Guanacaste National Park, Cahal Pech Archaeological Reserve, ATM Cave, Belize Botanical Gardens
After a longer than necessary day of traveling around, walking, hitchhiking, and taking buses (and getting stuck in Belmopan’s bus terminal for over three hours), I managed to check into a hostel in San Ignacio. I rested for a little bit in the hostel, and then walked over to the nearby river for a cool and refreshing swim. It was a nice break from the heat, and it wasn’t far away, so I could head over there pretty much any time I wanted to.
Then I got on the buses and headed back to Belmopan, where I wanted to visit Guanacaste National Park. Due to an unfortunate encounterI Found myself a bit further away from the park than I anticipated, and on the walk over there I managed to get lost for a little bit.
On the way I found what appeared to be a side trail into the park. It was barely noticeable, and if I was in a car I probably would’ve missed it completely. Next to the trail’s entrance (which wasn’t being maintained), there was a sign welcoming me to the national park, while at the same time telling me about several things which were illegal to do in there. It seemed too suspicious to me, and so I walked away from that side trail, until I found the real entrance, which had a visitor center and a parking lot. I bought a ticket to the park, got a brief introduction of the two trails available (and was informed the side trail I spotted earlier was completely off limits), and was free to walk around.
I started with the long trial, which was to the right of the visitor center. The first section of the trail passed by a river, although almost the entire way the view of the river was blocked by all the trees. The first section only took a few minutes to clear, which was expected, and then it was the beginning of the long loop.
I passed a bridge, and came across a sign marked as “0.1 km”. A few minutes after that, I came across another sign, “0.2 km”. Every one hundred meters along the trail there was another sign, informing me of my progress. It was a feature I really liked, even on a simple dirt road like the one in Guanacaste, as it was reassuring me that I’m heading in the right direction, as well as giving me a way to measure my progress.
Going along the trail in the forest, I soon reached the sign for the side trail, which marked the top of the loop. Being careful to choose the right path, I was making my way back, with the distance markers showing me the way. Eventually I crossed the bridge back, going all the way to the starting point near the visitor center.
I finished the long loop, and then it was time for the short loop. I followed the signs going to the left of the visitor center, taking the path toward a viewpoint, from which I was supposed to be able to see some birds. However, when I got to the viewpoint, there were no birds in sight. I had a clear view of the river, but that was it.
A bit disappointed, I kept going along the trail toward the part of the river where it was possible to go in and swim. I could hear other people as I walked between the trees, and soon after that I could hear a waterfall. A few more minutes of walking, and I was at the right spot. There were barely any people there, although their voices were carried quite some distance. I didn’t feel like swimming at that moment, so I just rested there for a few minutes, and then made my way back. Instead of waiting for the bus, I opted for hitchhiking once more, and was lucky enough to be picked up pretty quickly and taken most of the way back, to Santa Elena. From there, along with two ladies, I took a taxi for the same price of the bus.
Close by to where I was staying in San Ignacio, was the Cahal Pech Archaeological Reserve, which included both a museum and a Mayan ruins site. I arrived at the entrance quickly, paid for the ticket, and started walking around the museum, reading the signs (which were only in English) and looking at the displays.
The museum of Cahal Pech didn’t look very big, but I found myself going around it for quite a while. There was some general history of the Maya, quite a bit of it I was already familiar with, and the more specific history of the Maya in Belize, which I was less familiar with. There were timelines on display as well, from the prehistoric times all the way to the arrival of Spain. And as is tradition, there too were some funerary vases. It was nice to have a look around, and I managed to learn a few new things as well. The information about what was left from Cahal Pech felt limited, but I did get a general picture of what it was like and the importance of it back in the days.
I exited the museum and went along the paved path among the trees until I got to the ruins. At first glance, the site wasn’t impressive to me. I wasn’t exactly sure which part of the ruins I was in, despite looking at the map, and I just started walking around. The ruins near the entrance were barely there at that point, covered by the overgrown jungle.
But then I walked a little bit more, and more solid structures came into view. Relatively large buildings, which I could climb on, and walk inside. There were different sections, or “plazas”, and around each of them there were several ruins. Not only could I climb them, but I could also climb inside them, going through passageways, going up some stairs, and then trying to find a different way down. Unlike my experiences in Mexico, I felt like I’m actually exploring the ruins. Even though there were no signs at the site, and I had no guide to teach me those ancient structures, I enjoyed myself quite a bit just going around on my own, not knowing where that path would lead me to or how long it would take to get there. It took less time than the museum, but it was certainly more fun. Eventually I went down some stairs, and went along a dirt trail until I got back to the paved road, and from there to the entrance of Cahal Pech, where I could easily make my way back down to the hostel.
So far, I wasn’t wowed by Belize, and I felt like I haven’t done much. As I didn’t want to leave the country without at least trying to do… something, I booked the very famous tour to Actun Tunichil Muknal, or the ATM cave. As I didn’t have any water shoes, the hostel I stayed at landed me a pair, which was a bit small, but it was free, so I couldn’t complain much.
After breakfast I got into the van, and about an hour later we got to the starting point of the tour. We had a brief introduction, had to put on a helmet (which was very useful in the cave), and went to the bathroom. Short of a water bottle, we left everything in the van, and when everyone was ready we could start the tour.
From the parking lot, the small group I was a part of had to hike for a bit before getting to the cave’s entrance. For a couple of minutes we were on a dirt trail, and then we had to cross a small yet deep lake. About half way through, a watersnake of some kind crossed the water, momentarily dividing the group into two. We were being reassured by our guide that there is no danger and the snake isn’t venomous, although I was still a bit worried. We crossed quickly and soon were back on dry land.
For a while, we walked in the jungle, chatting a little bit, without too much going on. It wasn’t a very sunny day, so we didn’t dry out from the lake cross, but it didn’t matter much. Soon enough, we got to another water crossing, which was a bit easier, but we still looked around in case another snake passed by.
We walked for a little bit more, and then our group finally made it to the entrance of Actun Tunichil Muknal. We had to leave our water bottles behind, and after being instructed on how to use the headlamps attached to the helmets, we got into the water inside the cave. After only a few moments of swimming we stopped, as a few of us, including me, almost hit a massive spider that was hanging to the wall in a very easy to miss location.
After everyone was together, we carried on through the cave. We swam for a little bit, occasionally went over some rocks, but for the most part we walked through the water, making our way deeper inside.
Along the way we stopped a few times, and our guide talked a bit about the history of the caves, the geology, the research that was done in there, the findings, and some theories regarding the Maya people. Being part of a group, I couldn’t explore the cave at my own pace, and so the guide pointing out things like some old relics was quite useful. The stalagmites and stalactites on the other hand, were quite noticeable, and were present throughout the cave.
At a distance of five hundred meters from the cave’s entrance, according to our guide, we stopped and didn’t go further in, as that was a privilege reserved for research teams. Instead, we started going up. For the part of the tour, we were no longer in water. Within minutes, we were all up, and had to take our shoes off before going further in.
Once more, the guide pointed out relics, some rock formation, and human bones. We had to be more careful here than we did in the water, to not step in the wrong place by mistake. We kept going until we got to what our guide called “The Cathedral”, which was a big space inside the cave. Then we walked for a little bit more until we got to a skeleton, which marked the end of the road.
The small group started to make its way down, exactly in the same way that we came up. We retrieved our shoes, went down into the water, and all the way back to the cave’s entrance. As there was no further explanation needed, we didn’t stop along the way, and it’s safe to assume it was faster. From the cave’s entrances, we got our water bottles back, walked along the dirt trails, crossed the small lakes, and made it back to the parking lot, where a simple lunch was being set up for us. After changing clothes, it was time to eat, and I was caught by surprise. Looking at the time on my smartphone, it was a lot later than I thought it would be.
As I could take the smartphone into the cave, I didn’t have a way to accurately measure time. When we got to the far end of the cave, before making our way back, it felt like the tour wasn’t very long, and not really worth it. It was a fun and unique activity, sure, but I didn’t feel like I learned much, and within the timeframe in my head it was just unjustified. But after looking at the smartphone, the time we spent on the tour was a lot longer than I thought. The value for money started to look better, but for me it is still overpriced, and there are other activities in Belize that can be done for less money.
When I just got to San Igancio, I was interested in going to Belize Botanical Gardens, however, the shuttle required a minimum of two people, so I couldn’t go by myself. On the very last evening I spent in Belize, I talked to another backpacker in the hostel who was interested in going to the gardens, so we asked for the shuttle for the following morning. We both were a bit surprised to find out that our “shuttle” was a pickup truck. After a short ride, mostly on a bumpy dirt road, we made it to the gardens. We paid the entry fee, and then the man at the reception gave us an overview of the area and the different trails. At the end he gave us a map and a plant guide, and sent us on our way.
For me and my companion the easiest way to start was by the first point of interest right next to the reception. From there we wandered around an area with a few tidy rows of plants in pots, until we got to a dead end. We consulted the map, turned around and started to walk along what was marked as the “Medicinal Trail”. True to its name, the trail housed several plants and trees with medicinal qualities, which we could read about in the plant guide. We didn’t stop next to every single plant, but we read about quite a few of them.
At a split in the road, we went off to another trail, heading over to a bridge overlooking a river. After a few minutes of walking we came across a small bridge over a dry riverbed, which I thought was underwhelming, and that possibly it would have been better to visit during the peak of the rain season. A few more minutes of walking between the trees, and we got to a significantly longer, and higher, suspended bridge. We were caught by surprise, although it wasn’t bad. We quickly crossed the bridge and kept going along the trail, not exactly sure what would come next.
Using the road signs more than the map, we made it to the starting point of the “Rainforest Trail”. After getting a bit confused, at the next split in the road we went to another trail, and a few minutes later we got to the watchtower. We quickly climbed up the staircase and were greeted with a nice, green view of the area.
From there, we backtracked a little bit, got back to the rainforest, and all the way toward one of two guesthouses in the park. Then we found a pond with an observation deck, so we had a clear view of it and the few birds that were in the area that day.
The last stop in those botanical gardens, which felt more like a park, was the “Tea Trail”, where we saw, felt, and smelt different herbal plants before making our way back to the starting point. That turned out to be quite tricky. We got lost along the way, and it took us longer than expected to get back. While it wasn’t the best garden that I’ve been to, it was a fun activity to do, especially with a companion.
It was the last activity I had in Belize, and all that was left to do was to wait for the shuttle that will take me across the border. Before I came to Belize, it was set in my mind as a Latin American country, even though (according to the internet) it is technically part of the Caribbean. Coming over from Mexico, Belize certainly felt like a very different culture, with Caribbean influences, although at that point, I couldn’t compare it with other countries in the area.
The prices, though, were definitely something I could expect in the Caribbean, as well as in the Pacific, and a big part of the reason my Belizean adventure was so short. Accommodations around the country were expensive, and the tours were even more expensive. I did what I could do on my own, and the one tour I paid for was a mind blowing experience.
I couldn’t help myself but compare it to Australia, and come to the conclusion that Belize was even more mediocre. While I didn’t find Australia impressive, at least I had something to do there. In Belize, there was very little to do, and most of it came at an unreasonable cost, so I barely did anything. In the end, I felt like I was passing through the country, rather than traveling in it.