http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Belize , Cayo District , San Ignacio en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:33:29 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:33:29 +0000 Dicen que la vida es como un libro el que no viaja tan solo lee la primera pagina asi que en las ultimas semanas he realizado algunas escapadas fuera del orfanato aprovechando el fin de semana para conocer un poco mas este pais fantastico. La primera visita ha sido a Belize he tenido que salir de Guatemala tres dias a fin de renovar el visado . En este pequeo pais he aprovechado para hacer http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-441780.html I don't know what I was expecting of mainlaind Belize but certainly not what I got. It's the only english speaking country in central America which is surprising enough but then they speak it with an impossibly strong caribbean accent are a mix of all races and colours and most of them look like cowboys from the Wild West or dudes straight out of Harlem. On top of that there are the Mennonite http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-437200.html When we last left off Wes and I were taking a day off so that he could recover from too much white man in the sun time. We did this by going on a night snorkeling adventure at the barrier reef just off of Caye Caulker. As luck would have it the group of 4 that booked with us were nowhere to be found and it was just Wes and I and our guide. We took a tiny boat out about 10 minutes and anchor http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-422140.html Maria Sarah and I looked for accommodation and what we found was ok for one night but it reminded me of a rat hole Placencia was not a place we wanted to stick around so we headed for the town of San Ignacio on the Guatemalan border.We drove through Belize seeing the lush green countryside as well as the dodgy looking towns of Belmopan Dangriga. We rode the chicken bus from one place to the o http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-396382.html After a few days in Caye Caulker and the Blue Hole dive Ally loved so much we rented a car to head to the far west of Belize close to the Guatemala border. We did it by car rather than the local chicken bus so called because locals take their chickens with them sometimes because we are soft. Actually we had to make it back to Caye Caulker to meet up with a saling boat to head south down to http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-382253.html Tim version Headed out of Flores out of Guatemala and into Belize Guatemalan border officials tried to rip me off some money didn't work and walking into Belize I felt so happy to be out of Guatemala Stayed with a couchsurfer in San Ignacio and had an incredible couple of days chilling with them and a few other couchsurfers from Germany tubing and enjoying the local town and market.Th http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-373101.html We spent four days in the Cayo District of Belize in the town of San Ignacio. From San Ignacio we visited two Mayan ruin sites Xunantnich and Cahal Pech and Chuck went on a cave tour of Actun Tunichil Muknal.Actun Tunichil Muknal is about 12 miles and 45 minutes driving time from San Ignacio. Tours are advertised throughout town and they depart daily from multiple locations. After the ride fr http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-371692.html We arrived to the border between El Peten Guatemala and Cayo Belize at about 4pm on Tuesday the 27th of January. We should have arrived earlier but sometimes life gets in the way of plans.We exited out of Guatemala paid to have our van fumigated for a cost of under 10 USD and proceeded to the Belizean immigration and customs. Immigration was simple. Customs took a bit more time since the c http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-369050.html Hey Hey HeySoo Playa Del Carmen was pretty cool. I liked it better than Cancun becasue it is less populated and touristy and bulit up with starbucks and things. So we went and layed on the beach even though it was cloudy it is just so beautiful here we wanted to take it all in. Then we went and had Pina Coladas they were really expenive more than it costs for a day to eat but we didn't know until http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-364104.html Leaving Caye Caulker on the 25th was somewhat entertaining. Sam Michaels friend had had somewhat a liquid lunch and couldnt even walk always good when you have to get on a boat. Think Michael was really embarrassed and came up with some excuse that she was really home sick where in fairness he should have just said that she was trollied and would apolagise later There was only one breast fe http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-358255.html My prior plan to hire a taxi to take me to Xunantunich fell by the wayside as Erminia's waitress at Uguanda finance offered to be my guide. Elton thought it quite silly that I was prepared to pay 30US even though that is the going rate.Elton I had an early start 730 am took the local bus and then the hand cranked ferry across the river. An uphill and extremely humid 1 mile walk got us t http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-357590.html Finally getting to update my blog due to a 5 hour flight delay in Lima. Ok its been such a hectic month that I'm miles behind so you luck out and I'm gonna make it as short as possible In summary I've laughed a lot every day we have a good few comedians on this trip and have never had a moments boredom. This is what I've been getting up toIn San Ignacio I went to a place called Barton C http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-355600.html After a water taxi from Caye Caulker jaunt to the Belize City bus station and a chicken bus that broke down enroute I checked into The Aguada Hotel 4 hours later located in Santa Elena sister city to San Ignacio. The Aguada is a great hotel with a palapa restaurant pond it has AC and a swimming pool I feel I am living the life of luxury The grounds are beautifully kept and include http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-355119.html Another big entry..haven't been around computers for a while and have been busy busy busy...after merida we hit the road again and arrived in playa del carmen...which was a bit of a culture shock as it is a big tourist resort on the caribbean coast....completely different from anywhere i have stayed so far...basically it was america but in mexico...and it cost a lot more than anywhere else...but http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-347559.html 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 test http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Cayo-District/San-Ignacio/blog-322712.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 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