Today Beth and I woke up early to do a triple tour! Our tour included a trip to Altun Ha ruins, Caves branch ziplining and cave tubing. Today was such an AMAZING day!
Altun Ha is the ruin that inspired the Belikin beer label. Altun Ha ruins stands 34 miles north of central Belize City, off the Old Northern Highway. Altun Ha was a rich and important Maya training and agricultural town with a population of 8,000 to 10,000 at its peak in the Classic Period (AD 300-1000). The entire site covered some 1500 acres, but what visitors today see is the central ceremonial precinct of two plazas surrounded by temples, excavated in the 1960s and now looking squeaky clean following a stabilization and conservation program from 2000 to 2004.
Altun Ha existed by at least 200 BC, perhaps even several centuries earlier, and flourished until the mysterious collapse of Classic Maya civilization around AD 900. Most of the temples date from around AD 550 to 650, thought, like many Maya temples; most of them are composed of several layers, having been built over periodically in a series of renewals. Altun Ha was a smaller ruin site than I expected, but I still enjoyed it!
After the ruin we went to Caves Branch for ziplining. The ziplining was so amazing. It was as if we were flying through the jungles of Belize! The Zip-line Canopy Tour, where you zoom through the treetops from platform to platform on six linked cable runs up to 200ft long. Trained guides give you safety briefing and helped us into our harnesses. It was so awesome!
Then Beth and I went cave tubing. Cave tubing is one of the biggest rages in Belize. Belize is a blessed country with a many fairly gentle and temperate in watercourses working their way through gorgeous scenery. The best adventure is floating in and out of a sequence of caves with a headlamp (the only light available). We sat in an inflated inner-tube and floating and paddling along a river. We went downstream most of the time and the only technique that needs to be learnt is how to avoid getting beached, eddied or snagged on rocks whole continuing to face the right direction (which Andrew my bf had trouble with in Jan :). It is super cool to view all the stalactites, stalagmites, crystalline formations and artifacts from ancient Maya rituals.
This was my third time cave tubing and again I learned that to the ancient Maya, caves were entrances to Xibalba, the underworld and residence of important gods. Many Belizean caves today still contain relics of Maya ceremonies, offerings or sacrifices. This archaeological element makes cave exploration doubly exciting! 
An exhausting but amazing day!!
After the fabulous tour we were headed to Laguna Village; however, it took longer than expected because Beth got the full Belizean experience of the James bus breaking down for over an hour. The James bus goes from Belize City to Belmopan to Dangriga to Independence and to PG and vice versa. James Bus Line is one of the largest bus companies serving the south. James runs nine times a day from Punta Gorda to Belize City (22 BZD seven hours), pulling into Independence (9BZD, two hours), Dangriga (14BZD 3.5 hours) and Belmopan (20BZD 5.5 hours).
Most Belizean buses are old US school buses. Regular-service buses stop anywhere to drop and pick up passengers. Express buses, sometimes air-conditioned, have limited stops and as result are quicker and usually less crowed. They cost a bit more but it’s worth the extra few dollars, especially on longer trips.
Side note we used to have a market bus (but we still do not have one in Laguna!) it was run by the Shols. It is common for a variety of smaller bus companies to serve villagers around the country. They often run to local work and school schedules, with buses going into a larger town (Punta Gorda Town for me!) in the morning and returning in the afternoon. Anyway Beth got educated with the bus schedules..... We finally reached home late at night (getting a 10BZD charter from the Laguna junction. )
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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