A short stop in Belize

Our journey took us from Bacalar, Mexico to Belize City and then on the Chicken Bus (so-called because the seating capacity in these buses is usually not enough for the number of travelers and sometimes chickens or other creatures also complete part of the journey) to San Ignacio, Belize.

San Ignacio is a very small town on the border with Guatemala. It is really very small, to be precise there are only two streets, one with two bars, hotels, and hostels, and the other with 5 restaurants, hotels, and hostels. So this time we really felt for the first time the wise words of a Canadian: 'On the Gringo Trail, you will see the same people all the time.'

After a little local rum punch, on the first evening we had enough courage and especially enough money and booked a tour to the 'ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) Cave', which was discovered in the late 80s and contains some breathtaking archaeological finds from the time of the Maya, such as a completely preserved skeleton that is about 1000 years old. As we made our way through the somewhat refreshing water and squeezed through narrow gorges, we learned a lot about the customs and traditions of the Maya and especially about the hallucinogens that the men and women would take to venture into the darkness of these cave complexes armed only with candles.

The following day, we decided to rent a canoe and paddle upstream on the Macal River and then drift back downstream comfortably. At first, it seemed to be an exceptionally good idea, as the nature that surrounded us after just a few minutes of paddling was breathtaking.

However, due to our vast water sports experience, we underestimated a seemingly inconspicuous rapid on the way back and capsized. The result was a torn shirt, a lost cap, and wet backpacks. As we licked our wounds and freed the boat from water, and were quite glad that nothing worse happened, we noticed that a paddle was missing. Oh no! No time for blaming each other, the search had to start immediately. We gave up the search without success. The mood was low and in our heads we were already strategizing how best to negotiate with the owner of the canoe and explain the loss of the paddle. How much does a paddle cost? 100 euros, 200 euros, or even more? No idea! How many days of pasta with tomato sauce do we need to budget for to fill this hole? But just as the blame game reached its peak, I noticed a silver flash in the water in front of us. There it was indeed, and when the owner of the canoe asked the obligatory question 'Todo bien?' (Everything good?), we nodded gently, thanked him, and left. Over an evening beer and a game of Uno, we were already laughing about our adventure.

Meanwhile, we have arrived safely in Guatemala and have now arrived in the even smaller town (with only one street) of El Remate on Lake Petén, but with at least as many activities.

Whether we have been on another canoe trip or torn a hole in our budget with other activities, you will find out in our next post.

Until then,

Many kisses from Guatemala

Matthias and Lisa