Belize - Kings and Queens of the Castle

April 5-7

Hello everyone!

Belize is many things. One thing it's not, however, is tall. Its highest point is a mere 1,124 metres above sea level (that may seem high in the UK, but my last two houses have been 960m and 1100m up). That doesn't mean it lacks tall things, mind…

An iguana at the top of El Castillo in Xunantunich

Big Rock Falls

El Castillo at Xunantunich

From Belize City, Hannah and I headed west with her sister and brother-in-law. We based ourselves slightly above a settlement that calls itself the Twin Towns: Santa Elena and San Ignacio.

I'm in the car. We're on a ferry, you'll see it later.

San Ignacio is very close to the Guatemalan border

Like Belize City, it was initially quiet due to the Easter weekend. On the way, having dodged arguably the country's biggest sporting event, we stopped at St Herman's Cave to hike. It's a fascinating place that needs a torch to truly appreciate. Apparently it was once used by Mayans for rituals; as you'll see in the next blog, it wasn't the only cave used for that purpose...

St Herman's is a large limestone caving system

We can walk in about 80 metres without a guide

Being away from the coast, the scenery was markedly different. Forget ocean breezes and introduce lush, green forests. Humidity and UV were similar, mind: insanely high.

View from the cave entrance

The twin towns were nice enough, fairly unremarkable. They have some potentially interesting spots to visit, like Cahal Pech Archaeological Site and Green Iguana Sanctuary. But we were using this as a base to go further afield. 

Up in the clouds, and very humid

This river flows all the way to the Caribbean Sea

One morning we headed south, “high” into the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. We’d been told that there were a couple of beauty spots involving water in the area. This is where we learnt that the weather can be a little bit unpredictable - before enjoying the first area, we had to briefly take cover from a sharp downpour under a hut.

Rain!

Hiding under a hut from the shower

Rio On Pools sounds like it’s a linguistic mix of English (Pools) and Spanish (Rio). It’s actually all in English, as the river is called the River On. They are a set of small pools and mini waterfalls that sit within a small section of the tributary. The water looks a lot cleaner without rain, but it was still a nice swim.

The blue sky hadn't existed 10 minutes before!

The slightly muddy waters at Rio On Pools

I didn't get much further than this, the current was quite strong

Within this park is a much larger fall, called Big Rock Falls. To access these, we parked at a hotel called Blancaneaux Lodge. The place is stunning, which explains why a room for two costs over $1000 a night. Randomly, it is owned by Francis Ford Coppola, of Godfather and Apocalypse Now fame.

Apparently Coppola visited Belize in the 1980s 

Horse. Head attached, thankfully. If you've seen
The Godfather, you'll get the reference.

Big Rock Falls isn’t far from here, but recent weather has made the trail quite muddy. The return hike was in the middle of the day, making it particularly draining. 

Little stone slabs were a saviour here

I imagine it's much harder in rainy season

Quite the reward, though. Powerful water gushes from a height of over 40 metres into a plunge pool, before flowing over more granite in the form of mini falls into a larger pool. Definitely worth a swim.

Big Rock Falls

That dark blob is me swimming up to the falls

There was another place we had to swim whilst staying in San Ignacio (more about that next time). One other highlight involved water; however, this was not water we wanted to enter. After all, we had our car with us…

The ferry to get to Xunantunich

The journey takes probably less than a minute

Heading to the Mayan site of Xunantunich (pronounced shoo-nan-too-nitch) involves crossing the Mopan River on a hand-cranked ferry. That man in the picture above is doing all the work. After accidentally cutting to the front of the line, we rolled aboard and across before arriving at the site of the ‘Stone Woman’.

The site is split into 4 zones: A to D

Xunantunich is much bigger than the other Belizean site we visited, that of Altun Ha. Being on the river, it was an important ceremonial and trading centre for other parts of the Mundo Maya and even beyond. At its peak, its population may have exceeded 10,000. The ‘downtown’ area alone measures about one square mile.

In 2016, the largest royal Maya tomb ever found was discovered here 

Various structures have been left in differing conditions

What I found particularly striking about this site was its main structure: El Castillo, or ‘The Castle’. It is enormous. It stands at 130 feet tall - almost 40 metres. We’re used to seeing multi-storey buildings and skyscrapers; imagine arriving here, having not seen anything human-made taller than a tree, and having to crane your neck to look at the top of that! Very intimidating, I’m sure.

Even now, it's the second-tallest structure in Belize!

El Castillo has had some alterations over time; it probably didn’t have bannisters on the side staircases, for example. We learnt that recent renovations have been done to reemphasise one aspect of this imposing stone structure. The intricate carvings on the sides of the castle were restored about 10 years ago, using new technology to make them look exactly as they once were. They include visuals of various gods.

Archaeologists think that the faces wrapped
around the whole Castillo in its original form

The friezes are elaborately carved

You’re allowed to climb to the top of El Castillo. The view is not for those who aren’t a fan of heights, particularly if you look directly down. It is incredible. 

Not one for the acrophobic among you...

You can see Guatemala from the top

Like all other Mayan sites, Xunantunich was abandoned at around 900 CE. Like all other Mayan sites, we are yet to truly understand the reason. Having been rediscovered almost a millennium later, Xunantunich is the oldest continuously excavated Maya site in the country. They are still finding new elements and curating older ones so that it can be seen in its true, original glory.

They have found 26 large structures so far

Xunantunich also had residential areas

I’ve said before about each Mesoamerican ruin I visit being unique. Xunantunich didn’t disappoint, with the need for a ‘ferry crossing’ adding to the aura and fun. Like Big Rock Pools, El Castillo is a high point - literally and metaphorically - in many ways in the beautiful country of Belize.

This is a fryjack: hearty, unhealthy Belizean food

The dog who walked back with us from Big Rock Falls

El Castillo at Xunantunich

Love you all,

Matt