us!

Because of the unique nature of the cave and its artifacts, you have to go there as part of a guided tour. The tours were quite expensive, but we decided it was a unique opportunity. We evaluated a few different tour guides and eventually chose Mayawalk because their offering was slightly cheaper. (We were warned their their tour would be rushed and impersonal, but that would turn out to be far from the truth).

Our ATM tour was composed of us and 6 other people. We drove out to the trailhead with our guide Martin and started the mile-long walk to the cave.

By the way, we don’t have any pictures from this adventure. A few years ago, a tourist dropped a camera on an ancient Maya skull, leaving a giant crack. So, the powers that be decided to ban cameras altogether.

The walk out to the cave turned out to be pretty interesting just on its own. Martin would stop frequently to show us something interesting, such as leafcutter ants or cohune nuts (which we ate). There were also three river crossings which we had to ford. After some recent rains, the water was moving pretty swiftly!

After a quick snack break, it was time to go into the cave itself. We put on our hard hats and headed for the cave. The entrance to the cave is pretty unique-you have to swim 20 feet across a deep pool of water! Some people indicated it was going to be difficult to get across, but it turned out to be easy.

The first mile of the cave was definitely a pretty wild experience. This is not a calm path with a handrail – you are walking into an undeveloped area. The cave has water running through it which you are walking against most of the time ankle deep but in some cases chest deep!

At one point Martin had us stop so he could look at our neck size, We were a little confused, but after going through the obstacle it made sense – you had to go through some chest deep water between two boulders.The best way is to go through with your neck between the skinniest part!

Martin had us walk one calmer stretch without flashlights – only being guided by placing our hand on the person in front of us. Here is a re-creation of what that looked like:

Pitch Black Darkness

After about a mile of spelunking,we got to the chamber with the Mayan artifacts. We took off our shoes because the artifacts are just lying on the ground right next to you, so they really didn’t want us stepping on them.

First, we looked at many different examples of Mayan pottery. It seemed as if they were arranged into ceremonial offering sites. Martin had us as a group try and interpret what the layout might symbolize. We weren’t ever sure if we got it “right,” but that might have been the point.

Then, we got to see actual skeletons of the Mayans that are still in the cave today. Over time, they have been calcified by the elements and almost look like part of the cave. It was pretty amazing to be able to observe them from a few feet away with nothing separating us. The most impressive remains are what they call the “Crystal Maiden,” a well-preserved female skeleton whose calcification causes the bones to sparkle.

Crystal Maiden - from Wikipedia

Crystal Maiden – from Wikipedia

Because our group spent so long doing various interpretations, we were the last of the various tour groups that day out of the cave. At this point we were also starting to get pretty cold – our clothes were still wet from going through the water, and there isn’t any warm sunlight to dry us off underground! Therefore, we walked out of the cave and then down the trail much faster than we did one the way in. We had a late provided “lunch” back at the van, and then headed back to San Ignacio.

Overall, we really enjoyed the trip and would highly recommend seeing ATM if you are in San Ignacio. It is worth the cost if you have any interest in caves or ancient artifacts. It certainly does not feel like something that you would be allowed to do in the US without filling out extensive paperwork!

Mayan Ruin #2 Xunantunich

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.