Belize Resort Tours

Xunantunich & Cahal Pech

This major ceremonial center is located on a natural limestone ridge, providing a panoramic view of the Cayo District. The largest pyramid, "ElCastillo", has been partially excavated and explored, and bears a remarkable stucco frieze on the east side of the A-6 structure. Three carved stelae found at the site are on display in the plaza. Xunantunich is located across the river from the village of San Jose Succotz, near the western border.

Cahal Pech is one of the medium sized Maya centers and features a small collection of temples, partially restored to resemble their original glory in Classic Mayan times. The best way to visit the hilltop Maya site of Cahal Pech in western Belize is to take a picnic. Situated along thebank of the Macal River in the Cayo District, Cahal Pech(Mayan for "Place of the Ticks") offers a panoramic view of San Ignacio and the Belize River Valley.

Caracol & Waterfalls

About 24 miles south-southwest of Augustine, Caracol is a rediscovered Maya city. This is now a National Monument Reservation. Caracol was established about 300 BC. Glyphs record a victorious war against Tikal. Excavations take place February-May but there are year round caretakers who will show you around.

Currently very knowledgeable guides escort groups around the site twice daily and a new information centre is being built.

Che Chem Ha Cave

The cave is loaded with artifacts. The family who lives there keeps the entrance under lock and key to help preserve and protect the artifacts where they have laid for over a thousand years. Along the side of the passageways lie shards of broken pots. This is not due to vandalism, but were broken by the Mayans during ceremony. On shelves everywhere lie pots in cracked, broken, or whole form.

Ladders are provided to climb for a closer look in several areas, but for the less agile, there is still a room to enjoy the pots up close on the same floor you walk. Some of the treasures included a bird painted in black on a red shard and a little man (or monkey) pressed from the inside out on the side of a pot. If we understand correctly, the number found with that design can be counted on one hand. Another lies in Tunichil Muknal.

Though this trip only takes half a day, it seems like you are in the cave for hours, yet it is over so quickly. Che Chem Ha is a treasure for anyone who is able to make the 40 minute hike up the hill. we highly recommend it!

Actun Tunchicil Muknal Cave - ATM

To get to the cave you need to hike in about 45 minutes to an hour. There are three river crossings where you wade from shore to shore. This is not the wettest you will be, however. To get into the cave, you must enter the river and swim into the mouth to a 'shore' inside the cave. For the next mile or so (perhaps a bit less) you wade, hike, and swim inside the cave to get to the artifacts.

Once you are deep inside the cave, you climb out of the water up a pile of rocks and scramble on to a ledge in the cave. From there, access to the rooms of artifacts is dry, and is done barefoot.

It was decided that the artifacts found in the cave would be left exactly where they found them. Seeing the pots and bones in the position where they were left thousands of years ago is amazing. yes things shift, but in general, the place is a living museum. One of the posts that was there had the man (or monkey) pressed from the inside out to cause a 3D figure.

It is known that human sacrifice was a part of the culture. In this cave, the remains of 14 humans were found, though the site was used for hundreds of years. This would perhaps indicate that sacrifice was not something done often.

Each victim was found near the tool used to perform the execution. It is a long shaped rock as shown in the only photo directly above that does not click to a larger image. The execution was quick and death instantaneous.

The one human whose skeleton is still intact is up on a higher shelf. Because of the massive amounts of tour groups, we had to wait quite a while to climb the ladder to see her. The area where she lies includes her and the tool used for her death.

Tikal, Guatemala

Tikal (or Tik’al, according to the more current orthography) is the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Maya civilization. It is located in the El Petén department ofGuatemala at17°13′19′N, 89°37′22′W. Now part ofGuatemala'sTikal National Park, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular tourist spot. The closest large towns are Flores and Santa Elena, about 30 kilometers away.

Tikal'sTemple V

Tikal was one of the major cultural and population centers of the Maya civilization. Though monumental architecture at the site dates to the 4th century BC,Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, ca. 200 AD to 850 AD, during which time the site dominated the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica, such as central Mexican center of Teotihuacan. There is also evidence thatTikal was even conquered byTeotihuacan in the 4th century A.D. Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built atTikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site’s abandonment by the end of the 10th century.

Altun Ha Ruins

Flourishing during the Classic Period of Maya civilization, Altun Ha is located 30 miles north ofBelize City and six miles from theCaribbean Sea

The true ancient name is unknown and "Altun Ha" is a Mayan translation of the nearby village named "Rockstone Pond."

Even though Altun Ha is small as compared to otherruins in the region, the extent to which the site has been cleared and restored makes it easy to imagine its past glory and wealth as a major ceremonial center. Plaza A is a large grassy area, surrounded on all sides by pyramids and is adjoined by Plaza B which contains the largest structure on the site, theTemple of the Masonry Altars, which rises 54 ft. above the plaza.

A trek to the top of this pyramid is rewarded with a magnificent panorama of the site and over the treetops of the jungle. This temple went through eight phases of construction and the round altar at the top is unique to this site. It was the focus of an unusual sacrificial ceremony in which copal (incense) and beautiful jade carvings were offered into a blazing fire.

The archaeological site covers about one square mile of area, with at least 500 visible structures and likely had 3000 inhabitants, with a peak population of 8000-10,000 included in the surrounding areas. Evidence dates the earliest settlement here to 200 BC, with varied construction phases ending about 900 AD. Occupation continued after this for approximately 100 years with re-occupation occurring the 13th and 14th centuries.

El Pilar Ruins

This site is very different from the sites that many tour groups visit. It is not uncovered to the extent of Xunantunich or Caracol, for example. Actually, almost nothing is uncovered, except a few places where archaeologists are working. When work is complete, they cover the area back up again. The cost of excavation is high, but the cost to maintain uncovered sites is way beyond budgets. This place is fascinating for those with knowledge or familiarity with other sites and the ability to imagine this site based off that experience and knowledge.

Even though there is not a lot uncovered, you can still see a lot about how the people lived here. For water, there is an Aguarda (marked with a sign) which we interpreted to be where the water was held. From other sites we learned that places where the limestone was dug up to build the structures later served as water storage, where the large holes would catch the rain. Over a thousand years or so, sediment will slide into such a quarry, but indents are still evident as seen in the first photo above.

Sites were built of limestone as that was an easier stone to cut compared to the granite found in the pine ridge forest. Churt, which is a harder stone is found in limestone deposits, and can be used for tools. The second photo shows churt at the marked churt site at the park. This is on the trail that leads to Guatemala.

Lamanai Ruins

Lamanai was occupied as early as the 16th century BC. The site reached its greatest importance in the Pre-Classic Period, from the 4th century BC through the 1st century AD, but also has later structures and continued to be occupied up to the 17th century AD. During the Spanish conquest of Yucatán the Conquistadores established a Roman Catholic church here, but a native Maya revolt drove the Spanish away from this area.

The vast majority of the site remained unexcavated until the mid-1970s. Archaeological work has concentrated on the investigation and restoration of the larger structures, most notably the Mask Temple, Structure N10-9 ("Temple of the Jaguar Masks") and High Temple. The summit of this latter structure affords a view across the surrounding jungle to a nearby lagoon, part of New River.

A significant portion of the Temple of the Jaguar Masks remains under grassy earth or is covered in dense jungle growth. Unexcavated, it would be significantly taller than the High Temple.