Sharks, Jaguars and the Crystal Skull of Lubaantun

Central America Caribbean » Belize
June 1st 2006

Published: June 22nd 2006

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explorerkeith

The Tropical Rat Snake

I tried to catch this guy, but he wasn't going to cooperate! It was still fun to see a giant snake.

So there I was, swimming between two large stalactites hanging down from the roof of an overhang one-hundred and thirty feet below the surface of the sea. There was a small ledge below me at about one-hundred and eighty feet and then nothing else between me and the bottom, another two-hundred and seventy feet below me, except the deep, hazy blue of the Caribbean sea. Luckily, my buoyancy control device (BCD) was working properly and it wasn't too difficult to maintain my max-depth. The dive had been eerily devoid of life to that point, but, as the divemaster indicated it was time to begin our slow ascent to the surface, several large grouper appeared out of the deep, dark blue depths. The grouper, some of them as large as me, were swarming around me and the other divers as we swam through the remaining stalactites towards the edge of the overhang and our path to the surface. I knew that the dive was known for its large fish, but the famous ones hadn't made an appearance yet. As I reached the edge of the overhang I noticed several large shadows swimming back and forth about twenty feet away from me -

Caye Caulker

The laid back atmosphere on Caye Caulker made the island a pleasant place to spend a few days.

The sleek, streamlined shapes were unmistakeably those of several large sharks! As we headed up, the sharks got bolder and were making passes about ten feet away, then clearly in sight. We reached our safety stop depth and came to a halt - The sharks were still with us! For our amusement, the lead divemaster through a large chunk of something into the water, which caused the grouper and a few other large fish that had joined the party to go into a feeding frenzy. We were idly watching the large fish dart into the vicinity of the food when, suddenly, they all scattered, making way for one of the larger sharks who had decided to see what all of the fuss was about. From my vantage point it looked like the shark was coming right for me and I prepared my feeble defenses for what would have been an epically lopsided fight, but, as the distance closed to five feet, the shark made a sharp turn and headed back out into the blue haze and disappeared. Later, our dive master informed us that the sharks were mostly Caribbean reef sharks with a few bulls mixed in and they ranged

The Blue Hole!

My camera didn't work so well underwater, something about 'not waterproof', so I had to sketch what I saw down there. Yes, I realize the shading on the diver (me) is wrong.

from eight to twelve feet in length! Our time with the sharks and our safety stop were over and we swam to the surface, bringing to an end our dive in Belize's Blue Hole, a place made famous by Jacques Cousteau. I don't know if it was due to sea-sickness from the exceedingly rough ride to Lighthouse Reef, nerves from diving so deep (I dislike deep dives), or from the massive adrenaline rush due to the sharks, but, as I reached the swim-step of the boat, I got an extreme feeling of nausea and nearly got sick in my regulator - It was strange, because I felt great during the dive and I actually enjoyed the presence of the sharks! I was still feeling a little sick, so I decided to sit out the second dive of the day (I also wanted a longer surface interval after diving so deep). I had recovered from my nausea by the time we landed on Half Moon Caye for lunch and I ate two helpings of rice and beans with chicken. Remote Half Moon Caye was a small island of gleaming white sand completely covered with coconut palms. A small, shady trail, crawling

Half Moon Caye

Lighthouse Reef is made up of several small islands. We had lunch on this one.

with giant hermit crabs and constantly bombarded with coconut projectiles, lead to an elevated platform in the heart of a large colony of red-footed boobies. From my tree-top vantage point I watched the comical boobies go about their daily life while I enjoyed the pleasant ocean breeze and the swaying of the green palms - It was an idyllic island setting! Feeling much better, I was ready to get back into the water for the third dive of the day (my second) at Long Island Caye Wall. I stepped off of the dive platform into a surreal ocean-scape of large colorful fish and coral formations - It was one of the most impressive reefs I had ever seen! We swam along the top edge of the wall for nearly an hour, never descending deeper than twenty-five feet. In addition to all of the colorful reef fish, we passed several large tarpin, their giant silvery bodies glistening in the newly arrived sunshine, and one large barracuda, who swam along with us for a while and then got bored and went his own way. Back on the boat, exhausted from a great day of diving, we all took our seats and prepared

Boobies

Half Moon Caye had a large Colony of Red-footed Boobies. This is a view from the observation platform.

for the long ride back to Caye Caulker - Luckily, the wind had died down a lot and we didn't experience the rough seas we had encountered in the morning. A large pod of dolphins swam along with us for a little while as we put Lighthouse Reef and the Blue Hole in our wake.

During the week preceding my dive in the Blue Hole, I had crossed the border from Mexico into Belize and made my way to Orange Walk. I wasn't overly impressed with Orange Walk. I suppose, after the grand colonial architecture and the cleanliness of Mexico's cities, the Belizian counterparts, with the crumbling concrete buildings and trash-strewn streets, were a little shocking. One thing that Orange Walk had going for it was excellent Chinese food - I love Chinese food and I had had a major craving, which was quenched in a small rundown restaurant, the kind of place that immediately sets off alarms in your head regarding the safety of the food and the cleanliness of the facilities, but I would be hard-pressed to find food as good as that back home (or in China for that matter!) I was in Orange Walk for

Crocodile

We saw several crocodiles on the New River journey to Lamanai.

the same reason most travelers go there, the journey down the narrow, jungle fringed New River to the remote, jungle bound ruins of Lamanai, one of northern Belize's most spectacular ruins. The sky was threatening rain when we boarded the launch and headed into the unknown. Our guide expertly maneuvered our boat along the narrow maze of channels and hairpin bends of the river, pointing out all of the interesting places and animals we passed along the way. Early in the trip, in one of the narrower sections of the river, we encountered two giant, rusting river barges being pulled up the river by an ancient tug. In an exciting move, our guide hammered the throttle and squeezed through the narrow gap between the barge and the vegetation growing over the bank - We had inches to spare before we would have collided with the cold steel of the barge, but we made it; the experience reminded me of the Venice boat chase in 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' ("Go between them! Are you crazy?", "I said DON'T go between them!") Shortly after our bold move around the barge we came to a deforested industrial wasteland perched on the

The Barge

This is one of the barges we had to pass on the river.

right river bank. The giant rusty buildings, the massive conveyor belt and the delicious smell of brown sugar in the air told us we were looking at one of Belize's largest sugar mills. There were several barges, like the ones we had passed, tied up to the dock and ready to be filled with processed sugar or molasses. We proceeded up river. Next we came to a small Mennonite community on the same river bank and we waved to several similarly dressed men going about their ultra-traditional way of life - I had met several people from that particular community in Orange Walk and they mentioned that they have had to adapt a bit to modern ways and that they do use hired cars and trucks to travel between their remote communities that are spread out around northern Belize. By the time we reached the massive lake that Lamanai is located on, we had seen an eagle, several king fishers, egrets, vultures, several crocodiles and an explosive group of insect bats that flew in our faces when we got too close - The river was full of wildlife and its narrow channels made it easy to spot! We pulled up

The Sugar Mill

The smell of brown sugar filled the air and almost made the large swath of deforested river bank pleasant.

to the dock at Lamanai and headed to a group of picnic tables for lunch. After gorging ourselves on rice and beans with chicken (and a habanero-onion medley that brought tears to my eyes) we headed to the ruins. Our first stop was the site museum where we learned some interesting facts regarding Lamanai - Facts like: Lamanai was one of the longest occupied Mayan sites with evidence of three-thousand years of use; The site was finally abandoned in the mid-seventeenth century; The Spanish forced the Mayans at Lamanai to convert to Catholicism, so when the Mayans built the cathedral there they hid representations of their gods in the altars, thus fooling the Spaniards into thinking they had succeeded. We set off down a jungle path past several partially explored structures and into the dense vegetation. We past several interesting plants including Belize's national flower, the black orchid, and the 'give and take' tree, which was a palm completely covered in porcupine-like spines that immediately cause intense pain and fever if you are stuck with them and the only way to make the pain and fever go away is to rub the pulp from the heart of the tree onto

Insect Bats

I didn't see them at first either, but look closely at the bark - They are there (on the right side of the picture).

the wound, thus giving intense, unbearable pain, but then taking it away! The massive trees and the dense palm ground covering made for a wonderful walk and after about ten minutes the trail opened up revealing a large, partially restored temple complex with a giant, well preserved mask at its base. The guide allowed us a few minutes of picture taking and then he went into a long explanation of the excavation of the structure and its history. While the guide explained that the masks were from an earlier facade that had been covered over in later years and that there were actually four of these masks found, but that only one was left exposed, something interesting happened - I heard a sound. The sound I heard was one I knew well, one that appears on some relaxation CD's I have of the Amazon Jungle (Yes, I realize that I am likely one of the only people that finds jungle sounds soothing.) What I heard was a deep, nearly imperceptible growl that came from the trees next to where we had gathered. I seemed to be the only person that heard it and, out of respect for the guide, I

Forest Trees

This is a strangler fig, which grows around a host tree, finally killing it when it is able to stand on its own.

decided not to dart into the forest to investigate, but I am positive I heard the growl of an irritated jaguar that we forced to find a new place to rest, away from us. When the guide finished his talk, I headed into the trees to try and find proof, but there was none to be found - I suppose I will never know for sure, but I am confident that we had a close encounter with one of the most elusive of jungle specters, possibly even a reincarnate of one of the ancient Mayan brujas keeping watch over his former domain. I kept well back from the noisy tour group as we headed back down the jungle trail to our next structure, but there were no more signs to be found, it was gone! The next structure we came to was a tall pyramid and it was the only structure on site we were allowed to climb. Like a bunch of kids at the gate of a playground, we sat and listened to our guide explain that if we chose to climb to the top that we were solely responsible for anything that happened, we were not climbing as

Forest Scenery

Along the trails of Lamanai.

part of the tour, and then he let us go - The litigious sickness that plagues America is spreading rapidly! The stairs had been nicely restored, but they were still very steep, possibly the steepest I had encountered since Tonina in Mexico. The top of the structure was well above the surrounding forest canopy and the view was amazing. There was a troupe of howler monkeys in the canopy below us and they started singing their throaty melody to the cheers and amazement of the crowd gathered on top. As usual, many of the people couldn't believe such a sound could come from such a small animal, but they were seeing it with their own eyes! I enjoyed the chorus for a while and then I descended to talk with the guide. We saw a coatimundi while we were at the ball court and then, on the way to the main plaza, we found a brave and beautiful trogan and a keel-billed toucan. We took in the last few structures amid a flurry of toucans and then we headed back to the boat. Lamanai was an impressive site, but the verdant jungle setting and the long river journey are what

The Black Orchid

This is Belize's flower and it is beautiful.

made Lamanai exceptional. Rain finally struck on the way back to Orange Walk, but we didn't mind, in fact, it added to the ambiance of the river adventure.

I got a brief glimpse of Belize City on the way to Caye Caulker and it was not a favorable one - Everything I disliked about Orange Walk was present in Belize City, but on a much grander scale! Luckily, the water taxi was about to leave and I was immediately on my way to the cayes! I have already mentioned my main reason for heading to Caye Caulker, the Blue Hole, but I ended up spending several days there. I enjoyed the laid back, island attitude on the caye. I also enjoyed the food and the thriving traveler scene - I ended up running into one of my friends from Mexico and I was able to join forces with a couple who was headed in the same direction as me, we were off to the Cockscomb Basin.

The Cockscomb Basin, which is sometimes called the Jaguar Reserve, is a large swath of second growth tropical forest protecting one of the largest populations of jaguars in the Americas. To get

The Temple of the Mask

That isn't its official name but it is what I call it. There were four of these masks on one of the earlier facades, but only this one was left exposed by Archaeologists.

there, we first went to the mildly charming coastal town of Dangriga. There we made reservations for one of the cabins at the reserve and we bought enough food to last us two days in the park. After a short ride on a chicken bus and an even shorter ride down a muddy jungle road in a taxi, we arrived at the visitor center and immediately set off to explore the first of many great jungle trails that wind their way through the reserve. Our first hike was very productive and we saw several lizards and birds, one squirrel and a giant snake - My friends, not liking snakes, began questioning my sanity when I took off through the understory in pursuit of the giant serpent. The snake turned out to be a six foot long tropical rat snake, but, not being sure of the type, I decided to leave it alone when it turned to face me, puffed up like a cobra and started striking and hissing at me - It was an enjoyable encounter regardless! At the end of the trail we were following we found a nice swimming hole with a small waterfall pouring into it, which

The Mask

This is a close up of the mask.

made for a nice place for a noon-time swim (I had not planned ahead and ended up swimming in my long pants!) We spent the rest of the day playing cards and talking with another large group that was at the park - There were two people in that group who were from the same area of Georgia that my parents live in. We had a large pasta dinner and then, well after the sun went down, we set off back into the jungle. The trail was dark and our anticipation of finding animals around every corner made for an exciting walk. However, the realities of trying to find animals in the jungle started to set in and, short of a large animal crashing through the trees just off of the trail and a few large bats swooshing past our heads, we didn't see a thing! After a few hours without any luck and as the excitement of walking through prime jaguar habitat at night began to wear off, we decided to head back to camp and go to sleep. I was up before the sun the following morning and back on the trail. I saw the footprints of several

The Pyramid

From the top of this very tall pyramid we listened to the sweet song of the howler monkeys as we took in the view above the canopy.

different animals along the muddy trail, but still no animals. I walked down the narrow path amid the sounds of the early morning bird songs and the booming calls of the howler monkeys - It was a great morning hike! After a quick breakfast of fruit bars and tea we were off again, this time on the Tiger Fern Trail. The walk was a pleasant one, but, other than the ever-present lines of leaf-cutter ants marching down their perfectly groomed super-highways, the animals were, yet again, absent. The trail crested a tree-less ridge with expansive views of the surrounding forest and then began a steep descent down the other side. The route was a bit slick in places and the going was slow, but, when we reached the bottom, we were rewarded with a spectacular jungle pool and a small waterfall. One of the rangers had told us to take a small, poorly marked trail that led up above the waterfall and at the top we discovered a large, deep swimming hole and a giant waterfall - It was the most perfect swimming hole I have ever seen and I have seen some nice ones! We swam in the cold

The Trogan

The colors didn't come out very well in the picture, but it was a greenish bird with a red breast.

water and jumped off of the lower rocks of the waterfall until we were sufficiently water-logged and then, fully refreshed, we headed back to camp and a well deserved lunch. As if we hadn't had enough fun in the water, we next decided to go tubing down the river, which turned out to be more of an adventure than any of us expected. We carried the tubes way up river, through a small section of crocodile filled swamps, to the put-in point and then we were off. The current was swift and the occasional rapid or downed tree threatened to over-turn us, but it never ceased to be fun. After several minutes of fairly uneventfully floating we reached our first big obstacle, a downed tree completely blocking our path down river. We ended up climbing over the tree, which was right at water level, and getting back in the tube on the other side, fighting the strong current every step of the way - We all succeeded without loosing the tubes. Several submerged rock spankings and collisions with the banks later, we reached the first pull-out point and we unanimously decided to continue to the second pull-out point, a place

Sam

The keel-billed toucan is Belize's bird and it is very difficult to get pictures of. I named this one Sam after the spokes-toucan of one of my favorite cereals.

further down river that the ranger said may or may not be reachable due to some recent floods - If we missed the second one we would not see any more civilization until we reached the highway six or more hours later! We were all having a lot of fun, but the current carried us into two different channels of the river, separating us into two groups. At first we thought that the two channels would rejoin, but we kept getting deeper and deeper into the jungle with out any signs of the other channel. Realizing the folly in our ways (we had taken the right river channel and the pull-out point would be on the left channel and even if the two rejoined we may still have missed it), we decided to hike back up river and take the other channel - A feat easier said than done! The river banks were too overgrown to hike back on land without a machete, so we were forced to march our way back up river in the water, fighting the current all the way. We ran into the other member of our group part way back up the channel (she had

Lamanai's Main Plaza

There were toucans everywhere as we explored Lamanai's main plaza.

decided, lost in the jungle or not, that it was better to stick together) and we all made our way back up stream, through the swift, waste deep water, over the submerged trees and rocks, under the vegetation that occasionally clogged the whole channel right down to the water's surface and finally to the correct channel. We all got a good laugh at our little mis-adventure as we floated towards our next large obstacle, another large tree blocking our way. We found a place in the tree that allowed us to just squeeze between the tree and the water (we actually had to push ourselves into the water a bit as we scraped by, but it was still easier than trying to cross over it) and we continued down river. Other than the constant fish, the only wildlife we saw were a few birds and a large group of bats that we had startled into flight. Luck was with us when we came around a bend in the river and just barely caught a glimpse of a set of crudely made stairs going up the left bank into the jungle - The sign for the second pull-out had indeed been

On the New River

The light on the voyage home was great when it wasn't raining!

washed away (another group ended up going two hours down river before they turned around, finally finding the stairs just before dark!). Back in camp, we ate an early dinner of pasta mixed with barbecue beans (we had pasta with red sauce the night before, so we decided to be different) and then we headed off for our second night hike. We were doing everything correctly (no deodorant, no insect repellent, no noise), but we failed again to find any animals, except for a few toads and what sounded like an armadillo just off of the trail. Luck was not with us - Another group managed to see a small jungle cat that night! Our final hike the following morning brought us a little luck with the spotting of a giant black and yellow goose-like bird, but I didn't even get to see that! In the end it seemed that our group had the worst luck with finding animals, but nobody did well. That is what is so amazing about the jungle - It is undoubtedly full of life, but it is not at all easy to find! Despite not finding animals, our time in the Cockscomb Basin was a

Our First Wildlife Sighting

Wildlife was hard to find in the Cockscomb Basin, but this was our first sighting.

very enjoyable experience and we all had a lot of fun!

Back where the dirt road into the jungle met the highway, I boarded a chicken bus headed south, my destination was Punta Gorda. Punta Gorda turned out to be a pleasant little town right on the Gulf of Honduras. The town had several of the old fashioned two-story wooden buildings with huge, wrap around porches that evoked images of the old Caribbean, but most were in need of a new paint job. The pleasant sea breeze and the laid back, 'No worries' attitude made my time there very enjoyable. My main reason for going to Punta Gorda was not the town itself, but the near-by ruins of Lubaantun. Lubaantun was a small set of ruins, but it is famous for being the place where one of the world's most mysterious and controversial artifacts was found - The crystal skull of Lubaantun. The skull was found by the daughter of the famous archaeologist F.A. Mitchell-Hedges on her 17th birthday. Some people have hypothesized that he placed it there for her to find as a birthday present, but, regardless of when and where it came from, the skull is real,

The Waterfall at the End of the Trail

This is the swimming hole and waterfall that we found at the end of the trail on our first day in the Cockscomb Basin.

a life-size, perfectly crafted piece of quartz crystal, complete with movable jaw, that would have taken generations to make and is thought to be nearly 3500 years old. Unfortunately, the skull is still in Mitchell-Hedges private collection and was not on display at the site, but seeing where it was found was still a great experience! Just getting to Lubaantun proved to be an adventure - I was able to take a bus part of the way and I caught a ride with some missionaries for a few miles, but I still ended up walking for at least three and a half miles! The ruins themselves were located on the outskirts of San Pedro de Colombia, a semi-traditional Mayan village that is struggling to preserve its traditions. I was the day's only visitor to Lubaantun and, as you would expect, I had the place to myself (I was kept company by a large basilisk though). The stone work at Lubaantun was impressive, each stone perfectly carved and nicely fitted into place. Several of the buildings had rounded corners and a large percentage of the structures were still un-excavated and buried deep in the jungle - Who knows, maybe there is

A Grasshopper

The insects were everywhere in the jungle.

another crystal skull hidden in the ruined mounds! I spent a little over an hour exploring the picturesque, but compact site and soaking up the mysteries that will not likely ever be solved and then I headed back down the narrow jungle road into town. I was fully prepared for the long walk back, but the luck that was not with me in the Cockscomb Basin had come back and I boarded the day's only bus to Punta Gorda - A bus I was told wasn't running that day!

That is where my short visit to Belize comes to an end. The natural sites and the spectacular ruins in Belize will require another visit someday. The following morning I boarded a small launch with a tarp for a roof and we pointed the bow across the rough sea towards some ominously dark clouds and the small town of Livingston, Guatemala beyond...

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