ATM Part 3: Mayawalk Tours wasn’t such a deal afterwards

Oct-22-2009 By Courtney

About the only downside to the trip to ATM was the tour group. Mayawalk is not a tour company I’d recommend to any potential tourists. I hate to say this, because their prices are cheaper than the competition, but the experience could have been far better with a better company. “Why,” might you ask? There were a number of shortcomings:
Liz was ill so she couldn’t go. They charged me a 50% cancelation fee, explaining that they’d already purchased a lunch for her, etc. The lunch, while tasty, cost $4US. I know this because I bought lunch from the same place they did the day before. No other sacrifices were made on their part. They definitely didn’t turn any potential guests away. I realize a cancelation fee is almost always applied, but this was unbelievable; especially because of their next ding.

  • The trip started after 9:00. The instructions were to be there by 7:30 for an 8:00 a.m. departure. Over an hour late, we finally got out. I sat and waited, and waited and waited.
    Did I mention this was the Friday before the nation’s independence day? By the time we did leave, there were children’s school parades all over the city of San Ignacio. Every road in town was blocked or occupied by a parade or traffic. We didn’t actually make it out of San Ignacio until after 10:00. Did I mention Liz and I had to drive back to Belize City that night?
  • Running two hours late, our guide kindly informed us that the tour was typically, 2:30-3:00 in length. However, since we’d gotten off to such a late start, we’d be pressing for the 2:30 mark. I guess this helps me get back to poor Lizzy sooner, but what the heck? You delay me by two hours, and now you’re telling me you’re going to cut my tour short too?!
  • My headlamp had dead batteries. The guide hooked me up with a janky headlamp that provided a warm, orange glow. I couldn’t see anything with it. He didn’t replace it until halfway into the tour. He replaced the batteris with two equally weak batteries. Twenty minutes later, my warm orange glow looked more like a faint, dying star off in the distance. Finally, he managed to hook me up with strong batteries.
  • The guide’s spotlight had weak batteries. He tried to show us the first feature, and his spotlight barely illuminated it. He then declared that he would only provide minimal lighting in order to preserve the battery. “Better have your cameras at the ready, I’m only going to shine this for a few seconds.”
  • We were rushed through lunch, barely given time to taste it, let alone enjoy it.
  • We practically sprinted in and out of the jungle. Not that big of a deal, but I like to take pictures, and who knows what I could’ve spotted along the way given more time.
  • The other guests were being driven back to Belize City, so they traded the guide and I off onto this hoopty minivan. It took them five minutes and an inspection of the engine to get it started. I couldn’t get the seatbelt to function on it.

    • To the guides credit, he did tell a great story, and I did thoroughly enjoy the experience, despite the constant grumblings of one of the other guests. He still shared some interesting stories and described how the Maya may have interpreted different features of the cave, such as the sacrifice victims and the rock formations. I really wish I’d been able to make the POV function for that trip. Sans video, it was still an excellent narration and I can’t for the life of me, remember all of the details.

    • del.icio.us
    • LinkedIn
    • StumbleUpon
    • Twitthis
    • Facebook
    • Digg
    • Reddit
    Posted in: Activities, Belize, Budget, Courtney, Food, Jungle, Mayan Ruins, Pictures and Videos, San Ignacio, Tips, ecotourism
    ADD COMMENTS

    Add A Comment