Hello all!
This semester in Belize is winding down, and I am ready to be home for the summer. I am feeling very tired in the broad sense of the word. However, I am still having fun. This past weekend, Jess and I did all the touristy things around San Ignacio that we missed before.
Saturday, our plan was to go to the National Zoo and then go to the inland Blue Hole (a sink hole filled with gorgeous blue water). After getting up nice and early, we took a long bus ride out to the Zoo. It was a hot day and I was already sweating by the time we walked up the road to the visitor center from the bus stop. At the entrance, I had a funny encounter. On my Whale Shark dive in Placencia, Dad and I had met a group of Japanese who came here to Belize to do service work for two years. At the zoo, I met a group of them with the leader of the group I had just gone diving with two weeks prior. On top of that I met with an old guide of mine from La Milpa. He was giving a tour to some British Uni students who were here for a week. This made me realize how small Belize really is. I know lots of people from almost every district and have run into them multiple times now!
The Zoo itself was excellent, after seeing it two years ago at night; it was much different during the day. Many more animals were out in their caged habitat. We saw spider monkeys, tapir, wild peccary, two types of jaguar (normal and black!) and much more. There are some amazing pictures on Snapfish so check them out if you can J
After the Zoo, we hopped on the next bus and decided to call it a day. It was very hot and we weren’t going to have much time to visit the Blue Hole, so we saved that for another day. The one loss of the day was my sunglasses that had already broke, but had fixed with tap. They snapped a second time and were done for good…
Sunday, Jess and I went to Xunantinich (spelled fairly accurately and pronounced Soo-nan-tin-itch). We got very lucky this day with rides. On the way there we took a collective taxi to the ferry for only 4 Belize dollars. Then, on the ferry we met a couple with a pickup truck that we hopped in the back and rode up the one mile to the entrance. There we spent a couple hours marveling over the beauty of the ruins. From the top of the highest ruin you could see all the way into Guatemala and all the way back to San Ignacio, since it was 180 ft tall and on top of a big hill. The view was breathtaking.
On the way back, we started walking down the long mile, but got picked up by a group of people from Punta Gorda who had come up to see the championship soccer game that took place that day. We got a ride all the way back to the Cahal Pech, where we went for a nice long swim. We were supposed to go to the soccer game but we were both tired and just relaxed. The proceeding day was our big trip to the Actun Tunicchil Munical caves!
After another early wakeup, Jess and I got our bags together, ate breakfast and headed to Mayawalk, a tour group in San Ignacio. It was raining, but as soon as we got in the car it stopped. The ride there was uneventful but bumpy. We had been down the same road on our way to the STAND center a month or more prior. Two years ago I had gotten to go on this wonderful tour with Dad and our eco-tourist group on my senior year spring break. It was really fun remembering going into the cave with those people because this was our first real formative experience as a group. There is a 45 minute hike in before you even get to the cave, so by the time you are there, you are ready to hike through the cave in some pretty deep water!
The entrance is a majestic maw with a river running out of it. Right away, you have to swim in some deep water to get across to the rocks. The cave runs about 5 kilometers deep but we only get to go in about half way. There are amazing geological formations and some very interesting artifacts all over. When you get half way through, you have to climb up some rocks to a ledge high above. There, the cave continues on in another direction, up from the water. That’s where the Maya came to perform their sacred rituals. There are numerous pots strewn all over the cave and even some bones of sacrificed youth! After seeing some more marvelous formations, you climb a latter and view the piece-du-resistance: A fully intact female skeleton.
For me it was amazing seeing the caves again, but it was even more fun to share that experience with Jess. I have a lot of memories of that cave and I don’t believe anyone will be able to enter it soon due to damage caused by tourists. It is one unique experience that may not be here the next time I come to Belize.
This weekend was fantastic. I am glad I got to do all the local stuff. All that is left on that front is to do a horseback ride through the jungle and visit the Blue Hole. Plans are still coming together for the final trip for Jess and I. We are now able to leave on the 2nd of May, giving us more time to see Guatemala and Nicaragua! I am very excited!
This weekend, I will be doing my service learning project in Arizona. Things finally came together with our project partner and now we will be clearing the land on Friday, giving a bio-char fertilizer demonstration on Saturday, and digging the holes on Sunday! It will be a lot of work but I think it should be lots of fun!
On top of that, I have to write the conclusion of our group paper that is due next Thursday, but that cant be done until this weekend is over :-/
Ok, well time to get back to writing my paper, hope everyone is enjoying more spring up!
Best wishes,
Colin
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