Exploring Belize's Inland

  Succotz Village, Belize
Thursday, May 10, 2007

How do you take four hours to go 60 miles? Take the local bus. It is a good way to see the country, get to know the locals and listen to your iPod but it does take a while. We stayed at the Trek Stop, a collection of rustic cabins and campsites in a tropical garden. It was delightful. It is run by Belizean and American partners. 

Lush Jungle

The Americans have the smallest share in the place but live there and run it. They are retired hippie biologists and he sounds just like Jimmy Stewart which is very charming. The place is very self contained with its own restaurant and even a butterfly garden and frisbee golf course. It has shared composting toilets and rainwater showers so it isn't for everyone; it is strictly for the backpacker set.

It is the end of dry season and the middle of slow season so there were just a few guests there. We met a friendly couple from North Carolina and they planned to go to Guatemala tomorrow to see Tikal, one of the premier Mayan sites. Julius couldn't go without a visa but insisted that I go. They were happy to have me come along, especially because it will make the trip cheaper for all of us.

Guatemala looks much more "Central American" than Belize. Everyone was speaking Spanish and looked indigenous to the area. Horses stood on the roadside looking skinny and bored. The road went from tarmac to dusty gravel and back again. After two hours on the bumpy road we were there.

We got a local guide who took us around to five of the six temples. This took most of the day. Thank God it was jungle so we could spend ample time in the shade. Midday sun here is a killer, much like Cambodia.

Despite the heat we climbed most of the temples. There were some amazing views. It was cool to imagine how it must have looked at the peak of the empire when between 100,000 and 200,000 people lived there. Although the stonework at Angkor temples was more impressive, the height and breadth of the temples here was amazing. Just the raised base below each temple must have taken decades to build.

The guide was interesting and if Julius was there he would call him Cherahani. Cherahani is Swahili for sewing machine and is what he calls people who talk a mile a minute. The guide started out on Mayan history, temple construction, astronomy and astrology. How the temples were built was very specific to different astronomical occurrences (sun and moon and planets would rise and set over different temples at different important dates). As the tour went on, however, he started blending all sorts of theories  - the coming dawn of a new era in 2012 (the last year in the Mayan calendar), how the Mayan ages corresponds to the astronomical ages (remember the musical Hair? "This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius..."). He moved further along with Chacras, energy fields and missing Gospels that "The Pope doesn't want you to know about" (likely meaning the Gnostic gospels). It all got tied up in a nice little conspiracy theory bow with his declaration that "The whole world order is actually managed by the Freemasons and the Kabbalah Jews." It always seems to come back to the Freemasons and the Jews, apparently.

     The trouble with a tour guide spouting controversial statements is that you start to wonder about his claims when he is on topic. Ethiopians sailing to Central America thousands of years before the Europeans? Really? Mayan priests traveling all over North, Central and South America to share their astrology and teachings? Priests and spiritual leaders from all indigenous tribes coming to Tikal for religious rites? These things could be true but I was left a bit skeptical. It did make me want to read more about the Mayans however and the site was really amazing. Another UNESCO success story.

         We eventually got back to our camp and joined Julius for ice cold beers and chicken, rice and beans, the Belizian's most popular (and we would argue best cooked) meal.

        The next day we relaxed a bit in the camp, enjoyed the nature and puttered around the village. It gave me time for my climbing muscles to recover for our next trip the following day to Actun Tunichil Muknal cave.

         We went with a different guide to this cave, a local man from the village who started his own company after working for quite a few years with another bigger cave company based in the nearby town San Ignacio. What we really love about the Trek Stop is that they support local businesses, guides and artists from their village. The guide was great, teaching us many things about the history of the cave and making sure we didn't kill ourselves. There were just four of us, Julius and I plus two sisters, Meghan and Maryrose from Philly. The cave required some swimming, sloshing around in ankle to waist deep water and climbing up some pretty high rock walls, all by the light of our headlamps! 

Caving

The cave was a Mayan religious site, where they went to appease the rain gods and make any necessary sacrifices. The place was stunning, covered in sparkling calcium deposits, stalactites and stalagmites. Among the natural beauty were plenty of pots used in religious rituals by the Mayans. Most interesting were the bones of the victims of human sacrifice that were left on the floor. The most famous of these were the bones of a young woman that are not only intact but in the same position where she died.

      We swam in the cool spring of the cave for a while after the tour but then had to reenter the heat of Belize. At least we missed the peak heat of the day! Back to the camp meant more ice cold beers, chicken beans and rice and chatting with more new friends.

       The next day it was off to Belize city for our flight out. The bus ride did not take as long as we thought so we got to hang around the airport a while. No matter. Some head of state arrived and was whisked away, though no one was quite sure which country he was from. We had more American Airlines flights ahead of us. Did we mention we hate American Airlines? We get some snack mix and soda for our international flight back to Miami. From Miami to Buenos Aires (a 10 hour flight) we get a blanket and pillow but no socks, toothbrush or eye masks. It is a 777 with movie screens on the seat but only one current movie on any of the ten channels. The food is terrible. Seriously, it is the worst food of any airline or train we have been on. And to cap it all off; there was no free alcohol. We are on a 10 hour international flight, people. No beer and wine unless you want to fork over $5 for a can? While all the other airlines happily handed out Baileys on the rocks whenever we requested and continuously passed around juice and water through the flight, the flight attendants here were MIA until it was time to toss a cold croissant and coffee in front of us a hour before the plane landed. At least we had mouthwatering food awaiting us at our destination.