We awoke today to steady rain. It was not unexpected given the weather radar that showed a storm covering the entire country; however, it was a little disappointing to find that a
weather miracle had not occurred. We quickly decided to keep to the plan we had come up with last night as there wasn't much the rain could do to stop us (unless the river came up so much that the ferry stopped running) and so, after downing our banana bread muffin, we drove a few miles southwest to the Xunantunich Mayan ruins.
One reaches this site by crossing the Mopan River on a tiny, hand cranked, 4-vehicle ferry that takes about two minutes to get across. A mile uphill, the site is well developed with a
small museum and restrooms. We could have hired a guide at the entrance but felt well versed enough by now in Mayan architecture to proceed on our own. Xunantunich was a civic and ceremonial center for the larger Belize Valley region. While settled much earlier, it only began to grow and become significant in the mid-600s CE, and seems to have been allied with Naranjo, an enemy of Caracol although they were both vassals of another regional power, Calakmul. (Local politics were complicated.) It had a brief period of seeming abandonment in 750 CE
(possibly due to an earthquake) but regained its prominence by 780 CE. It was eventually abandoned around 1050 CE, well after other Mayan city-states in the area were in decline.
About three square miles in total size with only one square mile excavated, the site is dominated by El Castillo, at 130 feet the second tallest man-made structure in Belize. It was the administrative hub and also contained shrines and residences. The eastern and western
summit walls have large stucco friezes that depict astronomical events. These were excavated in 1993 and then a fiberglass replica was placed over them for preservation. (We had seen this technique on large masks at Caracol as well.) There are six plazas in total containing a number of other residences, administrative structures and, of course, ball courts. It was here that we saw evidence of the tense situation with neighboring Guatemala, an armed soldier on the back side of the complex. This is only a half-mile from the border and, as was the case at Caracol, there is always a military presence to discourage incursions.
We left Xunantunich in time for lunch at the well-regarded Benny's Kitchen just back across the river. Then it was on back through San Ignacio, stopping to check out the city market before heading to the Green Hills Butterfly Ranch. This is a family-owned nature preserve
that raises butterflies for local release and shipment (at the pupae stage) to the U.S. We spent about an hour with our guide, Cleydi, in the butterfly house and pupae/caterpillar building, learning all about the process from the laying of the tiny eggs on leaves through the caterpillar stage to the pupae to the butterfly. The butterflies themselves were beautiful, and so interesting to see them flitting about and just "hanging around" in the net-covered house (yes, it was raining and netting does not keep out water) and feeding at the various stations of fruit and, of all things, Gatorade. The manual labor that goes into raising these butterflies was staggering to hear about, every day
for example the caterpillars of each variety and age must be gently removed from the leaves they have almost devoured, provided with fresh leaves, and their poop cleaned out of their little net cages. Tiny tiny poop. Mind boggling. The original owners of this enterprise sold to a local family a few years ago and the entire operation employs many locals who all seem quite dedicated. We were very impressed. It was also quite nice how we were not hurried and were able to just linger in the butterfly house for a time before moving on to the hummingbird shelter. Wow, hummingbirds are a busy lot, and we hade them all to ourselves
and sat quite enthralled for about 15 minutes before a birding tour group arrived and we felt compelled to vacate the prime viewing seats to them. The entry fee of $20 US each was a little spendy but well worth it and in support of a good cause.
We returned to San Ignacio just before dark and walked down the street to Lupe's, a neighborhood fast food take-out joint (essentially the patio of Lupe's house), for a minimal but decent supper.
2025-02-17