Belize & Guatamala - Mayan Ruins, Human Sacrifice & Hammocks

Our next stop was on the Belize mainland, a small town called San Ignacio close to the Guatemalan Border. It is in an area that was many thousands of years ago home to members of the Mayan Civilisation, indigenous to much of north Central America.

Tikal

One of the most prominent and politically important of the Mayan sites is Tikal in Guatamala. We took a day trip across the border to check it out. The site is in the middle of dense jungle and to date has only partially been excavated by archaeologists. Visiting Tikal is like being in the middle of an Indiana Jones movie, there are great towering structures half covered by jungle around every corner and those that have been excavated are begging to be explored. The sheer size and complexity of the site is overwhelming and experiencing the ingenuity and capability of a civilisation that lived over 2000 years ago is simply awe inspiring.

The ATM Cave

We learned more about the Mayan culture on a trip to what travellers and locals refer to as the ATM Cave, an ancient site of Mayan worship and sacrifice. It was a truly amazing experience. After an hour or so hike through dense jungle, we came upon a sparkling blue pool which fed into a huge gaping black hole, the mouth of the cave.

After a brief swim in the crystal clear water to cool down we swam into the cave and were led by a guide into sheer darkness. The guide explained how the Mayan people had worshipped gods in the heavens as well as gods in the underworlds and they used this cave to get closer to the underworld. In particular they made sacrifices here to their rain god.

After a pretty hairy trek through pitch black caverns and tunnels with just our headtorches to show the way we came across a huge chamber in the rock. This had been the main place of worship and all over the ground could be found pieces of pottery and other artifacts left over from acts of worship held thousands of years ago.

There was also evidence of human sacrifice, several skulls piled together in one corner and in a smaller chamber a complete skeleton of a teenage girl arranged in a dancing position in homage to the rain god. Her skull had been smashed and beside her lay a chiselled piece of rock, the suspected murder weapon.

It was incredible to bear witness to these people’s beliefs and actions thousands of years after their civilisation ceased to exist.

Placencia

After a bumpy 4 hour bus ride south to Placencia, we arrived in this little beach town in hope of being able to dive with Whale Sharks who we had heard were passing through the area. Unfortunately we had just missed them so to compensate for our disappointment we found ourselves some hammocks where we lay for the next few days. There is only one boat a week from Placencia to Honduras and it was 4 days away....what else could we do!