Mayan Ruins, Monkeys, and Rivers...

What have we been up to?  Well, we can't share just yet, but we took the day to enjoy all that San Ignacio/Santa Elena has to offer.

First we visited the Cahal Pech ruins which happen to be within walking distance of our hotel.  See our facebook sites for photos.  As amazing as the ruins were, our guide John was twice as interesting.  Not only did he teach us all about the site, the Mayans and the history, we also got some hands on knowledge of local plants and medicines.  We tasted all-spice leaves right off the plant, learned about "grandpa's balls", a fruit that when cracked open has a bright orange middle that attracts flies and a white "elmer's glue" like substance that traps them.  Natives used this as a natural fly catcher.  The name, well let's just say the fruit grows in pairs.   We learned about the bread nut tree and it's fruit.  Not only can it be made into coffee, but treated another way it literally becomes bread like and is used to make tortillas!  We also learned about sap that is used as incense, boiling cedar bark to drink to cure all kinds of maladies, and another plant for deodorant!

From there we went a whole 6 miles, took a hand-crank ferry across the Macal River, and visited the Xunantunich ruins.  The main pyramid here rises 135 feet above the jungle floor and you can see for miles.  At this ruin we also watched a troop of Howler Monkeys eating in a breadnut tree!  There were even two babies that kept us entertained watching their antics.   Check out our pics and see just how close we were.

After hiking two ruins in the heat of the day, we made like locals and drove over to the Macal River which separates the towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena.   This spot is the afternoon cool off location and there are families, teens, vendors selling conch fritters, boiled corn and drinks, and just an awesome relaxed feel as people swim in the 82 degree water.  Mike's favorite part was watching a guy back his car up  close to the edge, grab a bucket, and wash his car by the river!  

We finished up this awesome day with dinner at a local restaurant built on the edge of an orange grove.  This place is designed for families and, being a Friday night, it was hopping by 7pm.   Dinners here are later in the day to avoid the heat of the day. Our photos show some of the family attraction, but don't show the arcade, ice cream stand, or juke box.  Oh, and the ice cream cone was one buck USD. The Cheeseburger and fries was 5 dollars USD and too much to finish, and of course, they had our Belizean One Barrel Rum and and a rum and coke was 2 bucks USD.

We know this entry is kind of detailed...our next post will delve into some of the small differences between the USA and Belize, many you will find quite amazing!