Belize, April 18-28, 2012

(Click on photos to enlarge them.)

We are avid snorkelers, always looking for new reefs.  Visits to Egypt and Peru’s Inca ruins made us curious about other defunct civilizations.   What better place to pursue both interests than Belize with its impressive barrier reef and the epic Mayan ruins?

Belize was attractive to us for yet another reason: the country’s culture is an amalgam of the English Caribbean and Spanish Central America.  Having served in both Jamaica and Costa Rica, we wanted to see what the combination of these two influences produced.

Getting There

We booked our trip through Adventure Life, which developed an 11-day custom itinerary combining the jungle and Mayan ruins with snorkeling off Ambergris Caye.  Flying via Houston, we arrived at the Belize International Airport on the Caribbean coast.  There we were met and driven one and a half hours southwestward to Pook’s Hill, our lodge in the Belizean rain forest.

Local currency was easily and cheaply obtained at an airport ATM.  Belize issues its own money, with bills and coins featuring a considerably younger Queen Elizabeth II, the head of state, but the value of the Belizean dollar is fixed at BZ$2.00 to US$1.00.  Hence, US currency and coins circulate freely in parallel with their Belizean counterparts.

The Jungle

Pook’s Hill is located in a semi-deciduous broadleaf tropical rainforest six miles off the main highway at the end of a road permitting speeds no greater than 20 mph—and generally much less.    Guests are accommodated in thatched roofed cabanas equipped with ceiling fans; the nights are cool enough that air conditioning is not necessary.  The excellent meals are served family style, and convivial relations among the guests and staff seemed to be the rule.

Road to Pook's Hill with mahogany plantation

Cabanas at Pook's Hill

The lodge is surrounded by hiking trails, some leading to a river where we swam.  However, the chief attraction of the neighboring jungle is the opportunity for bird watching under the tutelage of one of Pook’s Hill’s expert guides.  These bird photos were taken through our guide’s telescope.

Crossing a stream near Pook's Hill 

Collared trogan

Woodpecker chick 

Conversations with our guides gave us an introduction to Belize’s linguistic and cultural complexities.   The country’s official language is English, spoken with more of an American accent, we judged, than the Jamaican version.  It is the language of instruction in school so all native Belizeans are competent.  However, while serving as a lingua franca, English is the native language of relatively few citizens.  Instead, the great majority of Belizeans have been raised speaking Spanish (especially in the border areas with Guatemala and Mexico), Creole (an English dialect akin to patois in Jamaica), Garfuna (a Caribbean Indian language), or one of three Mayan dialects.    For example, one of our guides explained that his native language was a Mayan dialect, which he spoke at home with his wife and children; his English was fluent and he also spoke Spanish, but he could not understand the other two Mayan dialects or Garfuna.

Todd with our guide

Mayan Ruins

The heyday of Mayan civilization, the so-called Classic Period, fell between 250 and 900 AD.   Most of the impressive Mayan ruins in Belize and Guatemala date from this period although archeologists are now finding that these structures were built over earlier edifices.   Although Mayan culture continued after 900 AD, particularly in Mexico’s Yucutan, the population in Belize and Guatemala plummeted at the end of the Classic Period and the monumental cities were abandoned.   Some million people are thought to have lived in Belize at the height of the Classic Period, while the population today is only about 330,000.  The causes of the collapse are in dispute, but Yale’s Michael D. Coe, arguably the leading Mayan historian, cites a combination of endemic internecine warfare, overpopulation, and drought.

Our itinerary included visits to two ruined Mayan cities, Caracol in Belize and Tikal in Guatemala, a three-hour drive from Pook’s Hill with only minor formalities at the border.   Historically, the two cities had close relations, both friendly and hostile, and their remains are architecturally similar.  Caracol is thought to have been larger with a population peaking at perhaps 150,000, but Tikal’s ruins are larger and more impressive.   Neither city name was used by the Mayans themselves.

Main plaza of Caracol

Looking down on main plaza of Caracol

Common to both sites is outstanding stonework in the temples and palaces occupying the city centers.   Astronomical “observatories” testify to the Mayans’ fascination with the stars for both religious and practical reasons; for example, one such structure in Tikal is situated so that its shadow signals the spring equinox, an important date for agricultural planning.   The remains of courts for the so-called “ball game” exist at both sites; the contests apparently involved a large heavy rubber ball and had some religious significance, but no one is sure how the game was played and what consequences resulted from victory or defeat.    While both sites are extensive, our guides reminded us that only the urban cores of both cities have been excavated; the “suburbs” extend for unknown distances in all directions.

Highest tower in Tikal

View from highest tower

Tikal "observatory"

"Ball game" court in Tikal

As has been widely reported, the Mayan Long Count Calendar will come to an end this December.   One view, not widely shared, holds that this will usher in a time of tribulation that will make the prophecies in the Book of Revelations pale in comparison.  No one we spoke to seemed very worried, however.

Our most interesting—and challenging--Mayan site was Actun Tunichil Muknal, “cave of the stone sepulcher,” a recently invented name often shortened to ATM.   Discovered in 1986 and close to Pook’s Hill, the cave was the site of human sacrifices performed to appease the gods of the underworld, whose realm the cave was considered to be.  The victims’ remains are located well into the cave, requiring a two-mile hike to reach the entrance and a mile-long slog (with some climbing and swimming) up a subterranean river.   There pottery and human bones rest where they were discovered although our guide cautioned that they may have been washed down from other sites when the underground stream flooded.

Young woman's remains

Victim's skull

Pot with monkey motif "sacrificed" by punching hole in its base

The Reef

After four nights at Pook’s Hill, we returned to the international airport and flew in a 10-seat propeller plane to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye.  There we spent six nights at the Blue Tang Inn, located on the beach in San Pedro.   Its downtown location made the Blue Tang convenient to the town’s good restaurants, and we were not bothered by noise from the beach or the main street, only a block away.  Part of the reason is the scarcity of cars on Ambergris, where the preferred conveyance is the almost noiseless golf cart.

Entrance to Blue Tang Inn

Main drag of San Pedro--with golf carts

The barrier reef is visible from Ambergris Caye, but it lies beyond a wide stretch of relatively shallow water frequented by speedboats.   Hence, snorkelers and divers must go by boat, usually in a scheduled group, to visit the reef.   It is possible to swim from the end of one of the many piers jutting off the caye, but the fish life there is sparse.  Thick sea grass makes swimming from the beach unattractive.

Beautiful, but watch out for sea grass

Docks near Blue Tang Inn

We made three trips to the reef, visiting all the recommended snorkeling spots reasonably close to San Pedro.  (We did not go to the renowned Blue Hole, much further away and reputedly unattractive to snorkelers.)  The variety of fish life was impressive, especially the abundance of rays in one location.   Our one disappointment was the absence of sharks, who appeared at one location when chum was thrown overboard but deserted our boat for another once the feeding had stopped and we were in the water.   One the whole, we would rate our snorkeling experience as good but not great—certainly not as impressive as our visit to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef or some other Caribbean locations.

Beach people

Our best Ambergris adventure, which combined snorkeling and sightseeing, was a boat tour to Bacalar Chico National Park at the northern tip of the caye, which is separated from Mexican territory by a canal dug by the Mayans.   Sailing north on the west side of the caye, our guide pointed out a smaller island reportedly purchased by Leonardo DiCaprio as a wildlife sanctuary.   The canal itself was nearly choked with mangroves, and our boat moved slowly enough that we could spot a manatee.   Crossing to the eastern side, we stopped at a beach north of the reef that was clogged with plastic debris washed across the Caribbean from God-knows-where.  Fortunately, that sight was blurred in our memory by three good snorkeling stops before we returned to San Pedro.

Dining out in the evenings, we were very impressed by the excellent food and reasonable prices at San Pedro’s restaurants.   We almost always ordered seafood and found the dishes imaginative, well prepared, and attractively presented in a pleasant atmosphere.   Wine and imported spirits could easily run up a bill, but we stayed with the local rum and Belikin beer, both of which were first-class.

Belize City

After our two years in Jamaica, we wanted to see how Belize City, the country’s former capital and largest city compared with Kingston.  Our intention was greeted by our normally very accommodating hotel manager with the question, “Why would you want to go there?”—followed by her account of a recent wave of murders.   We persevered, however, taking a so-called water taxi (“water bus” would be a better description) over and back the same day.

Belize City waterfront

Belize City was nearly destroyed by a hurricane in 1961, leading the government to move most of its operations in 1970 to little Belmopan, further inland and supposedly less vulnerable to the elements.  However, Belize City remains the commercial capital and major port, with some interesting old colonial architecture and—unfortunately—a gang-based crime problem.

Supreme Court building, ca. 1900

Our experience was quite pleasant, however, as the inhabitants we encountered were polite, helpful, and seemingly happy to see tourists on a day when no cruise ship was in port.   Beyond the architecture, the highlight of our visit was the Museum of Belize, located in the refurbished old prison, which showcases the area’s history from the Mayan period to the present.

Former prison, now national museum

We would not recommend Belize City to every traveler, but a visit might be attractive to someone interested in Caribbean history.

Summing Up

We can recommend Belize to anyone looking for both reef and jungle.  Its main drawbacks from our perspective are the lack of swimming beaches and the necessity of boating to snorkeling areas.   Among its many pluses are reasonable prices and the hospitable attitude of virtually everyone we met.

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