Belize, Tikal & Yucatan - The Mayan World, February 2017

As close and as popular a destination as Cancun is for Americans, I have not been there yet. In fact, it's one of the few places most of my friends have been to that I have not. I've been looking for travel destinations not too far from home for travel this year. Although I'd like to travel a bit farther and wider and perhaps join a buddy who invited me to travel with him in Asia this year, my mom's health is such that I might have to get back at any time at short notice. El Mundo Maya, the Mayan World, cover southern Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula to the Pacific, as well as Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. I've been to parts of it twice already, covering the highlands and jungle lowlands of Mexico's Chiapas state on a trip in late 2011 and the Highlands of Guatemala and the Copan Mayan site in Honduras in 2015. Now it's time for the third part of the Mayan World I haven't seen yet. My planned trip includes an 8-day guided tour with Intrepid Travel in Belize and to the Tikal Mayan site in the rainforest in far northern Guatemala. I then plan to head to Cancun for a few days where I'll make arrangements for the next leg of my travels to Cuba and then rent a car for about ten days to tour the Mayan sites, colonial cities, beaches, and natural wonders of the Yucatan Peninsula on my own. I've driven in Mexico before on a trip to Baja California and Copper Canyon back in 2010 and didn't find it too daunting. Like Baja California, the Yucatan Peninsula also has a relatively low crime rate and was little affected by the drug war violence that plagued Mexico for many years. Fortunately, that's declining significantly in most parts of the country now too.

Planned Dates

Feb 10, 2017 to Mar 06, 2017

Countries

3