Belize

Belize is a beautiful and amazing country with wonderfully kind people. I like to watch shows like House Hunters International for ideas of places to visit and possibly live in. It was a great addition at the end of visiting Guatemala as it is also rich in Mayan history.

Belize was once part of the extensive Maya civilization. The Maya built extensive cities that had developed advanced knowledge in mathematics, astronomy, and architecture.

The Spanish arrived in the 16th century, but they found it challenging to control the area due to the resistance from the Maya and the dense jungles.

The Spanish arrived in the 16th century but had difficulty maintaining control due to the Mayans and the dense jungle. In the 17th century, British pirates and loggers began settling in Belize. The wood of value was logwood and mahogany. Eventually the British had dominance.

In 1862, Belize became a British colony known as British Honduras. African slaves were brought in for logging.

In 1964 they earned the right of self-government. But they didn’t gain full independence until September 21, 1981. Belize has a democratic government and its economy is focused on tourism and agriculture.

It has a diverse culture with influences from its Maya heritage, British colonial past, and various ethnic groups (Creole, Mestizo…)

I took a food tour of Belize city. We are fish enchiladas and also taquitos.

Belizean treats which is a jam tart and a coconut tart.

I usually only try new flavors of ice cream. But these two are my favorite: soursop also known as uvilla and craboo which is known as guanábana.

We also stopped at a rum factory. The coconut rum was heavenly.

We toured around the various areas of the city. It really is an amazing city and possibly on the list for a retirement place.

Cemetery in the middle of the city that is bisected by a major roadway.

I thought this sign was pretty interesting. There is a large dance studio in the area.

Now to prepare for the flights back to the US and to see family. I do miss them.

Xununtunich ruins, Belize

I took a tour to this other ruin close to San Ignacio. After the short drive, you get on the small ferry across the nature section of the Mopan river. This ferry is hand cranked.

These Mayan ruins are younger than the others I have seen. Though there is evidence that they were inhabited in 1000 BC, it was not a major Mayan center until 250 AD. Its name means stone woman as locals would see an apparition of a woman walking through the overgrown jungle towards one of the structures.

The name for the mounds of vegetation and dirt that covered the structures are called montículos.

Since it is summer, the University groups that are working on excavating were there. It was really interesting to talk to them about their work.

The chiseling is the stamp of the architect

El Castillo was a fortress designed to house royalty but also protect them. Residences were at the top and viewing platforms with columns used for spectators and watchmen. The engraved artwork was recreated with plaster after years of degradation.

El Castillo is the tallest structure at the site. It is built from the bedrock of a hill with stairs leading to that bedrock layer.

Shrine with columns. This is facing West and Guatemala is just in the distance.

The use of columns dates to the later classic period around 900 AD

While excavating on the side, they found a tomb and followed it back through.

The size of the stones determines how old it is. Further back is much larger stones and the newer structures were built on top of the old ones with smaller stones. Using cement with the smaller stones means that the structures lasted for quite some time and can also not collapse.

From the top of El Castillo facing North.

We walked through the ancient road and to the two sites that are just being excavated.

They know that this is a foundation and they are looking for evidence of the door

This sutre was a quarry, not for stones for building but instead for sculpture stones

This was an ancient ball court. The sloped sides had the stone hoops and the balls were made of hard rubber made from the sap of a tree and hit by elbows and knees

The last image is the time of heaven and the underworld in their religious beliefs.

I loved visiting this site as it was one of the major Mayan cities along with Tikal. Being close to the Mopan river, trading was easy with other cities.

San Ignacio

I had a few tours cancelled. Unfortunately, when traveling solo that can happen as a minimum is required for each tour though usually there are others who sign up. But it is the slow season in a small town in Belize. Having time without an agenda is good for me. I have done a lot in the last 2.5 weeks….

I walked to the Green Iguana conservation project and along the way walked through the streets of the town. Very hot but a nice walk around.

And I wondered what Freddie Mercury was singing about in Bohemian Rhapsody

Green Iguana conservation project

This project breeds green iguanas and the babies are released into the wild to repopulate. Some of the inhabitants are the breeding adults and they are unable to live again in the wild as they were rescued.

Only one of the yearlings is calm enough to do this. Fun.

Of the adults, this male was the calmest and doesn’t mind being held.

To San Ignacio and Cahal Pech ruins (and what I have learned about ruins….)

My next stop in travels is San Ignacio, Belize. It is only a couple hours from Flores by car. Transport is inexpensive ($20) and easy but it could take a little longer depending on how many pick up stops there are.

A house in Guatemala along the way. The average Guatemalan makes 4000 quetzales a year which is $500 USD.

Within a half hour we were at San Ignacio and after a walk up a big hill (a kind local man offered to take me and my carryon up the hill in his truck when I was halfway) I arrived at the Cahal Pech resort which is next to the local ruins of the same name.

After dropping off my luggage I headed to the ruins.

A good friend of mine, Candy Shively, commented on my Tikal post about what I observed about the building styles in different parts of the world. I had actually been thinking about that and some of the information in these ruins answered some of my questions.

The layout of pyramids here and in Cambodia were central to people’s lives (the wealthy were the only ones in the palaces but markets and delegations still happened in these places).

One could think that here in Mesoamérica they were not skilled or intelligent because of how they built. But in reality, every place in the world was constrained by what they had available to them. The concept of the wheel was known here and artifacts of children’s toys had wheels. But the lack of large animals like horses, etc. made the use of wheels not as efficient as in early Europe.

Locally available limestone was cut and moved on the backs of workers. The pyramids here are solid with smaller pyramid structures under the larger parts. They did not use metal tools for cutting as the resources for forging are not existent here. They were however skilled at making cement. Cementing helped keep the rock’s together though as you know, nature always wins.

Nature taking over the tops of structures

In other parts of the world it is different. In the middle east (my only experience is Turkey), they used mud and baked clay bricks. In Europe, wood was abundant for building. In China, they used rammed earth methods for foundations and also used wood, especially in the north. In Cambodia they used large limestone bricks but did not use cement to hold them together. The rocks were cut and aligned precisely. In Egypt, their stones are much larger and moved using rollers and water to reduce the friction on the sand. The change in elevations and the availability of water here in Mesoamérica would make that impossible.

In Egypt and Cambodia, as here with the Mayans, they were precise and used astronomy to lay out the structures along cardinal points with remarkable accuracy. These aligned with astronomical events central to their lives and religious purposes.

The uses of the pyramids are also different. Pyramids in Egypt are used for the burial of pharaohs. In Mesoamérica and Cambodia, they are the center of daily life and used for rituals. Therefore, they are solid inside and more ornate on the outside, with steps for ceremonial purposes at the top. Both Cambodia and Mesoamérica were masters at water irrigation, constructing cisterns around and through their temple cities.

I really marvel at the layouts and imagine what life then would be like. I think the ingenuity of humans is similar everywhere using what they have available and using resources in different ways to solve problems.

Plazas, which are courtyards, are central to the life in these pyramid cities.

Residences had stone beds where ticking would be used for some comfort.

Other pictures of Cahal Pech

Ball courts were used for entertainment, competition between rival cities, and to settle disputes. Often these ended in sacrifice, and not always the losers.

The West Ball Court

Along the East Ball Court.

Certainly the Egyptian pyramid construction started one to two thousand years earlier than the other areas of the world but modern pyramids building in Egypt is roughly the same age as other pyramid construction. Obviously, these constructions show the development of those civilizations at that time.