Web Resources

1 | 2 | 3 | 4



BOAT RACE
The Cayo District is full of soft adventure and places to see. You will need a good three days to catch most of it, which includes Mayan ruins, caves, nature trails, jungle tours, canoeing, tubing, zip lining and horseback riding. If you time it right, you can also witness the country’s biggest boat race, The La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge. It’s a four-day event where contestants from all over the world paddle 175 miles down the Belize River. Next year will be the third annual event and it takes place from March 6 to March 9, 2009. It starts at the historic Hawksworth Bridge in San Ignacio (five minutes from the resort) and it ends at the Belcan Bridge in downtown Belize City. For more information, log on to LaRutaMayaBelize.com.

HORSEBACK RIDING
On my first morning, I had I a choice of activities: Actun Loch Tunich (a black hole drop) or horseback riding. Since I’m not keen on anything to do with heights, I passed on rappelling 300 feet down to the rainforest floor and exploring the jungle and caves, thank you very much. I’m Johnny Jet, not Indiana Jones. Instead, I went for a relaxing horseback ride five minutes away at the 400-acre San Lorenzo farm. After the first hour of really enjoying the scenery, my butt seriously started killing me. It was then that I was no longer bummed out that we couldn’t gallop because of insurance reasons … who would have thought that in Belize, you have to worry about being sued? If I ever go again, I would do it earlier in the morning (it gets hot out) and I would either bring a seat cushion or go for just an hour. The only problem with that is that the highlight is stopping at the Mopan River, which takes time to get to. Cost: $35USD per person for two hours and includes transportation to and from the resort, water and a soft drink.

CELL PHONES: My T-Mobile BlackBerry did not work in Belize but once I made it to Guatemala, it worked and emails started pouring in. Check with your service provider if you care.

LOCAL DELIGHTS
Though the food is really good at the resort, you probably don’t want to eat every meal there; it’s expensive and lacks a local feel. I had dinner in San Ignacio at The Aguada Hotel (Tel: 501-804-3609). It’s an eight-minute drive and a real casual place that serves up local Belizean cuisine. I opted for the Bocanas: shredded chicken over nachos ($8.50) and a chicken burrito ($8.50). They have indoor and outdoor tables and the food is just okay. One thing about dining out is that all the restaurants offer Marie Sharp's Hot Sauce, which is like Tabasco sauce but is locally made from a base of habanero peppers, carrots and onions. NOTE: That night I had some crazy and unusual nightmares. I dreamt I was being chased by a pack of tapirs and tripped and fell into a pit surrounded by poisonous snakes that were laughing at me. I’m not sure what induced the nightmare: the food, the hot sauce or the Cayo Twist ice cream (made with soy beans) I finished off with at the end of the night.

ZIP LINING
An hour drive from Ka’ana (towards the airport) is Jaguar Paw, a 200-acre jungle resort. They offer multiple activities here including: an Aerial Trek Canopy Tour, better known as zip lining. I’ve done this twice before in Costa Rica and South Africa and this was my favorite as it was short and felt the safest. They have well-constructed wood platforms, eight and six zip lines attaching them. After suiting up (helmet, body harness, pulley and gloves) and a quick safety briefing, we were off. Each group has two guides and if they are not busy, you can go with just your friend(s), no strangers.

KING OF THE JUNGLE
Each user has two back-up cables attached to their harness so they’ll be safe, soaring above and through the jungle treetops. The highest platform is 85 feet above the forest floor and the longest run is 300 feet long. The scariest part for me was getting down. To reach the ground, everyone has to rappel down 45 feet. Before dropping, you’re just dangling there for a few seconds before you are dropped at the speed of your choosing ... slow, medium, fast. I chose the medium speed, which you can see in the video below. Be sure to bring your camera because the one picture they take to sell is not that great. The Aerial Trek Canopy Tour costs $55 per person.

NOTE: No matter which activity you choose, always try to avoid the days when cruise ships are in port. Their large crowds ruin everything and they are usually in town on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But in peak season (December and January), it’s every day.

CAVE TUBING
We took a break and had lunch in the Jaguar Paw restaurant. I had their specialty chicken, rice and beans with coleslaw ($7), which was darn good and was just what I needed before my next soft adventure; cave tubing! Huh? I thought the same thing. What the heck is cave tubing?! For starters, each person gets an inflated tire tube. You have to carry it across the knee-high, clear blue Caves Branch River, which is quite chilly. Once on the other side, you walk down a wide cutout path through the jungle for 25 minutes. Most people do two caves so it’s a longer walk but I was happy to do just one.

WHAT TO BRING
You will want to bring water shoes, a bathing suit and a waterproof camera. I gave my regular camera and sunglasses to the guide who carries a dry bag. The entrance to the cave is beautiful but I have to be honest -- with all the mining accidents last year, I was a little nervous about going in a dark cave. And only Mother Nature knows how long you’ll be in there for; depending on the water flow, a trip can take anywhere between 30 and 90 minutes. Fortunately, the river was moving at its peak.



INTO THE DARK WE GO
We plopped down, into our tubes and I felt the cold water on my bum. We turned our headlamps on and we were off. If you don’t want to do it alone, I suggest holding on tight to a friend’s tube, either by your feet or hands. If don’t hook yourselves together right away, it’s difficult to catch up later as you float at the will of the water. Floating into a quiet pitch-black cave with small rooms that were once used by the Mayans for rituals, is not the most comforting feeling. During the first and last hundred yards, you can see the lights on either end of the cave and there’s also a spot somewhere in the middle, which has an opening and you can see people walking through the crystal caves. For some kind of sick and twisted fun, our guide suggested that we turn off our lights so it was completely, utterly dark. I mean, I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face but it was actually very peaceful just lying there, listening to the gentle swish of the rapids. Of course, that all ended when I crashed into a wall. I had to use my hands and feet to push off the walls on three separate occasions. Overall, the experience felt like a Disney ride but without the safety. It’s definitely a unique eco-tourism experience and I would do it again for sure. Next time, I’ll bring a wet suit, though. It gets chilly! Rates begin at $45 per person. For more information, visit JaguarPaw.com or call: Toll Free: 1-877-624-3770 or 011-501-820-2023.

SAN JOSE SUCCOTZ
The resort is about a 45-minute drive to Caracol, a famous archaeological site with ruins of one of the great Mayan city-states. It’s located within the Chiquibil Forest Reserve and the drive is not only time consuming but also supposedly quite winding. Instead, I went to the lesser-known Mayan ruins of Xunantunich. Xunantunich means Stone Lady and it’s pronounced zshoo-NAN-too-NEECH. It’s just a five-minute drive from the hotel to the village of San Jose Succotz. There, locals sell inexpensive, handcrafted goods including on-the-spot slate carving of Mayan calendars. It’s also where you catch the free, eco-friendly hand-cranked car ferry across the Mopan River. It’s only about 50 yards but it’s the only way to get across and it’s neat to see and try.

XUNANTUNICH
Xunantunich was a thriving Mayan city during the Classic Period (A.D. 600 to 900). The National Park is 25 square miles and has more than 26 temples and palaces. After a mile drive up the hill and a couple hundred-yard hike from the parking lot, you enter main field. Admission is $15BZD ($7.50). We arrived early and there was no one there but a French family having a breakfast picnic on the grounds. Even in Belize, the French picnic. It was remarkable to roam around the recently uncovered ruins from thousands of years ago and not have to share the experience with hundreds of gawping tourists. What’s even crazier is that there are even more ruins still covered than uncovered. All the rolling green hills are actually hidden gems but it costs too much to dig them out. What a shame.

VIEW FROM THE TOP
The most prominent temple is El Castillo (The Castle). The pyramid stands 130 feet high, which makes it the second tallest structure in Belize. Unlike Chichen Itza and other Mayan ruins, visitors can climb to the top. It was steep and narrow at times with no handrails but the views are so rewarding. It was so amazing, I can’t really describe it. I can only compare it to the beautiful view I witnessed from the top of Blarney Castle except that this place is even better. Everything is so green and being 185 meters above sea level, you can see for miles, even the Guatemalan valleys. Without a doubt, this makes my top 15 views of all time. When we were leaving around 8:30am, tour groups started rolling in so it’s important to be there right when they open at 7:30am to get the same unspoiled experience. NOTE: The Mayan symbols at the top of El Castillo are a fiberglass replica.

12/21/12
I learned a lot of facts about the Mayans. None greater or freakier than that humans were supposedly first made up of sticks, then destroyed by fire. Second time around, they were made up of mud and killed by water. Presently, we are believed to be compiled of corn but no one knows how we will be destroyed. However, according to the Mayan Long Count Calendar, the "End Date" is December 21, 2012. It’s so significant that their calendar just comes to a stop. Yikes!

1 | 2 | 3 | LAST PAGE >>






Copyright 2008 JohnnyJet, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.