After the beautiful relaxing time at the Cayes, it is time for us to start heading toward our last stop in Belize: San Ignacio . We’ve been hearing good things about this place since we got our passport stamped at the Corozal border so how could we not give a shot? Plus, this is the only land-gateway for Guatemala that Belize has (alternatively we could take a boat from P.G.) which leads straight into the arms of the beautiful ruins of Tikal. Perfect!
Still half asleep from a full-night sleep in Belize City, we start our day with a more healthy walk toward the bus terminal rather than the “lazy” option of getting a short ride with a cab. Warmth, noises, pleasing smell of pollution… yep, we’re not in Caye Caulker anymore! Thankfully, we’re get to the terminal just in time to sneak in the back of an express bus about to leave for San Ignacio (no Belmopan stop!). Nearly empty bus? Low music? Driver less suicidal than usual? It’s nap time!
The ride does take a quite while and by the time we’re in San Ignacio its already 2pm: the long 3½h to get there seems to be INFINITE! Once in town, everything looks great, definitely more of a touristy town than anywhere else we’ve been but not exactly what we were expecting. Even trying to reach the cheap Tropicool Hotel (booked the day before) seems to be a challenge! Straight to the truth, the hotel is horrible, old and with nobody in meh… quick shower and a walk into town make us think that tomorrow we gotta find a better place to sleep.
Some nights can get pretty packed at Bella’s
The morning after we finally have a revelation: what if a hostel needs some photography in exchange for a couple of nights free? And this is the story of how we end up at the lively Bella’s Backpackers Hostel: take photos, get one night for free and pay the other night. Not a bad deal, uh? But in order to take photos we gotta wait for everybody to get out so what to do in the meanwhile? The answer is… Xunantunich !
Free ferry to Xunantunich
This beautiful ruins, located no more than a 15min bus ride from town, make it a very nice half-day trip if you enjoy having a stroll between majestic temples and long-forgotten pok-ta-pok courts. The bus drop us in front of a river where a kind of boat-platform continuously ferry people & vehicles across the small river stretch that separate the main road to the road of the ruins. Cool! And it is here that we see our first orange Iguana (apparently iguana that is in mating season) having a relaxed swim. You won’t believe the color of the iguana if you don’t see it with your eyes!
The walk around the ruins ends up being better than expected instead; we were expecting the usual not-so-great ruins trip that most people do to fill up an activity-free afternoon but these ruins are simply awesome. On top of the beautiful carvings scattered all around the complexes, the view from the main Castillo is probably one of the best views we’ve seen up until now. And pretty much all this all left to ourselves!
Main Castillo
Beautiful Carvings on smaller complex
Views from top of Main Castillo
Us on the top
Another small structure
Iguana’s home with VIP ruins view
View of the whole complex (didn’t fit all in the camera!)
The next day is the big day though. Around San Ignacio area there are two main full-day trips to do which are the ATM caves (really amazing, or so we’ve heard, but expensive) or visit the ruins of Caracol (less expensive). Unfortunately, not many knows that while the ATM caves can be accessed only with a guide, visiting Caracol can be completely done on a budget ! If you find 5-6 people willing to go on the same as you do (like at Bella’s) you can easily rent a 7-seater van at Flames Auto Rental for around 50USD and share the costs. You can easily end up spending as less as 20-30USD each including the park entrance (15BLZ), gasoline and food, instead of the 75-90USD that most companies advertise. Not bad uh!
We decide to leave from Bella’s at around 7.30am, so that we’re able to get to the military checkpoint (takes around 1½-2h) by 9.30am…but why at that time? Because at 9.30am everyday, from the military checkpoint leaves a military convoy that escort you up to the ruins in order to discourage any “bandidos”. In reality, joining this convoy is not “obligatory”, many people would probably tell you that, but you can just show up at the checkpoint, sign in the entrance form and simply keep going to the ruins. The drive to Caracol is pretty easy in the first part and a little bit more challenging in the dirt roads closer to the ruins but with a bit of confidence its easily doable, nothing impossible.
From the checkpoint to the ruins it takes us 1h more of driving but once there, the site is simply amazing. Caracol is one of those places where we would go back again anytime, even considering the long-ass road to get there! The site itself is spread over a very big area, there are a couple of reservoirs, couple of ball courts, loads of buildings and the incredibly beautiful main castillo. And the view from atop the main castillo is simply unbelievable! Since Caracol is completely immersed into the jungle , it feels like being thrown back a couple thousands years back when the ancient civilisations used to inhabit the place. But this is not enough! In fact, here was the one-and-only place where we get lucky and finally see the famous keel-billed toucan just chilling on a branch!!Lastly, to visit the whole place, it doesn’t take us more than 2hours at a relaxed pace, climbing everything there was to climb and even having a lunch break.
Marta climbing to the top of the main Castillo
View of the site from atop the main castillo
Amazing carvings scattered around the complex
View from another castillo at the site
But our day has not finished yet! We haven’t come here just for the ruins but also to explore all the amazing little waterfalls & pools of the Mountain Pine Ridge found on the same road we took to come here. Just after the ruins, our first stop is the magnificent Rio-on-Pools ; this impressive group of small pools are easy accessible through a very well-signalled path that leads you straight there after only 5min of walking from the car parking. The place is simply magical! Take a dip, relax, chill and enjoy this beautiful oasis of well-needed refreshment after the long stroll in the ruins: you won’t regret it!!! Getting there is pretty easy since there are signals everywhere and even better: is FREE!
Rio-on-Pools at sunset
Beautiful atmosphere
Max taking a bath under the main (small) waterfall
Long-exposure of Rio Frio after everybody left
Moving on, our next step is the Rio Frio Cave . The road to get to this place is slightly worse than the normal one but once there you’ll be rewarded. Once again the actual path to walk to the cave is pretty short and easy to walk on but the real catch is the view from inside the cave. Breathtaking! And chances are that you won’t find anybody!
View of the entrance of the cave
The inside of the cave
Having spent a lot of time chilling in Rio on Pools but just a little in the cave, we still have an hour left to get to the last stop of today: Big Rock Falls . Unfortunately, in order to reach this waterfall there are no signal for the waterfall itself but you need to follow the directions for the Gaya River Lodge and then keep going until you’ll find the fall signal. The path down to the waterfall can be pretty slippery and steep in some segments but it doesn’t take us more than 15-20min in total. Wow! When we see the fall, we can’t believe our eyes! This waterfall is such a beautiful sight! If were to come here earlier, i’m sure everybody would have taken a dip but right now… time for a group photo and back home!
It has taken a full-day for us to do everything and looking back, leaving earlier would have been a better option. If you’re planning on doing the same itinerary that we did make sure to leave as soon as the light is out so you can take your time and have the ruins all to yourself!
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