A few days ago I returned home after a 10-day trip to Belize and Guatemala. I went on the trip as a 30th birthday present to myself. The trip was long enough that I’m going to split my recap into 2 parts; here’s part 1!
Day 1 – travel and Belize City
My day started with a 5am taxi to the Tucson airport, but the early start meant I’d have some time to explore once I got to Belize City.
Unfortunately, we ended up spending a bit longer in Houston than planned – rumor in the terminal was that the plane needed a replacement life vest and none could be located. Who knows if that was really the issue.
Regardless, we did get to Belize City safely in the end, and I got through customs and into my taxi by 4pm. My lodging for the night was nothing special; a $30/night guest house with nothing but a bed and a fan in the room. That’s right, no air conditioning, even though it was close to 90F and very humid out. It also had a shared bathroom. But it’s what I expected and you can’t beat that price so all was well.
There’s not much to do in Belize City, but I did go for a walk around downtown, where there are still a few British colonial buildings left (Belize didn’t become independent until 1981!) and a few other buildings of interest. It’s not the most comfortable place for a solo female traveler to be walking around, so I stopped for a typical Belizian dinner (rice and beans and stew chicken) as the sun set then made my way home. I was asleep by 8.
A church in Belize City.
Monument recognizing 30 years of Belize independence.
Day 2 – Belize City and San Ignacio
Though there isn’t a ton to do in Belize City, there are a couple things that I wanted to make sure I did. One was this:
Excuse the finger in the corner.
Actually that’s it. There’s really not that much to do/see there. So I just wandered around for a bit before checking out of my hotel and heading to the bus terminal.
My friend Becka from the UK met me at the terminal, and we took the next bus to San Ignacio, which is near the border with Guatemala. The bus ride took about 3 hours (it would probably be about 2 in a taxi) but it only cost $4.50 and it gave us the opportunity to see a lot of the countryside.
On arrival in San Ignacio, we noticed a small festival by the river and sat nearby watching and listening to music for a while.
Some sort of festival at the river in San Ignacio.
We also saw the country’s one and only suspension bridge while we meandered around town. Apparently the entire country also has just 2 stoplights (1 in San Ignacio and 1 in Belize City).
Belize’s one and only suspension bridge.
We ended the day with a cheap but tasty Belizean dinner and went to bed early – there was a lot planned for the next couple of days!
Day 3 – Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Cave
Wow. What an incredible day. Becka and I took a tour of the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Cave and, though it was pricey ($95 each), it was worth it.
Why? First, you can’t go into this cave without a guide, and there are only 27 people who Belize allows to guide ATM cave tours. So it’s gonna cost a bit more. But there’s a reason for this: the cave is an ancient Mayan ceremonial site and contains a ton of artifacts. I can’t even believe they still allow tourists in – I guess the income is too good to give up. But since they do, it makes sense that they want to protect it as much as possible.
It took about an hour for our van to reach the tour’s starting point. On arrival, we donned our helmets/lights and, with our guide Luis leading the way, began the 45-minute walk through the jungle to the cave entrance. Along the way we crossed a river 3 times; the first crossing required getting wet up to your neck, which had me feeling pretty adventurous. But that was nothing compared to what we’d be doing in the cave.
Nothing is allowed in the cave – no bags; no water bottles; no cameras. You also have to swim to get in. Pretty cool. Since there aren’t any camera’s allowed, a postcard of the entrance will have to do:
The entrance to the ATM cave.
Once inside, the guide led us into the heart of the cave along (in) the stream that flows through it. There are some interesting geological features (stalactites, stalagmites, columns, curtains, etc.) but as impressive as these are, they are not the main attraction.
I’ll stop here and say that even if these were the main attraction, the tour might still be worth the $95. Wading/swimming your way deeper and deeper into such a large cave is a pretty cool experience in and of itself.
BUT. There was still a lot to come. After an hour or so inside the cave, we climbed out of the stream into a chamber. Here, we took off our shoes and climbed into another, larger chamber. This area holds dozens of well-preserved pots and other artifacts, with a path marked off by ribbon to ensure visitors don’t disturb them. Archaeologists believe these pots were used to perform various Mayan rituals.
Further into the cave, there’s another chamber with several groupings of pots and other items, including human remains. Although the area is dry now, water flowed over the bones (and pots) after they were placed there, leaving layers of calcite which has essentially cemented everything in place. Here’s another postcard showing one of the cave’s chambers (unfortunately one without any artifacts):
Inside the cave’s largest chamber. This photo does not do the experience justice.
It was about 4pm by the time we walked back to the van, ate lunch in the picnic area, and drove back to San Ignacio. Becka and I didn’t want to waste the couple hours of sunshine left in the day so we jumped in a pool to cool off. After sunset, we had some dinner then went to bed pretty early since we had a very early start coming the next morning.
Day 4 – Tikal National Park (Guatemala)
Though there are a lot of smaller Mayan ruins around San Ignacio, by far the biggest and best-preserved site in the region is Tikal. Tikal is actually across the border in Guatemala and takes 2-3 hours to get to from San Ignacio. Despite the trek, Becka and I decided it would be worthwhile, and coughed up the $125 each to go on a tour to Tikal.
In theory we could have done it cheaper by taking a series of busses and taxis and not having a guide at Tikal. However, once you factor in the $20 border fee, $20 park entrance fee, the cost of lunch, and the added time, the all-inclusive tour price didn’t seem that bad.
Tikal was unbelievable. It’s a massive site and we only saw a small portion of it; most has not been excavated. But the part we saw was the central part, with the biggest and most impressive temples. Our guide, Reggie, provided the historical context for the site and told us about the individual structures – when they were built, what they were used for, how they fit into the Mayan religion and calendar, etc. He also gave us some time to explore on our own.
View from atop a temple.
A less beautiful view atop the same temple.
There we go. A third view atop the temple, this time with jungle, other temple tops, and smiling faces all in one place 🙂
One of Tikal’s most impressive temples.
Since Tikal National Park is pretty isolated in the jungle, we also spotted some jungle wildlife, including howler monkeys, coati, an ocellated turkey, and two toucan species (collared aracari and the larger keel-billed toucan). I love wildlife so this was an added bonus.
Ocellated turkey hanging out amongst the Mayan ruins.
Howler monkey lounging above us.
The sun was already dipping under the horizon by the time we returned to San Ignacio, so Becka and I just had a quick dinner consisting of some very tasty street food (tamales and pupusas) before hitting the hay.
Day 5 – San Ignacio to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye
There’s not a ton to report on for this day. After a slow morning, Becka and I hopped on the bus to Belize City at 10am. In Belize City, we met two more friends, Maggie and Lisa, at the water taxi terminal. The four of us then took the water taxi to the town of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, a 1.5 hour boat ride.
It was about 3pm by the time we arrived at the condo that would be our home for the next 5 nights.
The condo itself was perfect; 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, plus a kitchen so we could save some money on food. Oh yeah – it also had a pool and was steps from the beach 🙂
Once we had settled in, we wandered down the beach to the first bar we found, where we had some snacks and the others had some drinks (as usual, I didn’t drink at all on this trip).
I had a lot planned for the next few days (hint: a lot of time underwater!) so I just took it easy in the evening. I’ll save all the water-related stuff for Part 2 of this blog post. You can also find a gallery of all my underwater photos here.
Thanks for reading!
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