We got up this morning and, after a quite good sorta full English breakfast, we got a ride back to the airport where we picked up our car. Our driver did not give off good vibes when we mentioned the name of our rental company but upon questioning he said that the problem
was not with the company but that the cars are not as nice as at the major brands. He was not wrong. We have never taken so many pictures of damage to a rental car as we did this morning. Craig alone took 24 existing damage pictures. However, this suited us fine as we prefer a beater for which no one cares as much about dents and scratches. Plus we get to support a local business rather than, say, Hertz.
With the car settled and flush with Belizean dollars from the airport ATM, we drove off west to San Ignacio, the epicenter of Mayan ruins in the area. Our B&B (Vista Segunda) turned out to be an inspired choice with a good location, nice facilities and wonderful hosts, Stephen and Dalena. After a conversation with Dalena, we decided to visit the nearby Mayan temple complex, Cahal Pech, with a preliminary stop at Lola's for lunch and a beer. Lunch was great and with just a little misdirection from Google maps we arrived at Cahal Pech.
Cahal Pech is a Mayan temple complex settled as early as 1500 BCE and at its prime in 600-800 CE. It is the oldest site in the Belize River valley, but was never as grandiose as the other well-known ones in the area such as Caracol and Xunantunich. It was more an administrative center for the large surrounding farming settlements and the home of an elite Mayan family, said to include 10-20,000 people in its administrative area. It's also literally on a high perch in the middle of
San Ignacio, so very easy access for our first ruin exploration. Surprisingly, hardly anyone was there although it was nice and sunny. Encompassing seven plazas, some residential, and with a main pyramid 79 feet tall, it was easily covered in an hour walkabout. It was abandoned around 850 CE for unknown reasons, especially strange since other Mayan settlements continued to flourish in the area. Apparently however it was not due to ticks.... the name means "Place of Ticks" in Mayan and local dialect, but that was given to it in modern times when the area was used as a cattle pasture.
In a burst of enthusiasm Craig climbed the first pyramid once we were inside the complex, known as Structure B-2. (Phyllis demurred, to save her knee for another day.) This was the central of three connected pyramids that are thought to have had an astronomical purpose relating to solstices and equinoxes. The tallest structure in the complex, A-2, is in the next plaza and too degraded to safely climb, good news for Craig. We walked though the rest of
the plazas, much of which was probably residential; surprisingly little is known about the details of everyday life and organization from this time period. We did learn in the little on-site museum that to curry favor with the gods, the rulers would offer their blood, obtained by such methods as dragging a string of thorns through their tongues (you don't want to hear what they did to penises). Not sure how this was discovered, but in any event, the structures left behind are intriguing.
After returning to our B&B we spent more time talking to our hosts and learned they are both very active with the Belize Natural History Archive, which due to their efforts is about
to open a new facility showcasing (among other things of course) Stephen's extensive stuffed native bird collection. He is quite the birder and also a self-taught taxidermist, who began with birds and other "road kill" when he was a teenager back in Wisconsin. He was fascinating to talk with and we got to see many of his birds up close in his workshop. Afterwards, we went out for an ice cream for dinner (yes, we've begun that practice again) and were delighted to find the ice cream shop just a block away from the San Ignacio town square with Christmas decorations lit just this very evening. Bonus: Christmas fireworks display! It was quite an ending to a long and successful day.
2025-02-14