Cultural changes in Belize

 

Day 2 was a fast paced day in and around the San Ignacio area. Within 30 kilometres of the town, we experienced various scopes of Belizean culture, seeing everything from the infrastructure and design of the ancient Mayan ruins at Xunantunich, to the school in the impoverished Arenal village near the Guatemalan border.

 

We began the day at 8:30 a.m. by stepping back in time, to explore the Mayan Xunantunich Archaeological Reserve.  As we drive to Xunantunich through the hilly terrain it was possible to see the large castillo in the distance, above the jungle. As we reached the base of the mountain where Xunantunich resides, we approached the Macal River.  Much to our surprise there was no bridge in sight, just a one-vehicle-long, manually powered ferry raft that moved between the banks of the river…under the watchful eye of a colony of green iguanas basking in the sunlight in the treetops.

 

As we ascended up the steep path to Xunantunich, I admired the Mayans who would’ve cleared their own path through the dense jungle centuries ago.  Leaving our van at the gateway to the ruins, with sunscreen lathered on and water bottles in tow, we climbed the final ascent of the trail, taking in a photographic tour of the ruins being uncovered.

 

The Mayans were a civilization of several million people throughout South America, 7,000-10,000 strong, who inhabited Xunantunich between 1000 BC-1000 AD.  Xunantunich means Stone Maiden, and when looking at these powerful structures towering above us we could understand why it was the major political, social and economic centre of its time.

 

Everyone but height-wary Prof. Roberts climbed the narrow, worn, open stairway to the top of the castillo, the ancient shrine of the ruling family.  We looked over the landscape in awe, dangling our feet in a place where I’m sure many more had dangled before.

 

Although we could’ve spent the day staring into the vast horizon, absorbing our surroundings, we had to move on to our next destination.  But our Xunantunich excursion would not have been complete without a stop at the jostly open-air gift shop where we had an unexpected visit from a live scorpion…maybe he too thought he’d pick up a gift along the way.

 

The road to impoverished Arenal School, where SHARE supports a dairy herd development project, was a tedious and incredibly bumpy ride.  As van bounced along the dirt road, with our experienced driver Les at the wheel, the anticipation of meeting the Belizean school children grew.  As we approached the school there was no hiding, we were definitely spotted along the road as we drove up.  We were welcomed by an excited group of children who greeted us with a local song.  Their school is a one–room shed, divided into classroom areas by partitions that doubled as blackboards, and their educational realities are much different than ours.

 

We immersed ourselves among the school children to take photos with the students. They swarmed around us to see their images on our digital cameras. We made fast friends, making it hard to leave them behind. And as they ran behind our van in farewell, it was obvious to see that this was an area of extreme poverty, despite the luxury of hydro and clean water that existed in the village. Their dilapidated homes were stark in contrast to the ancient ruins we had seen that morning. It’s hard to think that a civilization that ended more than a thousand years ago was socially and economically advanced compared to the one surrounding us now.

 

Later, on the way back to San Ignacio, we took some time to reflect on our day in peaceful surroundings of DePlooy’s Botanical Garden. The lush vegetation comprised a mixture of jostly native plants and a few imports, and our tour guide went to great lengths to explain their various uses.  Finishing the tour from a large observation deck overlooking the valley where the gardens grow was an amazing way to encompass all we had just seen.

 

By the time our tour was over we were ready to head back to the hotel for a refreshing swim. After a long day we were all ready to relax, with a filling dinner at Cahal Pech, then off to bed to get rested for the next day!

 

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