Deep into the cave we started to come across various pottery and other artifacts of the Maya. There were a variety of pots and other articles, some broken to bits, some with just minor breaks. The guide gave us a very detailed explanation of the orientations of the different pots. It was actually quite remarkable.

Pots are broken to release their spirit. The Mayan believed that each piece of pottery housed a spirit. The pottery is a vessel for carrying food and water for the ceremony or rite. Once the practice was concluded, the Mayan would break the pot’s open. Some pots only had a chip removed from the rim, whereas others were smashed to bits. I don’t know if the smashed pots were symbolic of some other activity, a result of enthusiastic Mayan ritual, time and nature, or accident as some clumsy visitor might have stepped on them.

Some groups of pots were arranged in a very particular way. The pots would be set up with one upright, one on it’s side and one upside down. They symbolize the pre ceremony, partaking in the bounty, and conclusion of the ceremony, respectively. These two pictures together show the three pots. Other pictures didn’t quite capture the full array, unfortunately. Look closely at the individual pot. There is a small, round hole. Unfortunately, the light is too intense to see the accompanying crack. This procedure had a lot of meaning, as well. Rather than break the pot, the Maya would punch a hole in it and send the fissure through the pot. I cannot recall the symbology; and an internet search didn’t help either.

The next picture shows a human relief carving. Our guide was quick to point out the four fingers and four toes. “This has great symbology,” he said. “It symbolizes how difficult it is to try to draw/carve five fingers.” We realized he was making a joke, but it really was the case. Making five fingers fit is hard!

We saw a number of skeletal remains as well. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to make a separate gallery. So that will have to wait until a future post.

U.S. dollars are accepted as readily as the local currency in Belize, so you don’t have to be too concerned about the exchange rate there.

It is mostly recommended to carry cash with you when traveling to Belize. Carry only the allotted amount of money you need for the day and to store the rest in a safety deposit in your hotel room. If need be, there are ATM’s frequenting shopping areas and the small towns.

Traveler’s checks can take some time to cash and they are increasingly not accepted anywhere.

Also, bring a credit card for back-up. But only use if absolutely have to. While the item may be priced in USD, the credit card companies are charged in Belizean dollars. The credit card company will have to exchange that from the USD and they will charge you a fee for that exchange. If you’re concerned about money, stay away from credit cards while in Belize.

I personally am considering grouping the money into envelopes for each day that I plan on spending. That way, I can label the envelope, say, “Monday.” and just grab it out of the safe per day. I know that I will for sure have an envelope labeled “LAST DAY.” That will include the Belize Exit tax and necessary cash for any obstacles that may get in the way for catching our flight home. If we miss that flight, apparently we will be stuck in Belize until the following Saturday. Yikes!

Being that this is within 2 weeks from leaving for Belize, we have our transportation plans finally set in stone for our transportation to and from Ambergris Caye and to and from San Ignacio. What a relief!

Courtney called up RentalCarGroup.com and requested a Suzuki Jimni for our three day rental- Wednesday around noon until early Saturday morning of our trip. The Suzuki Jimni was no longer available and apparently they claimed that all cars that were within budget there were already reserved as well as with the other car rental companies in the area. Maybe we should not have procrastinated so much on booking the car rental?

We did make a reservation with RentalCarGroup and had to weigh in the pros and cons of doing so with them. The cons, a tad bit more expensive than the other car rental places we had looked at but the pros involved this company having two locations- at the Marine Terminal where the water taxi arrives/drops off and also at the Goldson International airport. The ease of taking a water taxi from Ambergris Caye and grabbing the car right there will be much better and worth the money of the headache of taking/paying a taxi to take us back up to the International airport to pick-up a car rental. All in all- we got the car rental for $195. And we are able to drop it off at the airport when we leave Belize nixing a taxi cab ride from the trip.

We have also decided to take a flight right from the International Airport when we arrive in Belize straight to the Ambergris Caye. While taking flights from the municipal airport is way cheaper, you also still have the headache of getting your bags, grabbing a taxi and traveling to the municipal airport and then waiting for the flight you booked there. Also, if you book with Mayan Islands Air and pay
with cash, you tend to get a 20-25% cash discount. A one way trip is $63 and add in the discount and you pay $53.55 each. If flying from the Municipal airport with Maya Airlines it would have cost $35 but with the discount at $26.25 per person but add on the cab fare of $25 and the time you waste doing it. We can fly out of The Philip Goldson International airport for an additional $15ish dollars each and save about an hour or more of down time and nix that taxi ride.

As for the water taxi, we found an express water taxi (San Pedro Express Water Taxi) that will take about an hour to San Pedro from the Marine Terminal near the Swing Bridge in Belize City. The price is the same as the other water taxi we were considering. We have decided that will be our method of leaving Ambergris Caye.

Montezuma’s revenge, also known as traveler’s diarrhea, is a common plague among travelers especially in Central America. My dad called me up tonight to give me a warning on this. He wanted to give me fair warning because he does not want our trip to be ruined by this. I have thought about this before but not to a huge extent.

Traveler’s diarrhea is defined as three or more unformed stools in 24 hours passed by a traveler, commonly accompanied by abdominal cramps, nausea, and bloating. It does not imply a specific organism, but enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli is the most common. Water and foods in Belize can pass this onto us. Or, as my dad explained, the country is so poor that sewers are not closed off and it runs into the water and oceans causing you to contract it. While the locals have built up immunity to it, Courtney, fellow travelers and I have not yet.

As wikipedia says: “TD usually is a self-limited disorder and often resolves without specific treatment; however, oral rehydration therapy is often beneficial to replace lost fluids and electrolytes. Clear, disinfected water or other liquids are routinely recommended for adults. Water that is purified is best, along with oral rehydration salts to replenish lost electrolytes. Carbonated water (soda), which has been left out so that the carbonation fizz is gone, is useful if nothing else is available. Travelers who develop three or more loose stools in a 24-hour period — especially if associated with nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, fever, or blood in stools — should be treated by a doctor and may benefit from antimicrobial therapy.”

Three years ago I house sat for some friends while they went to Cancun. Within a day and a half of being in Cancun, three of the four travelers contract horrible stomach cramps, diarrhea and dehydration. Two of them were bed ridden for the remainder of the trip in Cancun. The two who were bedridden also traveled home on the plane in that condition and spent another two days back home in bed in terrible pain. So yes, I have witnessed it and it is something to be very aware of. Pepto Bismal probably will not cure this. There are antibiotics and such that can help with that, but I’m not about to visit my doctor again for another preventative for Belize. I am tired of seeing the doctor. But am I being naive in thinking this won’t be a possibility to ruining our trip?

I got some really great advice about the self-guided tour to Xunantunich. Thanks to Trip Advisor Forums!

I asked “Can anyone recommend how to get to Xunantunich? We’re trying to do a self guided tour (adventure people, adventure!) and want to know if it’s possible to do it without a tour guide and how to get there. Also, we’re renting a vehicle and they don’t want it on anything but paved roads. Whats the closest paved point road that we could park before starting the trek toward Xunantunich?”

-“A guide will know the history and be able to answer your questions and tell you about stuff.” Katzgar

-“You take the Western Highway all the way out past San Ignacio to San Jose Succotz, then cross it on a hand cranked ferry (no charge), and can drive it right up to the Xunantunich Ruins parking lot. No need to leave pavement for this trip. From there, you pay your entrance fee and can totally do the ruins on your own, although hiring a guide at the site can be very affordable and worth the knowledge that they can share. Hope this helps!” Belize Jungle Girl

-“We did the ruins without a guide and really wished we had one! You have to hire a guide BEFORE the hand cranked ferry. We thought we could hire a guide up at the ruins but that was not the case at all and we felt like we missed out on all the history of the ruins!” sindy1232

-“You won’t have to leave the pavement at all… I must ask why would a rental company here in Belize ask that it not leave the pavement??? You should rent from somewhere else, that way you could see Mountain Pine Ridge. Better yet, rent from Cayo and save a lot of money since they are cheaper here. You don’t need a tour guide at Xuanantunich. If you hit a bigger ruin, like Tikal, I’d recommend it though.” DrFeelAwesome (Belize Travel Expert)

-“Your right, you don’t NEED a tour guide but we thought it would of been more informative if we had hired one. But then again, we made the mistake of walking up the hill instead of driving, lol. Don’t miss the visitors center because you will get a lot of information about the ruins there. With a rental car, if you can’t go off paved roads you will sure miss a lot of the wonderful country side in Belize. If you wanted, you could not even go to ATM because the road is more gravel, dirt and pot holes then pavement. I would check with Crystal Rental Cars for a rental or someone in SI if it were me. Just my humble opinion. BTW, we did fine without a tour guide but if I were to do it again I would hire one.” sindy1231

-“The buses are not at all terrible. If you like adventure, and seeing a place as it really is, then they are a good cheap option. Most people in Belize do not have a car, so even quite well off people regularly travel by bus. I have a vehicle, but occasionally travel by bus myself.”

-“If you are restricted to just paved roads, then you will miss out on a lot of places. Essentially, there are four paved roads in Belize – the Western, Northern, Southern and Hummingbird Highways. The bigger towns have paved roads – mainly. You would not even be able to go to parts of Belize City if you stuck to the rules. Nor Placencia, Monkey River, most if not all of the ruins – no, that isn’t going to work!” BelizeQueen

-“We took the bus around Belize but not from the airport to SI and we loved the bus. If you have a lot of luggage then you might want to get a transfer driver. If you want the names of the two we used then just let me know. Maybe see if someone else on a message board is arriving at the same time and wants to share a transport, just an idea as they are about $90 USD one way. I was going to get a rental car but at the last minute decided not to and we were fine with tours, transfers and buses.” Sindy 1232

I think we will still go with the avoiding-the-tour-guide idea. It is a possibility to take the bus from Belize City to San Ignacio and try arranging transportation from the bus stop to Table Rock Jungle Lodge.

We can gage whether we want to pay the money for a car rental that will be allowed off the pavements by to packing up our suitcases as a trial run to see what we are dealing with weight wise. I cannot imagine trekking across Belize with three huge suitcases would be a good experience.