http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Belize , Cayo District en-us Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:24:20 BST Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:24:20 BST My last couple of days in Belize were spent in a San Ignacio which is in the west of the country near the Mexican border. My main activity was to visit some caves called Actun Tunichil Muknal or ATM for short which contain Mayan relics and skeletons. To get to the relics it was necessary to swim wade or paddle for 500 metres and pass through narrow passages which was great fun. From San Igna http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-329933.html Well guys I have finally managed to get up to real time....I am sitting here in my hammock typing this entry from Caye Caulker in Belize. The weather is glorious I have a 5 star hotel with airconditioning and a pool.....it's a hard life this budget travel lark. Ok so it's not exactly budget travel....but hey you only live once. On our way down to Belize City we stopped of at Orange Walk to have a http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/blog-309523.html Another note from San Ignacio yes I'm still here but am leaving soon. I have a few things to share since I last wrote although not as many as I'd hoped due to some unfortunate circumstances...Last week was the meat and potatoes of my HIVAIDS outreach project. We did several talks to kids attending the July Police Cadet Camps in Belize. Our talk basically consisted of general HIV and AIDS in http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-302805.html I have been in San Ignacio for about a week now it's a lovely little town For the most part my time here has been spent working very hard with Cornerstone Volunteers in an HIVAIDS outreach program. Perhaps it would be best then to tell you a little bit about the Cornerstone Foundation and what they do here in Belize...Cornerstone is a grassroots humanitarian organization based out of San Ignac http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-299730.html San IgnacioWoke up in San Ignacio and ambled down to the bus plaza around 9am to head to the Guatemala border. The bus wasnt very crowded and we climbed the hiull up and away from the town. It was a very lush beautiful area with more hills and ranges than we saw yesterday on the way from Bze City to We arrived at the Belizean border townof Benque within 30 min or so. It isnt actually on th http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-298874.html Be aware that there is a Belize 37.50 fee to leave Belize then at the Guatemala border i was charged 20 Quetzals. other people were charged 20Q for 2 or nothingHmmmComing into Guatemala was a treat as it seemed so clean compared to Belize and friendly...great to hear Spanish again The Mexicans in Yucatan were a surly bunch...cant blame them with all the Cancun touristsAt the border just w http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/Benque-Viejo-del-Carmen/blog-298444.html Day 2 San IgnacioThis morning we got up and planned on taking the bus to San Ignacio. I Sean locked the key in the room which deserves no further mention but the folks at the Bayview were kind enough to find a spare key and take us to the bus station. When we got to the station a man asked where we were going. I replied San Ignacio and he immediately took our bags and put them on a bus w http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-297217.html I've made it to San Ignacio a backpackers hotspot stopover en route to or from GuatemalaTikal and site of some great caving tours and volunteer hub in western Belize.So much has happened since I last wrote and I promise this will be a recurring theme in my blogs I last wrote in Caye Caulker beautiful place. I have completely fallen in love with the Belize Cayes wow these islands are so http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-296624.html hi everyone who is interested to enough to hear about our wild adventures.Well we have spent the past few days in Belize. We took a rocky boat ride from Livingston Guatemala across the open ocean to Puerto Gorda in Southern Belize. It was a really rocky boat ride in a very small boat without any life preservers... but no worries we made it across safely. From Puerto Gorda which was a really bori http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-285241.html My most recent travels have brougt me to cross the border learn a little spanish and eat lots of avocados. Last weekend myself and Josh left the country early Friday morning for the tiny island of Flores located about 2 hours off the border. We found a lovely place to stay over looking the lake and spent our days going to caves swimming in the lake and going to an animal reserve. Of course we http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-267821.html Travis came and we did some fun things like go to Tikal ruins and the blue holeswimming hole . for easter i stayed around san ignacio and there was a fair with a scary very fast paced ferris wheel which I risked my life on. Also I have some pictures from La Ruta Maya. This past weekend we went to Punta Gorda for my group project. Walked around one of the local villages and surveyed people fou http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-263727.html Right so we have better computers so HOPEFULLY some pictures will accompany this little entry but dont blame me if i have spoken too soon.At the moment we're in a river valley town called San Ignacio up in the hills and had hoped the weather would be less stifling but oh no its probably worse becuase being in a bowl the breeze isnt as stiff as you'd like so i have had about 4 showers tod http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-262149.html 22 February 23 February The border crossing here was much more civilized and well organised what you would expect a border crossing to be and through within half an hour San Ignacio was 30minutes from the border and we got there by taxistraight away the difference between Guatemala and Belize was apparent mainly due to the signs and language being in English. We arrived at the hotel wh http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-260160.html Back to the MainlandA great idea John and Joan had was to take a trip inland and visit Tikal in Guatemala. Along the way we could make a stopover in the city of San Ignacio located just a few miles from the border with Guatemala. There are lots of eco tourism options in San Ignacio and itrsquos at the halfway point to Tikal one of the largest Mayan ruins discovered. Sounded great to us an http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-255871.html It has been a very busy last couple of weeks and even busier to come. Since last writing mom and dad came and we journeyed to Placencia. Mom has pictures of all of that so one would need to ask her to see them. The following weekend my ecotourism class took a trip to Gales point to stay at a Manatee watch place. Basically they track the manatees and take care of them. We went caving and manat http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-254830.html So Yesterday after my internet session i headed off to grab some grub and went to Villa Del Chef again as the lasagna had been so good the night before i headed over there and Eric and Constantine were there and so we chatted to my food came and then they headed off and wished me luck on the rest of my trip.I then went for a wander around Flores and bought some small giftstrinkets which i will p http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-246388.html Hi all I ve been very busy seeing the sights of belize. Two weekends ago we went to a field station in Orange Walknorthern Belize called La Milpa. It was very beautiful situated in the middle of a jungle. We took many mini hikes around the jungle learning of the different flora and fauna saw an unexcavated Maya ruin and did some night spotting. My favorite part was probably the howler monkey http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-245702.html I decided to add in a page to include pictures of our afternoon at the Mopan River Resort. After enjoying a Belizean lunch at the resort we spent the day swimming under banana trees and watching birds and iguanas from the bird tower. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/Benque-Viejo-del-Carmen/blog-240713.html Its been awhile and i have been up to alot... not that you care about what I am doing the pictures are why you are reading this. This past saturday a few of us and the environmental club at galen went to mountain pine ridge forest reserve for an over night stay. we got there around 12 and dropped our stuff off at a house that is owned by belizes forestry dept. one of the girls in the clubs fath http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-240151.html Andrew and I spent yesterday afternoon and evening relaxing. We climbed up the bird watching tower and spotted many birds although the only one we recognized was the bird of paradise. No toucans About twenty feet or so away from the tower the people who work at the resort hang a basket of fruit in a high tree that they change out every few days or so. When we were up in the tower the http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-239741.html Yesterday was quite the day of travel My dad picked up Andrew and me at 415am and we headed off to DIA. There I had my bug spray confiscated. It was four ounces instead of the required 3.4 or less. I spent all of our layovers trying to track down some Off with no avail. I developed an allergy to mosquito bites this past summer so I started taking my Allegra on the plane but I stil http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/Benque-Viejo-del-Carmen/blog-239329.html Cave's Branch Lodge near Belmopan BelizeWe spent one week at Cave's Branch Lodge located southest of Belmopan on the Cave's Branch River. The lodge was amazing and our room was the most lavish of all our accomodations. Below are some pictures of our room some of the views and the main lodge.The AdventuresCave Tubing ZipliningThe cave tubing is not your ordinary tubing down the James... alth http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/Belmopan/blog-238548.html Pook's Hill near Belmopan BelizeOur next destination was Pook's Hill Lodge located in the heart of the Jungle about 40 miles west of Belize City. We took a flight from San Pedro to Belize City and then our friendly guide picked us up from the airport to take us to the lodge. On the way we had a chance to stop at the Belize Zoo which was amazing. The zoo was created to protect the native anima http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/Belmopan/blog-238540.html Yesterday we went to DuPlooys which is a botanical garden and resort. We got a tour of the grounds and learned plenty about plants. I spent much time just relaxing in a hammock looking over the river. Today most of us started classes. I only had my Garifuna Culture class and the teacher seems great. The class is probably evenly split between belizeans and international students. I having a busy http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-235990.html We're now up on the Belizean highlands in a town called San Ignatio close to the Belize Guatemalan border. This is the town everyone stays in to do some adventuring in the Mayan caves and jungles before heading over to Guatemala or vice versa. We came here from Caye Caulker this morning after a brilliant time there.We LOVED Caye Caulker and all the happy people there. We went on a brillian http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-235350.html Hi all belize is beutiful went to school for the first time yesterday and it is very nice they have fresh fruit all on campus that is free for the taking. this morning i went to the town produce market and bought lots of fruits and veggies for a dinner tonight. it was amazing how much they had. herehopefully is some pictures of my room and the outside view. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-235264.html We found a shuttle service going from Flores to Belize but it was US20 to Belize City and we only wanted San Ignacio. They wouldn't give us a reduced fare but we did arrange to have them take us from San Ignacio to Belize City a couple of days later as part of the same fare. On the mini bus was Paul the Australian who we had met at Tikal. He was going all the way through to Mexico. Pieter sat n http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-228632.html ello ello elloYesterday we left the turquoise seas and sand streets of Caye Caulker to head to inland Belize we arrived yesterday evening in San Ignacio in the Cayo district which with its sister town Santa Elena is the second most populated area in Belize. And its about the size of Oundle for those of you who don't know my hometown population about 5000. Well I exaggerate slightly bu http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-220423.html Today we went tubing and it was awesome. Three hours floating along a river through pitch black caves and fast rapids. I'm exhausted and have a huge bruise on my bum from when the tour leader said 'raise your bum' so I pushed it down. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-210965.html