Tubing through ancient caves is a very hard act to follow. But we still had another day to check out inland Belize. The back half of our trip would be in a sleepy little beach town, so there would be plenty of time to put our feet up then. I had been reading several books on the Mayan history of the region leading up to our trip (which included an extra six months after we rescheduled), so I was excited to check out some temple ruins.
The area that is now Belize was once the heart of several different Mayan kingdoms. The history is fascinating. What I had presumed to be a homogenous and peaceful civilization was in fact a diverse and evolving population marked by shifting alliances and frequent warfare. Despite the ecological richness (or perhaps because of it), the lives of the Mayans were harsh and challenging. So they counted on their leaders to facilitate their very survival. When things went bad, populations rebelled and dynasties were brought to an abrupt end. So to counter this tendency, rulers built awe-inspiring temples (and performed brutal rituals in them) to demonstrate their connection to the gods and inspire a bit of complacent fear in their subjects. Hence some of the largest structures in Belize to this day.
Our Fermin-recommended destination that day was Xunantunich, the second tallest building in Belize. The van ride was about an hour, and a couple other families staying at Caves Branch joined as well. Our guides Alfred and Pedro did a nice job pointing out interesing things along the way. But with all of us still recovering from the previous day’s cave adventure, it was a pretty quiet drive.
The first bit of excitement came up when we were just a mile away from Xunantunich. There’s a hand cranked ferry that shuttles vehicles across the river before they head on up to the ruins.
But it is highly affected by the river’s water level, so different sizes of vehicles can only traverse it when the conditions are appropriate. That day, our van didn’t qualify. So we all got out and hiked the last mile on foot.
Like most Mayan temples, Xunantunich was built on a tall hill overlooking the valley below. Or in more immediate terms, our hike was pretty steep. So the guides shared Mayan trivia and pointed out cilantro and allspice plants along the way to keep everyone distracted from the considerable effort. But I was quickly realizing why even a mild sightseeing tour also earned three sweat drops in the Caves Branch brochure.
The hike was immediately worth it as soon as we reached the top. The strength and power of the buildings was immediately evident.
As our guide pointed out, most of our modern buildings will not be standing in a hundred years, let alone a thousand. But the main temple and the collection of structures around it looked like they could have been in use yesterday. And it’s not like they’ve been protected this whole time. Mayan civilization reached its peak about 1500 years ago, and rapidly declined over a thousand years ago. After that, the major cities were abandoned, and the dwindling population dispersed into other areas. Archeologists and Americanists (that’s a thing) have various theories for why that occurred, ranging from disease to famine to religious taboo/perceived curse. But regardless of the reason, the cities were abruptly abandoned and only rediscovered over the last century (and several just during my lifetime).
These structures spent the last millennium being lost to the jungle, which is so fertile that trees started sinking roots into the structures immediately after they were abandoned. Those trees dropped leaves, those leaves became soil, and in no time at all, these massive structures were completely buried under full ground cover. Rumors and legends were passed down through generations of Mayans, but the mounds melted so thoroughly into the surrounding hills that they were completely camouflaged. Modern Mayans had been using them as hunting grounds for centuries, completely unaware that the hills they were traversing through hid literally hundreds of feet of history.
Occasionally a hunter would see a stone structure or a clay pot popping out through the soil, word would get out, and the archeologists and looters would race each other to establish a presence. That cycle continues to play out even today. Archeologists believe that only a small fraction of Mayan ruins have been discovered, even at well known sites like Xunantunich. As our guides were discussing that we looked out over the valley and couldn’t help but wonder which mounds were natural and which ones were history. There’s still a ton to explore.
But I’ve gone on a bit. There are lots of great books about Mayan ruins. I won’t keep rehashing them here. But it is such a fascinating history.
Back to the present. The very present, where I’m trying to take in two thousand years of history while trying to keep my kids from falling off of it. Thanks again, Alfred.
By the end of the trip (or really more like 10 minutes after we got there), everyone in our group knew the names of our kids and joined Aimee and I in calling them out whenever they got within about 5 feet of the edge. Getting them some cameras for Christmas seemed like a good idea at the time, but those kids are fearless almost to a fault.
Although in all fairness, it’s not like there aren’t any safety precautions.
Infallible.
I glossed over our trip to the top of the temple, but there’s definitely a story there. The Mayans are small people. They have small feet. They make small stairs. I don’t have any photos from the way up because I was too busy trying keep my own balance while making sure my kids stayed far away from where the non-existent guardrails would have been if the building was made a thousand years later. Life was tough during the Classical Mayan era. Food was scarce, warfare was constant. Losing a couple of people every year to a wayward step was just a drop in the bucket, especially since things didn’t end particularly well for about a third of the people that made it to the top of that staircase anyway.
Ok. My heart rate has come back down from thinking about our ascent. Now we can move to geography. Aside from being able to see our own potential demise, we could also see Guatemala. The homes over Pedro’s shoulder are just past the border.
There’s a centuries-long dispute about that border, with court cases ongoing to this day. I don’t know enough about it to go into any meaningful detail here, but the short version is that it’s yet another example of colonial powers (in this case Britain and Spain) battling over a rich territory, then leaving generations of problems in their wake. Spain said the border was in one spot, Britain said it was in another. Then they both withdrew from active governance in the area without settling the issue. In fact, the Belizean recently voted to stay in the British commonwealth because they’re convinced Guatemala would march right in if they weren’t. Whether or not that’s true, it’s kept a simmering unease going throughout the entire history of both countries.
Enough procrastinating. It’s time to head back down the temple stairs.
We survived the descent (physically, if not emotionally), and then the tour continued through some classic Mayan ball courts. They were used to play a handball-like game that often took the place of warfare but was equally fatal for the losers. It really was a brutal period.
After that, it was back down the hill to our van. We re-crossed the ferry on foot, and then loaded up the van and headed off to lunch. As I write this, we’re only a few days after leaving the inland portion of our trip, and I’m already deeply craving more of that area’s rice, beans, and homemade tortillas. I could absolutely do just fine living there.
With full bellies, we set off for the other cultural site on the agenda, Cahal Pech. Smaller, but considerably older, the site has roots going back over 3,000 years. However, it’s also one of the more recent discoveries. I was Quinn’s age when excavation began. Our guides told us about several major digs that they personally witnessed as recently as a couple of years ago. Since archeologists have more modern techniques and tools at their disposal (and better governmental protection from looters), the excavation of this site is much more revealing of ancient Mayan culture. Even the 3,000 year old paint is visible at certain places. Cahal Pech also where some of the oldest Mayan pottery has been discovered.
But our focus was not on history at that point. We had one kid squarely in the middle of nap time and another with a full bladder from the glass of extremely fresh juice that has become a staple of our kids’ diet on this trip. So we took a quick lap around the ruins just long enough to find the modern bathrooms, and then fell into a deep, deep sleep on the way back to Caves Branch.
As we had been doing every evening at Caves Branch, we spent the rest of the day lounging in the pool. Lounging by the pool was an easy way to turn into a mosquito feast, but the cold water always felt nice after our adventures. And then with very heavy hearts, we packed up our bags the next morning. Aimee and I have been very fortunate to travel to lots of amazing places, but Central Belize has already become one of maybe three that we’ve already started planning to come back to. We need to see what those 5 sweat drop adventures are like!
