Today the GLOW girls finally went on our planned trip to Lubaantun and Columbia River. They raised enough funds to take a charter and have lunch.
We went to Lubaantun ruins. The Maya ruins at Lubaantun 1.3 miles north of San Pedro Columbia, are built on a natural hilltop and display a construction method usual in the ancient Maya world (though typical of southern Belize) of neatly cut small limestone blocks. Belize’s then chief-medical officer, Thomas Gann, amateur archaeologies, bestowed the name of Lubaantun (Place of the Fallen Stones) in 1924. History does not record whether Gann’s naming of the site was inspired by his own practice of dynamiting temple tops to remove earth and rocks. More professional work has taken place since 1970 and much of the site is now cleared and restored.
Archaeologist postulate that Lubaantun, which flourished between AD 730 and 860., may have been an administrative center regulating trade, while nearby Nim Li Punit (the other ruin nearby-which I have also been to) was the local religious and ceremonial center. The Maya site comprises a collection of five plazas, three ball courts, and surrounding structures. Lubaantun is known for the numerous mold-made ceramic figurines found here, many of which represent ancient ball players.
We were lucky and the man in the office gave us great insight of Lubanntun and the missing crystal skull.
The girls enjoyed themselves!
After we went to the ruin we went to Columbia to have a picnic. San Pedro Columbia is around 20 miles northwest of Punta Gorda. It is the largest K’ekchi Maya community outside of Guatemala. Columbia (as locals call it) was established by K’ekchi families who left Pueblo Viejo to look for new farmland around 1905. The village has seen boom and bust cycles with mahogany and cedar feeling, chicle collection and, in the 1970s and 1980s, marijuana cultivation. There are currently around 1500 people in Columbia.
After the delicious picnic that Ms. Maria cooked (fried chicken, mash potato, rice and beans and juice) we all swam in the river, but for Beth because she didn’t want to get wet before her long bus ride to Belmopan. The current was very strong, but I had brave GLOW girls that jumped in the deep water and me and Bernadina would catch them to bring them to the land so that they didn’t just keep floating down the river. My GLOW girls aren’t the best swimmers because we don’t have big rivers in Laguna. We just have little shallow creeks that they are used to swimming, bathing, and washing in.
When leaving we dropped Beth off at the junction because she had to go to Belmopan and catch her plane the next day. We were all sad to say good bye. I had so much fun while Beth was here!
Disclaimer This website expresses the views of Grace Boswell, who is entirely responsible for its content. It does not express the views of the United States government, the Belize government, the Peace Corps or any other institutions named or linked to on these pages.
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