When you arrive
in Belize, a sign should greet visitors that says, “Set your clock back 50
years and leave your worries behind.” With beautiful beaches, abundant nature,
rainforests, and adventures in Mayan culture and history, it was the perfect
anecdote to our busy lives with two teenagers. Located in Central America on
the Caribbean Sea it shares borders with Mexico and Guatemala. From California, we flew to Houston (3.5
hours) and then a quick plane ride to Belize (2.5 hours).
We decided to
visit two different areas of Belize. Many tourists head to the Cayes (small
islands) of Belize, most popular are Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker. We chose
however, to go off the beaten path a bit and spend a week in the town of
Placencia, known for its miles of white sand beaches, laid back Caribbean
attitude, and access to coral reefs for snorkeling. We rented a house on VRBO (Vacation Rental by
Owner) for a week. The second part of our trip, we traveled up north to San
Ignacia to explore the Mayan ruins including a day trip to Guatamala to the
spectacular jewel of the Mayan Civilization, Tikal.
We rented a car
for our two week vacation and chose Crystal Car rental based on good reviews
and advice from the homeowner of our vacation rental who provided us with many
good tips before our arrival. Upon
arrival after a short wait clearing customs we walked a short distance across
the parking lot and easily found the car rental agency. One of the great things
about Belize is that although you’re in a foreign country, everyone speaks
English since it was once a British colony (formerly British Honduras.) A short
time later, we were in our Jeep SUV with a map in hand. We arrived at 4:00 and
chose to stay close to the airport for the night before starting the three hour
journey to Placencia.
Belize City is
the closest city to the airport and most people stay there if they need an
airport hotel, but I hadn’t read very good reviews of the city, so I found a
hotel in the nearby town of Burrel Boom to stay the night. After missing the
turn off for the hotel and having to back track to find it, we arrived to the
roars of howler monkeys in the trees. The hotel was perfect with everything we
needed for our first night (hammocks outside, a beautiful river, iguanas
climbing in the trees).
Placencia
The next morning
after breakfast, we hit the road to Placencia. The owner of our house assured
us that the roads were safe and well-paved and we weren’t disappointed.
Basically, there are three main highways and the roads are well marked. The only thing to watch for is the speed bumps
in small towns, sometimes marked as bumps and sometimes as humps.
We arrived in
Placencia excited to see if the house we rented lived up to the photos and
reviews on–line. One look at the private beach in front of the house with a
dock and palapa and we were all smiles. After entering the house and agreeing
that it was perfect, we quickly changed into our bathing suits and minutes
later were jumping off the dock into the incredibly warm, beautiful Caribbean ocean
with ear-to-ear grins. After a quick
dip, our son pulled out the kayaks that came with the house and I went for a
quick kayak ride with him on the turquoise water.
Later, we drove
into Placencia (the house was outside of town about 20 minutes). Along the way
we passed many low-key beach resorts including Francis Ford Coppolo’s resort
The Turtle Inn. The town is a small,
laid-back Caribbean town with colorful buildings a market, and small shops and
restaurants. We parked and found a sidewalk that runs parallel along the beach
and soon found the Tipsy Tuna, a beachfront bar and restaurant where we settled
in at a table in the sand for dinner. After dinner, we stopped at a local grocery story and
loaded up on food for the week. 
The week flew by
relaxing in the sun, taking dips into the water, kayaking, and reading. Summer is the rainy season. We saw a little
rain in the afternoons, but otherwise the weather was great. It was a little
windy though, so it was too choppy to snorkel at the reef near our beach
house. We arranged with a dive master
recommended by our rental house owner to take us out to a local reef at the
cayes near Placencia. Junior took us on his boat for the day to a small island
owned by his cousin called called Frigate Caye. The water was crystal blue and I
felt like I was in tropical aquarium swimming with many colorful varieties of
fish. Junior pointed out a puffer fish, squid, and a tiny octopus. We ate the lunch we brought on the caye and
Junior took us to another reef to snorkel the rest of the afternoon.
The next day we
hired Junior to take us in the boat to a town called Monkey River. The
rainforest adjacent to the river is known for its howler monkeys and many local
tour companies offer day tours to the area. Junior took us up the coast about
an hour to the town located on the beach at the mouth of Monkey River. We
picked up a local guide, Raymond, to accompany us up the river and into the
rainforest. Along the way, Raymond pointed out crocodiles along the shore
(you’re completely safe from a distance), turtles, and birds like Egrets and
Blue and White Herons. Down the river about 45 minutes, we went ashore into the
lush rainforests to find monkeys. Junior pointed out frogs, and leaf cutter
ants, and the various layers of vegetation in the rainforests until we found a
troop of howlers high up in the canopy feeding on the palms. We followed the
black monkeys moving quickly like trapeze artists through the branches and tops
of the trees. 
When the monkeys
out ran us, we hiked back to the boat and headed down the river to the town of
Monkey River where we had lunch. Raymond joined us again and gave us a tour of
the town, which consisted of a dirt path through a row of houses (there are no
paved roads to Monkey Village and the only vehicles that can get through are
trucks). There was one small, unmarked
store, which had what I assumed was the only TV in town since it was the only
building with a satellite dish. The main industry of the town had once been
banana farms and fishing, but now tourism was edging them out as the main
industry. We stopped by the private school. The teacher in me couldn’t help but
look into the classrooms. They reminded me of a 1950’s classroom with plain
wood desks and black chalkboards. A group of students appeared and I asked them
questions about school and took a picture with them before we left.
On the trip
back, we stopped in an area and located manatees swimming in the ocean.
San Ignacia, Mayan
Ruins
Our week in Placencia flew by too fast and sadly we left the beach house for our next adventure in Mayan history. We left the glimmering Caribbean sea and drove up to the town of San Ignacio. Along the way we stopped at St. Herman’s cave and the inland Blue Hole. We’d read that these were worth seeing. We’d heard that cave tubing was a lot of fun, but the $125 each tour price was over our budget, so we were happy to see that they offered cave tubing at St. Herman’s cave for $50 each which was more reasonable. In a matter of minutes we had tubes in our hands and were following our guide, Omar, to the entrance of the cave. At the entrance, Omar handed us headlights and we followed him into the dark cave to the water. Once in the water, the current gently pulled us through the giant cavern under stalactites and around stalagmites while our guide explained that the Mayans viewed caves as the sacred underworld. The Mayans used the caves for religious practices including bloodletting and human sacrifice.
After our tubing
adventure, we drove one mile to the inland Blue Hole (a famous diving location
in Belize is the Blue Hole located in the ocean. This one is completely
different and called the inland Blue
Hole). Included in our tubing was the $5
each entrance fee to both sites. We walked a short walk down to the Blue Hole
which due to limestone deposits on the bottom is a beautiful turquoise color
surrounded by green vegetation like something out of a fairy tale. I kept expecting Ariel from a little Mermaid
to appear from the depths and start singing.
People were swimming in the hole, but since we didn’t have towels, we
decided to forgo a swim.
Our next stop
was the town of San Ignacio. The town is about a 15-minute drive to the Guatemala
border. We found our hotel, the Maya Mountain Lodge easily, unpacked and went
to explore the town. There was construction in the town (which really only
consisted of one street) and a detour through town got us lost for about 20
minutes, but finally we found Burns Street, a pedestrian street with
restaurants. We ate at Eva’s, a mediocre
restaurant at best, and then walked down the street. We stopped at a gelato
cart run by Fabio, an Italian, and had extremely cheap gelato (.50 for one
scoop). We met an American couple there who had bought a 12 acre farm up the
road and split there time between Belize and Taos, New Mexico.
ATM tour
Tikal Ruins
The next day was
our journey to Guatamala to Tikal. The study of ancient civilizations has
forever fascinated me and it’s been on my list for years to visit the Mayan
ruins. I was a little leery of going to
Guatamala as their government has been unstable in the past and I’d heard that
it may be unsafe. I checked Trip Advisor
and saw that there haven’t been any problems
the past few years, and also checked with the tour company. who assured me that
it was safe. I was glad I trusted them as it was an amazing day and
adventure. We used Pacz tours
again.
Our guide who
went by the name “Juice” was both a Guatamalan and Belize citizen which I
learned was common in the towns near the border. He was also of Mayan descent
and was able to share much about mayan history with us. Juice picked us up in a
van at our hotel and we picked up a couple on the way so it was a small group.
He drove us to the border, a 15 minute drive. We went through the border
without any problems. Due to international tourism agreements, we had to switch
vans and have a Guatamalan driver once in Guatamala.
The drive to
Tikal took 1.5 hours through small towns. We stopped in one town along a lake
to watch the Guatamalan women washing clothes in the lake using stone slabs to
scrub the clothes on while their children swam nearby.
At Tikal, we did
a short hike to the ruins. The area is surrounded by jungle teeming with birds.
Along the way, we saw howler monkeys swinging and shrieking in the trees above
us. We reached the main plaza at Tikal and took in the majestic stone pyramids,
palaces, and carvings from an amazing civilization. We walked up stairs to the
top of Pyramid 3 and looked out over the complex of structures. We spent the
next few hours exploring the site and learning about the Mayan culture.
Xunantunich
Ruins
I noticed a
sign for these ruins on our trip back from Tikal. They were in Belize just over
the border and our guide told us they were worth visiting. The next day, we
drove from San Ignacio about 15 minutes to visit. You need to take a short very
ride in your car across a river to get to them. A man manually cranked the ferry
across the river. We arrived when it opened at 8:00 and had the place to
ourselves.
Smaller than
Tikal, but no less impressive we climbed the main pyramid and enjoyed the view
of the surrounding forest. At 10:00 the tour bus began arriving with loads of
tourists. We waved as we exited back to our hotel where we gathered our
belongings and made the two hour drove to our airport hotel. The next day we
said a sad farewell to Belize.
Placencia and Airport Area:
Black Orchid Resort (15 minutes from airport/free airport transportation provided)
Black Orchid Resort (15 minutes from airport/free airport transportation provided)
Vacation Rentals
By Owners –VRBO (beach house in Placencia Listing # #229207)
Placencia Restaurants:
Tipsy Tuna Beach
Bar
De Thatch
restaurant (on the beach, great fish)
Maya Resort
Bistro (best food in Placencia, a little pricey, but worth it)
Higher Grounds
Coffee – great spot in the trees in downtown Placencia, good bagels and carrot
bread.
Tutti-Frutti
Gelato – downtown, great ice cream
The Shak – good smoothies
and ceviche
San Ignacio Area:
Maya Mountain Lodge
Maya Mountain Lodge
San Ignacio Restaurants
Ko-Ox Han nah –
great local cuisine
Fuego – Great location
on the square, good food
Gelato stand on
Burns Street run by Fabio from Italy – inexpensive, good gelato
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