River Boat Ride To Altun Ha

So, after lots of indecision I decided to go ahead and stay in Caye Caulker instead of trying to head back to the mainland. My goal was to see a Mayan ruin and I thought about heading to San Ignacio via a bus from Belize City. But, to be honest my daring to travel there alone was not strong enough. I wish I could say there is another reason but I think that is honestly why I decided against it. My friend Johnette's friend who is Belizean told me not to stay in Belize City and when I found out I could go from Caye Caulker on a tour to Altun Ha that made my decision for me. I have to admit that I feel like a bit of a chicken and I can justify not going for many reasons. Hell, they speak English here!

Well, the river boat ride through the mangroves was pretty interesting. I went with Anwar Tours and Rico was our main guide. He pointed out so many birds and of course I couldn't write them down so just take my word for it there were some amazing birds! :) Also, the vegetation in the mangroves was so interesting. The white orchid, devil's bite (can't remember the other name), and huge termites nests, not to forget the roots of the mangroves sprouting down into the water. We stopped at Bomba Village before getting on a bus to head to Altun Ha. They had some beautiful wood carvings in the village, sorry friends but all were too big to take alone with me right now! I tell you the Northern Highway is a much better road then any I saw in Costa Rica! These bus drivers have it easy! :)

The site of Altun Ha is still pretty amazing despite being a small one. The main part of the site is about 54 feet high and the site would have had a population of 8-10,000 people. I tell you that just standing on that "small" site made me realize how powerful that must have been for the priests to speak to the main population. And, the acoustics didn't hurt them either! Evidently, the poor population ended up revolting and destroying the educated population. This ended up being a great downfall to the continuation of the civilization. But, heck I would have revolted too if they kept raising my taxes! I have to say that part of what was special on this tour was the excitement and interest of our two tour guides.

So, now I have to come back to Belize to see some more ruins! Who wants to join me? :) Okay, it won't be for awhile though! :) Heck, I might have to add Guatemala too! If I can figure out how to add some photos I'll try to put some on to past postings or share my photo albums from snapfish.com. I am now reading a book my friend Amy gave me, Seven Years in Tibet (yes the book not the movie) and I'm finding it an interesting read while traveling. I have traded my other book for Life of Pi as I've heard it's a great book too.

So, for all my friends - keep in mind that when you comment on the blog I can't respond to the comment when it comes into my email. This whole blog thing is still new to me too. I hope that I'm sharing some things of interest to all of you but if you have suggestions just let me know. I'm open to feedback (constructive only please!).

XOXO!