San Ignacio
Located close to the Guatemalan border this small town houses tourists looking to do more adventurous trips to the numerous caves, ruins and jungles which surround the area. After 5 days relaxing we are ready and willing to embrace some action.
Our first challenge is to find some accommodation. Belize is not cheap and we had splurged in Caye Caulker on a nice hotel so we were on the lookout for a budget option. After looking at a few guesthouses we settled for a room at The Plaza. This is not to be confused with the fancy up market hotel bearing the same name. This place is owned by an old Spanish couple and the rooms are part of their home. The woman is nice, although she does feel the need to give me a 10 minute tutorial in how to lock the gate, ending with me having to demonstrate to her that I am capable of locking it. Once she is satisfied she gives us the keys. The room is basic and a bit tired looking but its only £13 a night and it seems ok. That is until the clock strikes 11pm. As we are tucking ourselves into bed, knackered after a day of travelling we hear the sound of BOOM BOOM. I was certain I didn’t see a club next door but clearly I was mistaken as the bass vibrates around our room. Great. We have just booked ourselves in for 4 sleepless nights.
The next night, after a few drinks, we decide if you can’t beat them you may as well join them. So off we head in search for this club which turns out to be in the street behind our guesthouse. We walk into San Ignacios answer to Bee Jay’s (A “club” in our hometown). I have never seen so many speakers! The club has a handful of people in and none of them are dancing. I ask if the club is open every night, “7 days a week” the manager tells me. “Fantastic” I say, as I order more rum. Thankfully the alcohol does the trick and we both pass out when we get back.
ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) Caves
One of the more popular adventure tours is to visit the ATM caves. Discovered in 1986 these caves, which contain Mayan artefacts and skeletal remains, have only been open to the public since 1998. The tours itself requires a reasonably good level of fitness. Beginning with a 45min hike through the jungle crossing rivers you reach the entrance to the cave. To enter you plunge into the cold water and then begin to swim, walk, crawl and scramble through the rocks.
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The tour is not ideal if you have a fear of the dark, heights, water or confined spaces. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of any of those things but it’s worth facing the fears as the sights inside the cave are breath taking.
The formations of the stalactites and stalagmites look like works of art. It’s easy to see why the Mayans thought this was the entrance to the underworld. Our guide tells us that they would take hallucinogenic drugs before entering with only a torch to light the way. I can only imagine the things that they would have seen as even without the aid of drugs the formations cast eerie shadows across the walls.
As we reach the larger chambers we see artefacts left by Mayans who performed religious ceremonies here. The grand finally is the perfectly preserved full skeletal remains of one of the human sacrifices. This place could be quite frightening if there wasn’t several other tour group queuing behind us.
Unfortunately you aren’t allowed to take a camera into the caves. This was stopped when a tourist, too eager to catch the perfect shot, dropped his Sony camera onto one of the priceless ancient skulls. Probably wasn’t one of his better days! We have stolen a few photos from the internet so you can get an idea of what you can see.
On the way out we are neck deep in water (full submerged for some of us!) and we are forced to squeeze through narrow passages. Its touch and go whether Karl could get his head though some of the gaps but luckily he makes it.
The tour was fantastic, our guide was Carlos the Caveman and he did an excellent job of getting us though the cave safely as well as being extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the history of the cave. Although the trip was expensive (US$85 PP) it is a must do when in Belize and we would highly recommended Carlos if you are planning on visiting the ATM as there are a number of different tour operators to choose from.
Cahal Pech
Our second day was a lot more relaxing. We went on a short walk to find the local ruins of Cahal Pech. Cahal Pech was a city from 900BC to 800AD. Although not as impressive as some of the other ruins we have visited it did have a well preserved home of one of the rich families of the town.
We spend the afternoon in San Ignacio. The town itself was established by the British for the production of Mahogany and was later used as a military training base. On our tours out of town we pass villages called Never Delay, Duck Run and my particular favourite, Tea Kettle. The British clearly had a laugh when they were here!
Cave Tubing
Our last day in Belize was spent exploring another set of caves. However, unlike the action packed ATM, this time we were given a rubber tube (tractor tyre inner tube) to float down the river in.
Thankfully the river wasn’t flowing too fast as it took a while to master the use of hands as ores.
Once we had mastered the skill of cave tubing we could put our feet up and enjoy the view.
We had a stop off to do some cave jumping. Although it wasn’t too high jumping into the crystal clear waters where you can see the rocks below made it a tad more exciting.
Our last day, as with most days in Belize, was finished off with a rum punch. Feeling good after getting the adrenaline pumping in San Ignacio we set off into Guatemala ready to see what adventure awaits us there.
