After yesterday’s adventures we were looking forward to a slightly more relaxing day. We went into town for breakfast at a local place called Pop’s. With its 8 homemade booths the entire restaurant (including the kitchen) is about the size of my living room. They had every Belizean breakfast item we’ve ever heard of and several American ones too. But since we are IN Belize, we naturally wanted to order from the Belizean side of the menu where each selection included refried beans (of more the soup consistency) and either freshly made flour tortillas or fry jacks. Everything was great. After breakfast and a short stroll through town, we begin the climb back to the hotel. The city is nestled right in a small valley and our hotel is on a higher elevation no more than a mile from the center of town. But a mile up the side of a mountain is no joke. Another couple we passed told us we were brave, they walked down but always took a cab back up. That seems a little like cheating. Everything less than 2 miles (even on the side of a mountain) is considered walking distance here. (Probably less than 5 miles for the locals, but we are not quite there yet.)
After we returned to the hotel, we bought tickets to tour the Green Iguana Project located on the hotel grounds. Nigel came to collect us and took us on a fascinating tour of this 18 year old conservation project that rescues, rehabilitates, and studies Green Iguanas. Most are released back into the wild, with the exception of a few with conditions that render them unsuitable – i.e. they would be quickly killed in the wild. On the way through the rainforest to reach the project, we encountered a large termite nest in a tree, which we’ve seen many places in the rainforest. Nigel encouraged Christian to try a few termites since they are often used for food in survival situations. He was less than impressed. Nigel tried to convince him they tasted like chocolate but he couldn’t see it. Once at the place where the iguanas are housed we first watched them from outside the enclosure while Nigel told us about the work they do. Then it was time to go in. Yikes! We entered the enclosure on a walkway built up in the center, but the iguanas here are friendly and most of them started coming to us. Nigel warned us about not stepping on their incredibly long tails so I used the little hop I learned from Orlando yesterday to avoid the tails. The longer we stayed in the enclosure, the more comfortable I became with them. They really were gentle. Nigel then proceeded to take some of the largest iguana and let them climb on Christian (that was out of the question for me). We fed them leaves of the elephant ear plants, we became very popular once we had the leaves. Next we went into the enclosure of the smaller iguanas (I would’ve preferred to have started here) The young males would fight with the older ones and these females were not old enough to mate, so they had to be kept separate. The iguana project was actually more interesting (and less creepy) than I had thought it would be. We were almost disappointed when Nigel led us back through the rain forest to the hotel.
Next on the agenda was the ancient Mayan city of Cahal Pech, which was reportedly within walking distance the opposite direction of town. The sun had climbed high in the sky and it felt like a Mississippi day in August with the humidity, but we were ready to see more. We walked up the narrow street trying to avoid the speeding cars until we reached the intersection we were looking for. The sign said the archeological preserve was only a quarter of a mile away. But a quarter of a mile up the steepest hill I’ve ever climbed in my life took more than a couple of minutes. I have to keep reminding myself we are in the mountains!
Once at Cahal Pech we were greeted by our guide, Gouldon. Hiring a guide is not a requirement here, but it makes the trip much more worthwhile. Spending the next hour immersed in the culture of the Mayans in this ancient city was fascinating. The most mysterious part is the evidence that all Mayan cities in Belize were abandoned around 850 A.D. The current educated guess of the archeologists is that it involved a drought and their belief that they had angered the rain god. But could that really be the answer for every city in the country being abandoned at once? Of course, there are the theories about aliens, but I don’t believe those either. The Mayan didn’t disappear, most just left Belize for what is now Guatemala. Even now there are small communities of Mayan descendants here, but they make up almost half of the entire population in some regions of Guatemala.
On our way back down Christian stopped to talk to a man cutting a lawn. He turned out to do the equivalent of Christian’s Jon here in Belize and they really seemed amazed with each other as they both described a little bit about the specifics of their work. The same but very different. After our trek back down the side of the mountain we were hot, to say the least. So we couldn’t think of a better way to spend these last few hours before dinner than at the hotel’s gorgeous pool. We were easily amused by the free icee tasting fruit drinks that a waiter brought us, and since this was our first activity on this trip that did not involve a hike in a rainforest or on mountainous terrain, we enjoyed every minute.
Back to town for dinner. The restaurants seem to have both an Indian and Chinese influence with curried meats of different varieties and fried rice dishes that seem to be very popular along with the more traditional Belizean dishes. Another successful day, and we have many more to go.
