Cayo, Cayes, Tikal Trip Report

Hey, thanks - can't wait for more!!

Looking forward to the rest.

Stop 2: Macal Camp: Scratch "short". Macal Camp was a very separate entity from Chaa Creek, so I can't speak for both, but our experience at the camp was excellent. Dosio and his family were top-notch hosts, with good humor, arranging activities, giving rides, and conversing with guests. The camp wasn't busy until our last day, due to cancellations, so it was a pretty personal experience. Tips: Macal Camp is more likely to have availability as the date of your trip draws closer, than way before, so worth a call. Also, as we learned, mid-end of February is more of a transition season than dry season in Belize. It was much wetter than Costa Rica has been in the same period. Of course, there's never predicting the weather!

We stayed on-site the entire few days we were at Macal Camp, and never ran out of things to do. The tours offered from the bar at Chaa Creek were excellent. We did the medicine trail, butterfly house and museum, took out the canoe at no extra charge, and did a night walk for $18 pp. On our own, we walked to the site of the Mayan ruin. Unfortunately, we were unable to do the early morning bird walk because of the rain, but it was no doubt as good as the others.

Food was good, but not great. Tip: I don't eat red meat or poultry, and no-one seemed to know how to deal with this! Not just at Macal Camp, but anywhere. At dinner the first night at MC, some frozen cauliflower was the substitute. Another night, as another non-meater joined the group, a tasty portion of local veggies was given, but no protein. On two separate tours (not arranged through Macal Camp), I was simply given bread with iceburg lettuce and tomato! I learned not to specify "no meat".

We loved the kerosene lamps at night (except, perhaps, the night Dosio's daughter caught hubby changing as she arrived to light it!) The shared showers and bathrooms were always clean, and towels and soaps were provided.

Cat, did you see much on your night walk?

Although we eat little meat at home, we're not vegetarians; we found the food at MRJC to be excellent. I'm glad Docio is still there, he was a highlight for us. Did you notice lots of tarantula dens in the grass? Another highlight! I could have done without the scorpion in one of our cabins but our son Isaac's daring rescue - dropping it from the beam overhead into a waste basket held by our daughter using his newly purchased machete so I could deliver it safely outside - is a treasured story. Thanks again for posting!

Love the way you write, my friend! So glad you are back safely and reporting on what sounds like a wonderful trip! Anxious to hear about ATM! You have me on the edge of my seat!!!

vc, it was pretty misty the night of our walk, so no clear sightings of mammals, a few armadillos in the branches.Cool insects and spiders though!

I love the tarantula dens as well, hope. Especially those of the red (or was it green) rumped tarantuala. Dosio and his family were highlights for us as well. What nice people.

Thanks, shillmac, Hey, I saw a beautiful motmot at camp one evening, just as the sun was setting, and thought of you!

Motmots are my favorite.

Here's my Macal Jungle Camp photo set (has Caves Branch, too):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/sets/72157600099592149/

Thanks, Cat! We did the night hike there with Chaa Creek and saw about the same things you did. Loved the eyeshine from the spiders and the tarantula dens too.

Really want to hear about the Clarissa Falls portion !!

Great shot of that mot-mot, hope! My brain has been so very traumatized from trading sunny Belize for snow and gray skies, that I plum forgot that we went for two nights to Tikal before Clarissa Falls!

We hitched a ride to and from with Pacz tours to Tikal for $100 both ways. This eliminated much of the hassle at the border, as we were led through the process. The company did argue after that we owed lots more, so I was glad that I had printed out our communications.

We had booked at the Tikal Inn for two main reasons: the promise of Roxy as a guide, and the swimming pool to use in the heat of midday. Neither of these scenarios came to fruition. Roxy was unavailable, and it rained throughout most of our stay. We were, and still are, irritated that the management assured us that Roxy was available when she wasn't, but Ronny, the young man who did our tour, proved to be an excellent substitute. We were not in the least disappointed. Ronny's enthusiasm for history and nature was contagious,and I would gladly book again with him.

It didn't rain continuously hard, so we were able to enjoy a fascinating day and a half in the park. Climbing to the top of Temple V was especially spellbinding, gazing through the mist at the great city. No gaurdrails at the top, so it is not for the faint of heart!

We saw lots of cotamundis (sp?) around the grounds, beautiful wild turkeys, spider and howler monkeys, as well as many exotic birds.

Our cabin was comfy, and the food was very good. We had selected the breakfast/dinner meal plan. Everyone was friendly. Free internet, and no charge for towels, ha,ha!

The downside to returning with Pacz was that since we were essentially hitching a ride, working around their tours. we ended up returning quite late to San Ignatio. This gave us less time than planned at Clarissa Falls.

Next, Clarissa falls - really, joan!

Glad you enjoyed Tikal despite the rain and guide switch up. Did you book the tour directly with Roxy or through the hotel? I can understand that things come up and plans change but you should have been contacted the minute they knew.

The no guardrails thing is pretty creepy. When I was there in 2007 Hurricane Dean was passing close. My photos of the evening before show a strange, yellowy light and the next morning when I climbed Temple 5 it was wildly windy and raining hard - really exciting but probably not very clever. Happy trails!

hopefulist, that sounds intriquing. One of those moments you are glad you had and glad you survived?

cattails, we will SO go there again and stay at Tikal for a couple of nights. Weren't those oscillated turkeys beautiful?

hope, I was unable to get Roxy's e-mail to go through; I should have persevered, probably with better results.

shillmac, I had no idea that turkeys even came in such wild colors!

We loved the oscillated turkeys too and saw a momma aracari feeding her babies. I've never seen those turkeys in CR, so it was cool to see something new.

Clarissa Falls: We arrived rather late to Clarissa Falls, where we were greeted warmly by Chena. We had time to unpack in our very comfortable riverside cabina and stoll around the lovely grounds before dinner. At dinner we met Chena's son, Mark, affectionately referred to as "our Belizean Silvester Stallone" by an acquaintance. Chena is so trusting and giving, she has been known to have given away so much money to local schoolchildren, that she found herself short on funds, and to be treated poorly by the occasional rude guest; "Sylvester" is around to make sure that doesn't happen. Despite his tough guy persona, Mark is friendly, smart and funny. His wife helps Chena with the cooking, which was the best of the entire trip. Seafood soup, papaya milkshakes, and the Clarissa version of Hueveas Rancheros were our faves. We even took home one of Chena's rum-soaked fruitcakes.

We had several must-dos on this leg of the trip, but only got to a few. I asked Chena, who has a vast knowledge of Mayan medicine, to give us a tour of the area. The next morning she spent 4-5 hours doing just that. We learned so much! Having acquired the knowledge of Mayan medicine from her mother as a small child ,Chena didn't know the name of each plant, but she knew its cures, and how to use it. Fascinating! At one point, I stroked a particularly cute, fuzzy plant. Chena wanted to know what I thought was so cute, so she absentmindedly touched it too. Suddenly we both became extremely, horribly itchy! It turned out that, attractive as it was, this plant was known for causing severe itchiness when it releases its spores. Chena quickly gave us both slices of oranges to rub on our arms, and this remedied the problem after a bit. Chena teased me for the rest of our stay about that "cute" plant!

We returned back just in time for a late lunch of enchilladas and papaya milkshakes before a horseback ride with Chena's nephew. The family still maintains a working ranch, so there are cattle and other farm animals on the property, as well as trails through the woods.

After a late dinner, we slept well, anticipating our trip to ATM the next morning!

We woke bright and early, excited to finally visit the cave that we'd heard so much about.The family feed teh birds fruit each morning, so we enjoyed watching hummingbirds, woodpeckers, even a motmot as we sipped our morning coffee. We had been warned to not leave our food unattended, as a pesky, spoiled parrot would show up and grab it! Sure enough, the bird waited at the screened window for his breakfast to be served - very amusing!

We went through Pacz for our tour. There were eight in our group, plus our guide, who was very knowledgable, personable,and respectful of the cave and its artifacts.

We were led through three waist-high rivers on our way to the cave. Along the trail we stopped periodically for our guide to point out properties of various trees and fruits.

Eventually, we arrived at a short pool of water, which leed to the mouth of the cave. That's where the most scary part of our adventure took place.

And then? AND THEN?!

Wow, Cat you got one of Chena's black cakes !!?? We didn't know she had them to sell this time. We ordered some and it was just as fabulous as the last time when we took one home also. She is one of the most amazing women I have ever met in my whole life! And I agree, hers was some of the absolute best food we had in Belize ! For us, it was the banana and pineapple milkshakes. We talked with her for hours on our February visit. Your medicinal plant tour sounds wonderful.

AND THEN???

And then - the eight of us, proceeded by our guide, started to swim across. I was part-way across when I glanced to my left to see the terrified face of one of the young men who was with us. He apparently couldn't swim, and was starting to thrash around in the water. Luckily, my husband was next to him, and grabbed him. At this point, I was afraid they'd both be pulled under. Already on shore, the guide threw the wet-bag filled with all our camera stuff to the drowning guy, and we pulled him in. The entire episode didn't last long, but it strongly drove home to us the point that strict precautions are not always followed on tours in other countries.

The rest of the tour was fascinating, one of the most interesting and adventurous I've been on, anywhere. It left us with a deep appreciation for Mayan culture, and for Mother Nature.

Tired but happy, we returned to another excellent meal, in my case, vegetarian stuffed squash.

The next morning we were picked up by a good friends of Williams. Even though William called and alerted us the day before to the fact that we would be transferred to the Hopkins inn by someone other than him, we were disappointed. Nevertheless, the couple who transferred us were very pleasant, and made a couple stops that we requested. The first was at the town's open market to pick up a supply of fruit. I had also asked for a stop to buy a small jar of local salve for insect bites. We were using mostly natural, non-deet lotions, and these did not prove very effective. We had elected to take anti-malaria pills, but we are fortunate not to have contracted anything. Next time: deet, socks, and long pants.

We had expected to be taken to a small shop in San Ignatio, so were surprised to be driven to the home of a locally-renowned healer. After petting the most flea-ridden dog I'd ever seen, we were taken into the back room of the healer's home, where bottles of potients were lined up. Each bottle was hand-labeled with the name of a different ailment, but they all looked the same. The old man barely spoke to us. It was later explained to us that he had recently been ripped off by an American. Needless-to-say, this was NOT a pleasant diversion!

Later, we did stop somewhere where I easily found a little jar of "jungle salve".

As we neared Hopkins, it began to rain fairly heavily. The smell of citrus was thick in the air. We passed several plantations, orange-processing factories, and trucks filled with oranges along the way.

The 2-3 hour trip to Hopkins behind us, we were happy to pull up to a lovely set of cabins, right on the beach. We were met by one of our hosts, Greg, who chatted with us until the rain let up, then showed us to our cabin. Our comfortable cabin was extremely reasonable, and even included continental breakfast, delivered to our room each morning. Larger cabins, for a little more money, were in front of ours, closer to the beach.

Literally within minutes, we met our neighbors to the right, a nice couple who lived a state over from us in the states, and made plans to go to lunch.

Next: Hopkins and Caye Caulker

Joan, I may need to order Chena's fruitcakes as well; I don't know if I can wait for a return trip!

Thanks for the detail!

We loved Hopkins! Very undeveloped and laid-back. One dirt road running through town. Roosters and hens running freely through the yards. Friendly people. We felt comfortable strolling around, even at night. We met a second couple and chipped in on a great snorkeling tour around South Water Caye, went kayaking (in the rain!) together, and hung out together in the evenings.

The current can be very intense. At one point, the guys found themselves unable to swim out of it. Luckily, our guide, "Grouper", was diligent about safety, and swam nearby. He pulled our new friend to the boat. My husband, who is a pretty strong swimmer, was able to swim back on his own, but still needed to be helped out of the current. The coral formation and fish were just amazing. Had we had more time, we would have booked another trip with Grouper.

We did attend an evening performance at the Lebeha drumming center. Excellent! We did feel a bit pushed for money. No-one took admissions at the beginning. Instead, a big, burly guy pretty much chased anyone down who looked as though they might leave, even to use the bathroom, and warned them to stay or pay. At the intermission, the boys from the center entertained, then insisted that people pay them as well, as it "wasn't included". All this seemed unnecessary and rather rude. Other than that, there were no hard-sell tactics anywhere on the island.

We discovered a wonderful bakery down a side road. Children go around selling baked goods from baskets as well, and I could never resist! Innies was friendly and had good Garifuna cooking.

I ended up buying a small drum from an older gentleman. We chatted with him for quite a while, and found out that he had over a dozen children! He was very proud of his craft, and tried to teach me how to play, not all that successfully!

Rita and Greg from the Hopkins Inn were the most amazing, warm hosts! Greg drove us and a couple other people to the small Tropic Air airport at the end of our stay, where we caught a jumper plane to Caye Caulker. We were oh-so-sad to be leaving our beachside paradise.

Glad you enjoyed Hopkins and especially the Hopkins Inn - I figured you would. Most people miss Hopkins completely but it's a favorite of ours. Some dear friends were Peace Corps volunteers there in the 80's (before electricity, running water, or toilets!) and we really love meeting their friends and dropping their names to older residents - lots of love there.

When we visited the Lebeha Center we asked up front about cost and they suggested $10/pp; we felt it was really worth it but I imagine, since they don't set an admission charge, they have some people assuming they just do it for fun or have other funding.

Thanks again for the details!

We loved Hopkins!

The night we visited, the Labeha Center was charging admission for a special drumming performance, $15 Belize. We thought this was quite reasonable, just didn't understand why it needed to become an issue! Other than that, we were glad we went.

Thanks ever so much for directing us to this special place, hope!

Wow, life has certainly intervened, and prevented me from completing this trip report in a timely manner! for those who have had the patience to keep following this - Caye Caulker, our last stop:

We stayed at Sea Dreams, right near the split. The hotel is designed around a courtyard with a massive tree in the center. There is a rooftop lounging area with tables, chairs and hammocks. An expansive continental breakfast is served each morning in the courtyard, and the hotel also includes free use of their private small beach and dock, bikes and canoes. At $90 a night, it was on the higher end of what we'd been paying for lodging in Belize, but worth it for the amenities. Private, yet a short jaunt or bike ride to everything.

Caye Caulker has a completely different vibe than Hopkins, more Amercanized, but fun. There are shops, stalls, food stalls and restaurants lining the dirt road through the center of the village. A short bike ride takes you to the other end of the island, near the airport, and is quieter.

We were thrilled to be able to do a manatee tour with Chocolate, a local legend. In his eighties now, Chocolate is largely responsible for preserving Swallow Caye for the endangered West Indian manatee. It was fascinating to watch Captain Chocolate and his mate long-pole around the mangrove island in search of the creatures. At one point we were surrounded by a half-dozen or more of them. We also had time for some snorkeling.

Many of the restaurants specialize in versions of inclusive dinners, which invariably includes grilled fish, and poultry or/and meat. Drinks are incredibly reasonable, especially rum drinks.

My husband was approached for drugs on two occasions, but in a non-threatening way, no big deal.

The trip back to the airport was a trip! Our water-taxi was filled to double its capacity. People everywhere, on the divider, floor, even on the roof of the boat! As we neared Belize City, we were stopped by a police boat, who unloaded half of us into a second boat.

An exciting, if rather harrowing, end to an exciting trip!