Central American Adventure (Belize pt 1)

Well a few days ago I headed out to Belize city from the border town of Chetumal. I took the 6 am bus, and although it was a pain to get up that early it was kind of cool because there was not waiting around for long lines at the border crossing. I took the bus straight to Belize city and just kind of explored around. My first full day I made my way to the archaeological site of Altun ha. I had to pay for a private transport since I could not find any groups going that way… but in any case it was worth it. The road to Altun ha is quite rough, but the site itself is quite well kept. The reconstructed area of the sight is not that big, featuring only six monuments or so… however there are a few pretty interesting buildings. There is also a fairly cool jungle trail you can take in the site and that is pretty cool because of all the awesome flora and fauna. The next day I made my way to Lamanai. The road to Lamanai is quite awful, and everyone recommended I take a tour by boat… so I did, it was well worth it. It took about an hour to get there by boat from the “city” of Orange walk and the ride was really fun since there were many beautiful birds and orchids to photograph (although all I had was my lousy point and shoot). The best thing about Lamanai was the immense mask at the not very imaginatively named “mask temple”. There was also a very large structure from the pre-classic and a few lesser pyramids, as well as a very small ball court. The next day I headed over to Corazal were I hung out and visited the pyramid at St. Elena. The one pyramid is all that there is there, but its definitely worth a look if you are in the area. Anyway tomorrow I will be meeting up with my friend Roque to check out some of the Caribbean islands of Belize, maybe a few more archaeological sites… and then make our way to Guatemala! Sorry for the not so great image quality, I have been shooting with just a little point and shoot… and just cropped them using a little application here at the internet caffe… no Photoshop I am afraid, but still the results are ok =)


Top of pyramid mound at St. Elena


Early morning shot of river to Lamanai

Another shot of the river

The national flower of Belize, the "Black Orchid"

Stuning mask at Lamanai (its over 3.5 meters tall!)

Impresive pre-classic structure at Lamanai (notice the eroded rain god masks all the way up on every level)

View from my balcony in Belize city

Largest structure at Altun ha

Kind of nice shot of some familiar flowers

Traditional Belizean house

Rice and Beans with fried chicken and bananas... the national dish of Belize (in most places the only thing on the menu, seriously)