Xunantunich

Today we were to make a day trip to Xunantunich which is situated close to the Guatemala border in the very west of Belize. We met our guide, Mario, in the lobby of the Radisson Hotel across the street from our hotel at 7.30 a.m. We boarded a large minivan as the only occupants and set off on the road west.

We passed Hattieville, a village which had sprung up as a refuge from a previous hurricane (named appropriately ‘Hattie’), and the villagers who had fled from Belize City decided to stay even after the waters subsided. Then we passed the entrance to the Belize Zoo which we will visit on the return journey. We also passed the turning to Belmopan which is the ‘new’ Belizean capital city, (note: the name Belmopan is Bel, from Belize and Mopan from the river of that name, that runs through it). We passed the twin cities of Santa Elena and San Ignacio and soon after passing through the latter we came to the crossing of the river Macal River. The crossing is made via a hand-cranked ferry and we had to disembark from our minivan while the vehicle was driven on to the ferry and we traveled on the ferry as foot passengers boarding the minivan on the other side of the river. Then we drove on the short distance to the car park at Xunantunich Archeological Site. Here there are several very large temples and royal residence buildings as well as some burial sites. The site is only partially excavated and there are lots more areas where excavations might reveal much more information about the Mayan civilization which occupied this area. Although much of the history of the Mayan culture is supposition because records are mostly lost, but some believe that the Mayan population may have been in the millions, perhaps as many as 5 million, (compare this with the 400,000 present population of Belize). The extent of the cities and settlements which have been discovered is huge as we witnessed at Lamanai where the city was estimated to be 10 miles by 2 miles. New technology called Liedar is used to detect areas of civilization beneath the jungle canopy. A laser beam is projected from a plane flying over the area and this reveals where hills and undulations are man-made rather than naturally occurring. However, there is not sufficient money to carry out excavations on the scale necessary to uncover the many sites which have been identified. Various organizations such as USAID, UCLA and other foreign entities have participated in the archeological work but much still needs to be done.

We walked through the plaza between the vast stone structures and climbed up to the top of one of them from which we could see into Guatemala and the country for miles around. It was a tough climb to the top of 130 foot high structure the second highest in Belize. These structures were reserved for the royal and elite members of the Mayan community. Those in the middle and lower classes were not invited to visit these structures, they lived and farmed in the valleys far away from the temples and residences of the elite. In one of the structures the body of what is believed to be a former ruler was found. Many stele were found but most of them had their hieroglyphic messages worn away by time unless they had by chance fallen flat so that the face of them was covered. In many cases the relief one the buildings and the stele have been replaced by copies to protest the fragile originals but the copies are remarkably realistic and are indistinguishable to the lay observer. To say that all these buildings and the history and culture they embody is awe-inspiring is an under-statement. The Mayan people were a sophisticated and intelligent group who discovered much of the science which we now take for granted. Mathematics, astronomy and other sciences were discovered and utilized in their daily lives. Sadly, the Spanish and other colonists, mistaking the Mayan idols for un-Christian beliefs they destroyed so much of what the Mayans had built and recorded. So much was lost and it is so difficult to piece together the history of this amazing civilization from what has been recovered so far.  Where buildings are found, there are often other buildings below them so that there are layers of history which have to be peeled away to reveal what is underneath. The various Mayan periods extend from about 3,000 BC until about 900 AD when there seemed to be some sort of a melt-down in the structure of this civilization. I will try to write more about the Mayans, later.

We left Xunantunich and retraced our step over the hand-cranked ferry to San Ignacio where we had lunch at a local restaurant called Hodie’s Place. Then it was on to the Belize zoo. The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center is a zoo in Belize, located some 29 miles west of Belize City on the Western Highway. Set in 29 acres, the zoo was founded in 1983 by Sharon Matola. It is home to more than 175 animals of about 48 species, all native to Belize.

The story goes that a film crew making a documentary about the wildlife in Belize brought some animals with them. At the end of the filming, the film crew wanted to release these half-domesticated animals back into the wild. Ms. Matola demurred and argued that they would not survive. She decided to remain in Belize and look after the animals. Although this cost her money, she liaised with local schools so that students could get a close up view of the wildlife in their country. This proved to be very popular and she managed to raise enough money to buy the 29 acre plot of land where she has established the ‘zoo’ although it is more an animal sanctuary than a zoo as all the animals have been brought in, either injured or captured because they were killing cattle or farm animals. All the animals are native to Belize including the five species of cats, jaguar, puma, ocelot, margay and jaguarundi. There are number of tapirs which are the national animal of Belize as well as the Keel-billed Toucan which is the national bird. There are spider and howler monkeys and many different kinds of birds, including eagles, owls and parrots. The enclosures are filled with trees and plants giving the animals adequate cover even if they are not always easy for the public to spot, it is better that they are comfortable in their surroundings and feel that they are well cared for than for the public to be able to see them. The jaguars, in particular, are magnificent animals and expert hunters with amazing jaw strength. There are also a freshwater and a saltwater crocodile and some reptiles.

We left the zoo and headed back to the city where we arrived at about 5.30 p.m., had a cup of coffee at the Le Petit bakery next door to the hotel and retired to our room in the hotel. There we started packing for our trip home tomorrow.